The Monster

I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm so scared right now I don't even know where to begin, I feel like I have to tell someone or my head might explode. So I guess telling my phone with no service beats keeping it all bottled inside. It all started about six months ago. I had been single for about a year, when I met this really great guy. I don't even remember exactly how we hooked up but he was such a sweetie, you know? I hadn't really even been looking for a boyfriend and then somehow I just happen to run into this really charming guy.

  We hit it off the way you do when you're really into someone. We had so much in common. He was such a gentleman. Okay, maybe he was a bit old fashioned sometimes but it was part of his charm. He always paid for dinner, opened doors, and seated me at restaurants. It was a real change from the selfish man-child types I usually come across. Ugh, if he had one fault it was his dumb obsession with hunting and guns. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad he has his hobbies; but 90% of the time he's the strong silent type, but start talking about hunting a leopard in Africa, and suddenly you can't get him to shut up with a ball-gag.

  After the first month I knew I was falling hard for this uber masculine guy. What can I say? He made good money, nice house, nice car, nice clothes; freaking amazing in the sack. After about four months I was wondering, 'how does a guy like this stay single?' I mean I can see how for a lot of people the hunting thing could be a bit off-putting, and sometimes you'd talk to him and it was like words would just go in one ear and out the other but he was an engineer ( the odds were good, but the goods were odd. Am I right ladies?), and he was hilarious but his humor was always so dark. He made me laugh so whatcha gonna do?

  The way he made me feel was nearly indescribable. A girl wants to feel special and he knew how to push all the right buttons. Get this, after three or four months together he started taking me out on these romantic getaways. We'd go all over together. It really felt like I was almost living in a fairy tale.

  But this last trip, it's what's got me all freaked out. It all went wrong about a month and a half ago when we were on the trip to the West Side of Michigan. We were going on a tour of the wineries all along the lake. It was picturesque. Michigan in summertime is amazing and he knew all these amazing spots along the dunes where we could just chill and take in some of the most romantic scenery I'd ever seen.

  Now, I've always been kind of a city girl. I never really had an opportunity to get into the outdoors, but he made it so accessible that I was really getting into it. We had a campsite at one of the county campgrounds, and even though I was getting into the camping thing, I am still a girl and sometimes I have a hard time sleeping in a tent. With all the sand from the dunes, and the locals talking about cougars tearing up local livestock, I just didn't want to sleep with nothing but a layer of nylon between me and the outside. I mean, I have bras with more protection than that!

  He was such a sweetheart about it. He setup the tent and put all our gear in it and then inflated the air mattress in the back of his Tahoe, put sleeping bags across it and some blankets. It was like our own little love nest. I asked him how he knew to do that, and ugh! Another hunting story about sheesh God know's what, going on forever and ever. Staying warm this, deer and coyotes that, but it was worth it to have 3 tons of steel and glass wrapped around me with doors that locked.

  That first day was surreal. He took me fishing, we had a fire with fresh fried fish we had caught that day, and paired it with the most delicious sweet corn I had ever had. We walked the beach trails of some nearby state land. I don't know if I ever felt more "outdoorsy". I was really crushing hard on him, and I was wondering if our neighbors at the campgrounds would giggle if I got the shocks on that old Tahoe to start rocking and squeaking. But then it happened. I'll never forget it as long as I live. Okay, let me just say that I've never believed in the supernatural. But I have no other way to describe this I was scared to death and I can't believe this! Let me back up.

  The next day we decided to hit up a local resort town with a cherry winery. This was the kind of thing they make sappy TV shows about, but there we were living it up. We drove way north of our Campsite then decided to have a picnic in the forest. The warm rays of the sun the cool shade from the massive pine trees it was almost enough to make me forget the dirt and the mosquitoes. I had tried to talk about staying in some of the cabins we had driven by earlier, but on the dirt trail he was off talking about hunting birds or squirrels again.

  We hiked along what he called a "two-track" for maybe a mile when we came to a little clearing and we started eating the lunch we had packed. This, this was the kind of scenery that made me glad we had left the city. Everything was going fine, and we were wrapping up our meal when suddenly he got a weird look on his face. He actually shushed me. The forest had gone dead quiet. A minute earlier birds were chirping and squawking, across the clearing squirrels had been chattering, but now nothing. There was just this roaring silence. I could tell he was worried. He tried to play it off and asked if I was all done. I have to admit the feeling of the silence was pretty eerie and I could feel my bladder urging me. I asked him where the bathroom was and he kind of laughed at me and told me to pick a tree. Ugh, a new first for this new outdoorsy lifestyle, well whatever, I just wanted to get out of there. The animals’ noises hadn't comeback yet and I didn't want my boyfriend around to see me do my business in the woods. I found a convenient tree to lean against and squatted down. Afterwards I wiped with some of the hand wipes I always carry with me. They're so convenient! I felt a pang of guilt until I remembered they were biodegradable, so there should be no problem letting it dissolve there in the forest.

  We hurried back to his truck and it was the most disturbing feeling I have ever had. The breeze had started back up but the forest was still silent except for the moan of trees in the wind. It felt like we were being watched and followed the entire time. Sometimes, I thought I could hear something moving in the woods on either side of us, but at that point I just chalked it up to my imagination. My boyfriend was moving at a deliberate pace and I was doing my best to keep up, but years of walking these kinds of paths had made him much faster than me. He kept turning around and scanning the forest probably scanning for deer or partridge or whatever was around. Things were better once the truck was in sight. We hurried along the trail and it seemed like as we reached the truck the forest came alive again. I hadn't even realized I'd been feeling a pit in my stomach, but getting to the edge of trail and to the truck was such a relief I figured that everything up to that had pretty much just been in my head as a byproduct of an over active imagination and growing up in the city.

  We spent the rest of the day driving trails and seeing the hills and countryside. My guy had looked flustered earlier, but he was super great when we got back to the truck. He actually popped the bottle of wine for me, and said he didn't mind if I drank it while he drove; cruising around all day. Of course me with my small bladder that meant that we kept stopping every fifteen minutes, but he was great about it. He even grabbed me some water so that I would stay hydrated and not get hung over from that sweet wine. All in all, I must have left tissues all over the national forest.

  The sun was starting to set when we decided to start driving back. I wish we had left sooner, if we had; maybe I would have been spared seeing that, that thing! According to my man, you weren't really lost until you didn't know where you were and you cared. Well with the sun going down and the main road nowhere in sight I was starting to care. The sun was already in the trees but not all the way set by the time we found the dirt road that connected us back to the state highway. Great. Now we only had to drive across the entire county to get back to our campsite in the dark.

  I was starting to complain when he told me to look at the bright side. His optimistic attitude is usually a plus but now I could punch him. I just wanted hot food in my stomach and some sleep. He started driving down the path but stopped as we neared the edge of a clearing with a large field. I was about to complain again when to my delight I could see the entire field lit up with the green glow of fireflies. He turned the engine off and we sat taking in the summer air watching the fireflies. Okay, I have to admit even being hangry I was impressed. We sat there in the dusk admiring the view. We had only been there a few minutes when the fairy tale twilight turned into a nightmare.

  I think I noticed before he did. So much for being a mighty hunter. The fireflies suddenly all went dark, and all sounds from the forest stopped. It was just like earlier, but this time at the far edge of the clearing, I thought I saw the biggest wolf ever. This thing was massive, and it was just sitting there on all fours like it was watching the meadow.

  'Is that a bear?” I asked him suddenly getting excited and nervous. I was finally going to show this rugged man a thing or two.

  "Roll your window up now," he commanded. I was wasn't used to hearing him talk that way. It was so forceful and so demanding.

  I was so shocked I almost couldn't understand what he was saying. Dazed I put my hand over the button. As I pressed down the little mechanical whirring of the window motor seemed like a jet engine. The thing in the meadow immediately noticed and turned toward us. I could see its freaking ears perk as it turned its head toward the truck. Then this thing started to run towards us across the meadow on all fours bounding towards us!

  I started to feel fear like I've never known before. I could feel my heart climb into my throat as a deep primal fear took over my body and I started to cry. I had the window button pressed all the way down and I started bawling at my boyfriend to start the truck. I could see him fiddling with the keys but the truck wouldn't start. Every time he tried the window motor cut out for a second and the window remained part way open as this thing got closer.

  I had the window almost up when the smell hit me. It was awful. A combination of wet dog, urine, visceral gore, and blood hit my nose and I almost gagged. I'm pleading with him to start the car when thing stops running. It's close enough now that I can see its eyes reflecting the shine of the headlights every time the engine rolls over but doesn't start. As it gets to the edge of the clearing closer to the road it stops running. I don't even know how but this huge hyena-wolf shaped creature got so low to the ground that I could barely see it in the grass. It started crawling those last couple of yards towards us. I took my eyes off of it to check back on my boyfriend and he's still fiddling with the keys and trying to roll the rest of the windows up which is making mine go up even slower. I lost sight of this thing, but I finally got the window up and I hit the door lock. It was a good thing too cause a moment later I felt something bump the truck. How big was this thing that it could bump a Tahoe!!??!! Right after that, I start to hear something jiggling at the handles trying to open it from the outside.

  I'm so scared at this point I stopped even crying and was just whimpering to myself as I tried to sink down in my seat and into the floor of the truck. I was trying to get lower but there was nowhere to go. My boyfriend was so out of it he stopped trying to start the car and was just staring past me. I did want to, but I had to look. Easily five feet off of the ground are these yellow eyes staring in at us. But they didn't stay at that height. I watched, as this thing seemed to effortlessly shift itself up. You ever really pop ankle joint? Or you’re hip? And you feel the tendon sliding across making a noise that's both jarringly deep but sharp at the same time? Take the loudest you've ever done that, and double it and that was the noise I heard as this thing started standing and walking on TWO LEGS!! It was too much, the closest thing I could even come close to comparing it to be a werewolf. I saw it standing there now easily seven and half or eight feet tall craning its neck down to look in at us. I couldn't help it. My bladder let go. When that happened this thing half screamed half roared and tried to get into the truck again. I could hear its claw like hands trying to work the handle scratching the car doors as its breath was fogging up the glass from the outside.

  It quickly got tired of that and started to try and shake the vehicle again. I curled my head into my knees refusing to look up until it stopped. I wish I had kept them buried. When I dared to peek out again. I looked out to see a massive wolf's head with yellow eyes just dripping with malice. A massive raccoon like hand (yes hand!) pressing against the glass of the truck and a set of incredibly sharp looking fangs inches from the glass. It began to slowly circle the truck dragging its nails along the glass of the windows and the body making this godawful noise and we were just sitting there frozen. It completed its circuit around the truck and came back to my side. It stared at me, and it began to tap the glass like it was pointing at me, and then it would look back and forth from me to my boyfriend just tapping its finger while emitting the deepest growl you can imagine.

  It's like it was signaling that it was going to get it us. That of all this was just a game for it, and that it could force its way in and take us anytime it wanted. The hand motions it was making were like some sort of direct malevolence communicated thru gestures like sign language.

  Out of nowhere, the Tahoe's large V8 roared to life. My boyfriend had gotten the truck going again, and with a seemingly maniacal grin was shifting into drive. I felt my heart flutter as I thought this was it, we're saved. I don't know what possessed him to do it, but the idiot in the driver's seat either emboldened by the truck running or just out of his mind started to signal back to the creature. I saw him actually do the "I'm watching you." signal to this thing all the while smiling like a ghoul.

  He opened it up and after what felt like an eternity of the throttle sucking air and the tires spinning on dirt and gravel we shot forward with a little fishtail that showered this creature with dust and pebbles as we peeled away. Over the road noise I heard something awful. I hadn't been in the outdoors long but what I heard sounded like the loudest most intense fox scream turned howl that I could imagine. I turned around and wished I hadn't. I saw it pop back down on all fours, It started chasing us!!

  I turned and looked over at my boyfriend who had his foot burying the accelerator as the speedometer and tach needles both jumped alive. I was slapping the seat screaming "Come On!" as something like a blend from the werewolves of Van Helsing and Underworld was barreling toward us. It was actually gaining on us as we passed 45mph! I don't know how we made it but, as we reached 60mph on the dirt roads we started to make distance between us and it. Finally it stopped and I think I heard something like a howl of frustration, but it was hard to tell over the beating of my own heart!

  We kept the speed up, but dirt roads at night and high speed don't mix too well. We slowed it back down to fifty five until we hit the next major highway. We rode in silence, I wanted to ask about that thing, to make sure I was still sane, but the wet capris and smell of shame reminded me every time I tried to move to get comfortable. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

  "What was that thing? It looked like a freaking werewolf!"

  “Up here in Michigan, there's this thing called a Dogman.” He said it with a straight face, but a small smile played on his lips at the corners of his mouth.

  “Wait, what? A dogman? You mean you knew about that thing and you still took me out here?"

  “Huh? Come on they're a legend, or… I guess I always thought they were a legend like Bigfoot, or the Jersey Devil. Something the weirdos on the History channel or Animal Planet love to talk about. I mean I've hunted these woods my entire life and I've only ever seen one gray wolf. Bears around here, don't get half as big as that thing. I'm as shocked as you are."

  I wanted to believe him, but it just didn't seem legit. We all have our own ways of dealing with stress, but he seemed more like a kid in a candy store than someone who'd just had a traumatic experience. In my mind, I could already see him gearing up to track and hunt this thing. He was probably selecting the rifle in his mind right now.

  "Can you just pull over somewhere? I don't want to ride around like this."

  He looked over at me and realized I'd wet myself, I don't know if I even saw his expression change. He really was such a sweetheart.

  He drove us to the nearest town with a Walmart, and luckily there was a 24hr carwash right down the street. He ran in and bought me some dry clean clothes. Afterwards, he took us to the car wash, and cleaned out the truck while I changed in the restroom. I wanted to be sick, the way that thing looked at me it was like it was looking into my soul and was trying to destroy me. He saw the same thing I did right, how could he be so nonchalant about it? Did he really try to intimidate a freaking werewolf? "Breathe" I told myself, "deep breaths".

  By the time I had calmed down, he had finished cleaning out the car. I climbed in and felt a little bit better now that I wasn't sitting in my own urine. He looked me up and down as I got back into the car.

  "Let's go get something to eat, and get back to the campsite, this will all seem better in the in morning."

  "Are you out of your mind? There's no way I'm sleeping outside anywhere near here. After what I just saw, I don't know if I want to be outside ever again."

  "Aww. Okay, I can see you're scared, tell you what, I'll find us a hotel, and we'll sleep there tonight, and get our stuff and go home in the morning. How does that sound?" The suave charming sweetheart was back, but I wasn't going to let him off that easily.

  "A nice hotel, inward facing doors. I want brick and mortar around me."

  “Sure thing, I'll see what I can do. Let's just get something to eat, and you'll feel better."

  Eating was the last thing on my mind. How could he even think about food at a time like this? I swear it must be nice to be a man. Everything so simple. But I relented and we found some fast food place along the interstate and hotel nearby. He booked us a 2nd story room in a decent chain hotel. It was nice, and even had a faux balcony though the windows.

  I thought I was going to be awake forever because every time I closed my eyes I saw that thing snarling at me in the darkness. But, it didn't take me long. Fear must have triggered exhaustion, because as soon as I snuggled into those Hotel blankets, I was out. I got several hours of deep dreamless sleep before I started having the nightmares. In my dreams the Dogman was chasing me, but there was no truck. I tried to run, but no matter how far or how fast I ran, it wasn't fast enough. It was that dream running where you feel like you're trying to run through taffy, and no matter how hard you push, you can't move any faster. As I was running I was crying for help, and I saw my boyfriend, up in a tree-stand. I called for him to help me but he just sat and watched as this thing got closer and closer to me. Finally, it caught me, and just as it was about to tear into me, the dream changed. Suddenly, I was running through the forest. I was big and fast, and powerful. I could smell and hear everything, nothing in the forest was hidden to me. It was tremendous. I had something clutched in my hands, but now I was running. Full on running. I was looking for something, there was a familiar scent on the breeze, and it was getting closer with every step I took. Once I had locked into the smell I knew which way to go. I kept my nose in the air and barreled forward making sure to never lose the scent.

  Finally, I got to a bright and noisy area. There was enough trees nearby that I could hide well enough, but I didn't want be in the light for long. I came up to the building with the smell I was following. I recognized the hotel from the outside. Swiftly and Silently I jumped up onto the 2nd floor balcony peering into the room. The lights were off and the curtains drawn but from the cracks I think I could barely see two people inside asleep. I put down the contents of my hand, jumped down back into the wooded area. Then the dream faded into blackness.

  I woke up the next morning hoping for everything to be a dream. I couldn't wait to get out of there. I opened the curtains. It was a beautiful view, but I couldn’t believe some litterbug had left tissues where they could blow up onto the balcony. But with everything going on, it was the least of my worries. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then we left to the campsite to get our things. To say the campsite was destroyed would have been an understatement. Pieces of the tent and our gear were torn up and thrown about. We tried to ask the other campers if they had heard anything but none of them wanted to talk and were apparently all too busy getting out of there. Apparently, it was the work of a bear or some damned teenagers. We salvaged what little we could and took the rest to the campground's dumpster.

  I have never seen a man smile so much while doing clean up. Especially with his possessions all torn to shreds. You'd have thought it was his birthday the way he kept smiling. Definitively a bit of a screw loose, but if he likes cleaning up that's a point in his favor. I am still just wondering how he is keeping it together, when every other minute I feel like breaking down sobbing.

  Soon enough we had it cleaned up and were back on the road. Hours and many miles later we were back in the city. He dropped me off at my building making sure I made it into my building alright, and then alone in the safety of my own apartment; I collapsed. I cried my eyes out. I bawled. I wanted to tell someone so badly, but who would believe me? I thought about calling my family, but they'd probably think I was on drugs or hallucinating or something. Who was going to believe I had seen what amounted to a werewolf. I thought about looking it up online, but it was too much. What if other people had also seen one? What if they had drawn pictures of it? I don't think I could deal with looking at a good picture of one. I was so shaken up it was unreal. I just kind of curled into a fetal position and rocked myself back and forth.

  Hours passed like that. I didn't want to fall asleep for fear of the strange dreams and nightmares again. Finally when I got up. I unpacked my things, took a long hot shower, and prepared for my week. The next day, I went to work. I pretended nothing happened. My coworkers said nothing. I doubt anyone really said much of anything. I was screaming inside, desperate for someone to reach out, but fearful that if they did; they'd think I was a crazy person. My life passed like this for three days, when on the fourth day I got a text:

  "Hey I know last weekend was pretty rough. I have just the thing to help you get over it."

  "I don't think I'll ever be 'over it', but what have you got in mind?” I replied.

  "I booked one of those cabins up there. One of those ones you were so charmed with. Come up there with me. When you fall off the horse you have to get right back on."

  "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!!??!!" sent with a couple of choice emoji. I can't believe he would ever want to go back there.

  "It'll be fine. Cabin has its own power and generator. No tent, no trails."

  I was fuming. The last thing I wanted was to go back anywhere near where I saw that thing. I was thinking it had to be suicidal to want to go anywhere near where that thing was. But… I was desperate for someone to talk to about this. I needed to unload to someone that would believe me. At least with him, I knew he would believe me, I knew I could talk to him without being thought of as a crazy person. After a few more exchanges, I relented and that weekend we would be heading back up for another wilderness weekend albeit in a cabin and not a tent this time.

  That Friday he came to pick me up. As I was loading my stuff I couldn't help but notice a couple long heavy cases in the back. I may be from the city but I know what a rifle case looks like. So maybe he was a little more freaked out than he was letting on too?

  Getting out of the city we did a lot of the boyfriend / girlfriend small talk. A lot of it was the same old BS, but I wanted to tippy toe around the elephant in the room as long as possible. Finally when I couldn't stand it anymore I asked about the guns.

  "Oh those?” He said with a big shit eating grin. "Well, I just wanted you to feel safe, you know? I figured that if you saw me those it would put you at ease, help you relax a bit while we're out there.”

  "That THING was basically a werewolf, Jesus do you really think you could stop it? Did you bring silver bullets?” He just kept grinning that stupid grin.

  "Nope, no silver, that's probably just for the movies anyway. I brought along my .460 Weatherby Magnum and my 10 gauge semi auto all with some kick-ass hand loads. Trust me, that rifle is meant for stopping cape buffalo and elephant, if something were to mess with us, it won't live long enough to wish it hadn't."

  "You're not going up there after that thing are you?"

  "What? No, that would be crazy. You don’t track dangerous game into its den if you want to live. You lure it in to you."

  "Hmph."

  There was that dark humor and exuberance again. I spent most of the trip listening to the exact specifications of each round he had packed and how he had always planned to save that rifle should he ever get a chance to hunt in Africa. That got him going on Peter Capstick and his books. Well, at least one of us was confident.

  We got to the cabin, and I had to admit it was beautiful, but a bit too close to our encounter for comfort. Cell signal came and went, but I was grateful to see a landline in case of emergency. We got all of our stuff inside within a couple of trips and even though it was warm out, he started building up a fire in the fire place. I wanted to get over my fear, but there was no way I was going to be outside after dark out here. Somethings are just a bridge too far.

  The indoor plumbing and hot shower were nice, the steady hum of the generator was somehow reassuring as well. It was gas operated, supplied the cabin with enough electricity for the modern appliances inside. There was a three ring binder with what to do with it in case anything were to happen. I was a little dismayed that it couldn't be accessed within the house. The owners had built an adjoining shed that you had to walk around the outside to reach. Still a modern generator shouldn't fail, and I noticed the oil lanterns and massive flashlights in case they did.

  We settled in and I began to feel more at ease. We watched the sunset into the trees and I listened to the sounds of the water and the forest as I sipped wine and read. Things were going well, it was a little off putting that the bedroom windows didn't have blinds, but they were the small windows set up high on the wall and we were so far removed from people it wasn't like we had to worry about nosey neighbors getting an eyeful.   I changed into night clothes and we crawled into bed. The night was well illuminated by an almost full moon but I didn't care. I knew that things like werewolves didn't really need the moon. Apparently they could come out whenever. It wasn't the most reassuring thought as I tried to get to sleep. I was almost there when I thought I heard it. It was like a gentle scratching followed by what sounded like a windshield wiper that keeps going when the glass is dry.

  I froze.

  My Heart started pounding out of my chest and I wanted to scream. My eyes popped wide open and I wanted to throw the covers over my head like a child to make the monster go away. This was a mistake. How could I have been so stupid as to think coming back anywhere near here was a good idea?

  As slowly as I physically could, I rolled over to face my boyfriend sure that he would be freaking out about the weird sound in the night. Oddly he wasn't, he was just sitting there relaxed, both eyes open, watching me. "What was that?" I hissed. Freaked out and trying to make as little noise as possible.

  "Probably just some animal smelling the house. They do that to get a scent." He had that wolfish look in his eyes like he was enjoying my discomfort. "Maybe it likes your scent."

  I wanted to deck him as he began to playfully claw at me. It was absurd. Here I was freaking out about a seven foot monster upright bipedal canine and he was teasing me about it.

  "Knock it off! I'm serious.” I pushed him to emphasize my point. He just grinned and tried to play it off. I wasn't having it. I wanted to get some sleep it was late and I was wound up.

  "Okay, enough, I get it. Just talk to me okay. I'm all nerved up, and you've seemed different this week."

  "Different? How?"

  "I don't know. Distant. Like you're propping me up for something, like you're psyching yourself up for something but you can't bring yourself to say it. Just talk to me will you?"

  "Um. Okay. I don't really know how to respond to that. I'm not any different than I've always been."

  "Okay, well maybe I am. I'm freaked out so just talk for a bit so I can fall asleep. Talk about anything. Talk about hunting. Tell me about that big rifle."

  Getting him to talk about hunting was going to accomplish two things. It would get him to talk about a subject he loved, meanwhile bore me enough that I might actually feel like I could get back to sleep. I listened to him tell me all about how powerful it was, how it kicked like a mule to shoot, especially with the big heavy rounds he had for it. Apparently, he had been planning an African safari for dangerous game for some time. He had always wanted to hunt lions, tiger, hippos, crocs, you name it.

  He had a full head of steam but I didn't mind. I dozed off just as he was telling me how people predator hunt with the cries of animals in distress, and that hunters in Africa will sometimes go a hunts for prey animals just to use them as bait for the dangerous game they want to lure in. All very fascinating for him, I'm sure; for me it was just the trick to doze off again.

  I don't know how long I was out, but I woke with a start when the generator stopped. The reassuring hum of the generator was gone. All of the manmade light of the room was gone, and with no white noise from the fan, the air immediately began to feel stifling. I begin to panic. I looked over for my boyfriend but he was GONE! I wanted to call out, but was terrified. I looked over at his side of the bed. His suitcase was there. His keys and his phone were there but there was no sign of him. Maybe he…

  I began to slowly try and creep around the room. There were no sounds coming from in or out of the cabin. My heart pounded like a jackhammer in my ears. I grabbed my own phone and flipped on the screen to make some light in the room. The gun cases were open, and empty but no sign of my boyfriend. My mind raced, maybe he had gone out to look at the generator, and that's why he took the guns?

  I couldn't take it, I didn’t care if I would be laughed at I was going to call for help. No bars on my phone or his. I tried the landline. Dead. Here I was isolated in a cabin in the woods with no way to call for help while strange things keep happening all around me.

  So that's about all of it. I'm sitting here whispering to my phone to try and keep my sanity. Maybe there is a neighbor nearby. I could just go outside and call for help loud enough maybe they would hear me. He's probably out there with a flashlight working on it, right? I mean the generator is on the other side of the cabin so I wouldn't see a flashlight, but I can hear something walking around out there. Maybe if I bring the keys, and I just barely go out the door and call out to him, he'll come help me…