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It Took Her Eyes

'There was something behind me, and when I turned around I came face-to-face with something sinister.'

By Melody HumbyPublished 6 years ago 7 min read
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The 'cursed' woods. That's where they wanted to go camping. Just when you thought teenagers couldn't get any dumber.

My friend Paula and I set up our tent in the middle of the woods with the others. Chris, Tyler, and Grace all set theirs up next to ours, and Clay decided he was going to sleep in his truck. Clay was very particular about it for some reason, which didn't make sense to me because it was eleven years old and in terrible condition.

We roasted marshmallows, told ghost stories, and had a few drinks while sitting by the fire. Tyler told us about a haunted cabin not far from where we were set up, but I called him on his lie. I used to go hunting in these woods with my father before he passed, and I knew there was nothing for miles.

But still, Tyler pressed on, saying there was something evil in the woods. "The only evil here is you," Grace said. Tyler just laughed and swore to everyone he wasn't making it up.

"I don't believe the woods are cursed," I said as I popped a marshmallow into my mouth.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not an idiot." I had been out there at least a hundred times before, and not once had I seen anything out of the ordinary.

When the fire died we all turned in for the night, with Grace climbing into Chris's tent and Paula and me stumbling into ours. "Goodnight, girls," Tyler said with a smirk. I just rolled my eyes and then zipped up the door.

I remember waking up, but I didn't know how, because I didn't remember falling asleep. I was outside now, barefoot in my pajamas and standing in the middle of the woods. I couldn't smell the remnants of the fire anymore, so I knew I must have been pretty far away.

"Come on, Lauren," I whispered to myself, "you can do this." I was usually good with directions, but tonight was different. I felt odd for some reason, like my entire body was numb and vibrating at the same time.

Suddenly the wind whipped through the trees and blew my long, blonde hair out of my face. There hadn't been a gust all night, but all of a sudden it was like a storm had set in. I ran through the woods, scraping my bare feet and ankles as I went, trying to find my way back to my friends. "Hello?" I asked the darkness.

And, as if it were answering my call, I felt a shiver on the back of my neck. There was something behind me, and when I turned around I came face-to-face with something sinister. Standing just ahead, in the middle of the woods, was a naked woman with no eyes.

She just stood there, smiling, waiting for me to do something. I took a step back, and she took a step forward. I stepped to the left and she followed. There was no escaping her.

So I turned and I ran. As fast as I could, I tore through the forest, screaming for help and hoping someone would find me. Fog started to set in all around me, and pretty soon I couldn't see three feet ahead. I wandered around blind until finally something in the distance caught my eye.

It wasn't a light, it was more like an absence of darkness. At first, I thought it was our campground, but as I got closer I realized what it really was: a log cabin.

Tyler's words echoed in my brain as I got closer. "She went missing years ago. Nobody knows what happened to her." I was so close I could smell the old, rotten wood. "People say when you come out here at night you can still hear her screaming for help."

Something screeched in my ear and pulled me backward. I reached behind me and tried to fight it off, but it was no use. Whatever it was had its dirty fingers wrapped around me so tight I thought my ribs were going to break. "You can't escape..." the creature hissed in my ear, "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE."

And then it was gone, just like that. The only reason I knew it had been there was because I could still smell its putrid breath. I tried to convince myself it wasn't real, but when I lifted up my shirt there were bruises in the shape of fingers.

Without taking a second to make sure it was really gone, I ran inside and slammed the door behind me. The air was thick and musty, and it was almost impossible to make out anything but dark shapes around the room.

I let out a yelp when the thunder boomed across the sky, and for a moment I could have sworn something was laughing at me. "Lauren..." something was whispering. The voice was like crunching, squealing glass.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I was too distracted by the new light that was shining on the other side of the room. It was a soft glow coming from underneath what looked like a wooden door.

It was like I was in a trance. Without thinking, I made my way over to the door and put my hand on the knob. Something inside me was aching to see what was on the other side.

When the door creaked open I saw a rickety old wooden staircase that creaked with every step I took. As my foot hit the cold, dirty basement floor, I realized something was very wrong.

Under my bare foot was a human bone. Slowly, I stepped around so many scattered remains I couldn't even tell how many bodies they had come from. I screamed and tried to run, but I tripped and fell onto something soft. I let out a long, deep breath and then opened my eyes.

There she was. The girl I had seen in the woods.

Her eyes were missing and her face was twisted into a permanent look of terror. If she was dead, how had she managed to grab me in the forest?

My blood ran cold as I remembered her words: "You can't escape..."

She had been trying to warn me.

I jumped to my feet and ran for the stairs. I only got up three steps before a rotten, decaying hand shot out from under them and pulled me down. All the kicking in the world couldn't save me from the menacing hissing of the monster that had me in its grasp.

I hit the floor hard, and then the dark, putrid creature climbed on top of me and wrapped its hands around my neck. It forced me to look into its dark, sunken eyes as it choked the life from my lungs. "You can't escape," it growled.

And then everything faded to black.

When I woke up I was in the woods again. Everything was so dark now, I couldn't see a thing. I felt around my face, trying to find out what was missing...

My eyes. They were gone.

"Hello?" a voice asked into the darkness. I thought I recognized the voice, but I couldn't see who it was. I was forced to follow the unknown person until, finally, I got close enough to realize who it was.

Paula.

She must have been looking for me, but without my sight I had no chance of following her. "Paula!" I screamed into the night. She shrieked and then I could hear her running the other way. "No, you can't!"

I knew in my heart she was heading directly towards the cabin.

I was running blindly through the woods, following the sound of Paula's footsteps echoing through the darkness. Finally, she stopped, and I grabbed her from behind. "You can't escape..." I whispered into her ear. "Paula, you CAN'T ESCAPE!"

And then she ran inside.

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About the Creator

Melody Humby

Author of 'I Live Under Your Bed' and 'Don't Go Home', both available on Amazon.

Putting the hot in psychotic since '92. Enjoys horror movies and long walks on a short pier.

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