1
There are dark things in this world. Dark matters that are best not spoken of or given the light of day. They exist and are among us.
2
He runs in the woods. The night is dark. The moon is full. Something is following him. He got lost. He has tried to outrun it. But he knows it’s coming. Will I die? He thinks. Is this the end? Please God, don’t let me die. Don’t let it kill me. But he knows it’s useless.
3
He came with his girlfriend. They camped out in the night. They drank cheap beer by the fire, roasting marshmallows on the open flames. They laughed and they kissed. The sun went down and then they made love, the sweetest kind of love. It was good. All seemed well.
But it wasn’t.
4
He awoke. She was dead. Torn open by something. Her guts splayed out, her eyes frozen open with the pallor of death. He vomited. Did he do this?
He comes at her with an axe. He slices her open. No! No! No! That’s not how it happens…
He is back in reality. She is still dead, dead as a doornail. He buries her. What else was there to do? And then he retraces his steps. What killed her? Does he want to know?
And then he hears it roar. He runs, and as he runs he hears it chasing after him. He comes to a stream. He sees his reflection and sees there is nothing. The memory comes back.
You killed her. Yes, you killed her. Ripped her apart and ate her guts, you drank her blood and it taste like wine, the wine of the gods. I am you and you are me. The monster inside you.
But he loved her. He couldn’t have done that.
But he can and he did. He looks deeper into the water and sees himself for what he is. The reflection that he sees is of a beast. Demonic it has wings and leathery skin, a face like a horse but without hair or fur. He opens his jaws. Ragged teeth line it and the roar is the roar he heard by the campsite. And then he flies away.
5
Male Camper Still Missing
West Virginia Chronicle, September 5, 2015
Police still have found no trace of missing twenty-seven year old Michael Watkins of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He and his girlfriend Summer Hodges were camping at the Little Rock campsite, just twenty miles outside of Morgantown West Virginia, when they were both inexplicably never heard from again.
Michael’s mother Beverly contacted police to report him kissing. They were last seen at the campsite, authorities quickly arrived. A freshly dug grave was found, containing Miss Hodges’ mutilated remains. As for Mr. Watkins, he is still to be found…
Body Found, Victim Marsha Henderson, April 5, 2016
Second Missing Person Near Little Rock National Park, June 5, 2016
Locals Claim to Hear Strange Roar From Nearby Woods, July 21, 2016
6
He circles the skies waiting for those who dare enter his woods. He is the beast. The king who rules these grounds and those that dare trespass, are his to devour. By now he has forgotten what it means to be human.