Tow truck driver isn’t traditionally a job you would associate with gruesomeness but let me tell you, I have seen things that would send you into shock. I’ve seen a woman impaled through a rod and was still trying to call her work to say she would be a little late. I have seen bodies split in two, crushed skulls and severed heads. The odd thing is that despite the carnage nothing ever left me truly scarred. I have seen the most gruesome things imaginable and then slept a full 8 hours. Nothing could ever break me, that was until 3 nights ago. The night I saw something that can not be pushed to the back or the mind. Something that can not be unseen.
I was on the night shift on patrol as always. It was just after 11pm and it was what we in the business morbidly call “The reaping hours.” People start to trail out of the bars and often make stupid decisions. Most of them end up in a ditch or on the curb pulled over by a police officer. A simple inconvenience for them and a solid profit for us. At 11:13 the call came in about a car accident on side road 15 by Ramara Woods. I was close by so I wasted no time in driving out there.
As I left the city limits the night became steadily darker. No one wanted to invest in streetlamps in the woods so they settled on putting them only on intersections. You don’t realize how dark country roads get without lights and that is likely what caused the accident. I drove through the dark trees and a small childlike fear ran over me. Ramara Woods suffered the fate of almost all rural woodlands in that there were countless stories of it being haunted. The stories ranged from ghosts, werewolves and even a witches coven existing in its depths. It was all completely ridiculous once you became an adult but that didn’t stop the goosebumps from rushing my skin.
A strange fog began drifting from the woods in spite of the July heat. “The woods run cold, it’s from the spirits. If you can see your breath then they are standing right behind you.” An unknown voice from my childhood rang in my brain. I know it was superstition but I found fear slinking through me like a snake all the same. The mist continued to grow thicker and I was forced to turn on my fog lights. That was when I saw the car on the side of the road with the emergency lights on.
I immediately pulled over and turned on my own fourways. I got out into the strangely chilly night. The forest was alive with the sounds of nature. Crickets chirped and frogs bellowed in the distance. A slow breeze made it’s way through the trees, setting the branches dancing. The way they swayed unnerved me and I quickened my pace to the damaged vehicle.
As I drew closer I found myself frozen in my tracks. The car was demolished. All the windows were broken and long scratches were all over the metal however something was missing. From everything I could see, there was no cause for the damage. The driver hadn’t hit a tree, there were no skid marks in the road, there was nothing. I went to the front of the vehicle and there was no dents or point of impact. “What the hell happened here?” I said to myself.
Before I could question anything else a set of approaching red and white lights interrupted my thoughts. The ambulance had arrived and I found myself feeling ashamed. In my shock of seeing the damaged car I forgot all about its driver. I rushed to the broken window and what I saw was a horrific sight. The man driving the car lay across the front seat covered in blood and scratches. The interior seats were shredded beyond repair and even the rear view mirror was smashed. I called to the driver but he made no response. However I could hear labored breathing and I knew he was still alive.
The paramedics ran up with a stretcher and I let them go to their work. They wheeled the man out and I could see the extent of the damage. The man was lucky to be alive if he managed to survive the night. It seemed like every inch of his body was bleeding. Underneath the torn clothes I could see 5 long scratches. In an instant I knew these were not made by broken glass. They were too straight, too perfect. I looked up and to my shock the man’s eyes were staring right at me.
He bolted up extremely fast for a man in his condition. He grabbed me by the collar and glared at me. “Don’t look!” He shouted. I shook my head in fear. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.” I explained. He gripped me tighter and pulled me mere inches from his face. “Don’t look, don’t see. Once you do you are finished. Eyes down! Don’t look! Don’t see!” He screamed at me. One of the paramedics jabbed him with a needle and in seconds the man was unconscious. His grip fell and they rolled him away.
I stood in shocked silence for a few minutes. Finally one of the paramedics came back and asked if I was alright. “I’m fine, just what was he on about?” The paramedic shrugged. “Shock and delirium can make a person seem crazy. Please don’t take anything too much to heart.” I nodded and the two of us surveyed the scene. “What could have done this?” I asked. “Maybe he stopped to pee and a bear attacked him?” The paramedic suggested. I merely shook my head, no known animal would or could have done something like this.
The paramedic left and when the ambulance pulled away I felt my fear return. The woods just felt too creepy out here alone and I was beginning to get a feeling that I was not alone. I rushed back to my truck like a frightened child. I just wanted to get this job done and back to the comfort of the city lights. I put my truck in reverse and checked my rear view mirror. What I saw froze me in place.
Someone was standing in the road behind me. I couldn’t see them well in the dark but they were extremely tall and lanky. The proportions of the limbs simply didn’t look human. I turned myself around and looked out the back window. To my surprise the road was completely empty. I should have felt relief but the emptiness only put me more on edge. I began to feel as though I was losing my mind.
I turned back around and in the mirror the figure had returned. Only this time it was now standing beside my truck. I was now completely frozen in fear staring back at the man. Man, however was the wrong word, this was a creature, a monster. It had long and slimy black hair draped over its wide shoulders. Its skin was a brownish gray. It was extremely thin, almost skeletal. It stood over 6 and a half feet and bore impossibly long claws. Slowly it began to lurch forward towards the cab. I began to silently cry into the night. I looked at my divers’ side window waiting for the creature to appear but it didn’t. I began to believe that I simply imagined it but that was when I looked in the side mirror.
There it stood right outside my door and yet there was nothing outside the window. It leaned closer and I could make out its face for the first time. It had elongated ears and nothing but the skeletal outline of a nose. Its eyes were piercing blue with no pupils. I turned my head and it was almost like my eyes separated their vision. The left looked out the window and saw nothing. The right saw the mirror and looked into the face of the beast.
The right watched as it raised its long claw and dragged it across my window. The left watched as scratches simply appeared from an invisible force. This creature could only be seen through mirrors. I watched as the beast gave a sinister grin flashing flat, rotted teeth. Then it thrust its arm forward smashing the glass. In my panic my feet left the break and I had forgotten that I had left the truck in reverse. That is undoubtedly what saved my life. The truck lunched back and I could feel something sharp rake across my forehead. Another half inch and I would have been shredded in an instant.
Instinct took over and I slammed my foot on the gas. I can’t be sure that it wasn’t the sound of gravel under my wheels but I thought I heard the sound of an angry growl. I twisted the wheel around and managed to do a 180. I pelted the gas and got myself out of there as fast as I could. I didn’t dare check any of my mirrors the whole drive. I kept my head down and didn’t look.
In the days that have followed I haven’t managed more than minutes of sleep at a time. Every time I do I see those luminescent blue eyes and those phantom scratches. I have covered every mirror in my home and no longer do my checks when I am driving. If not for the broken window and the gash on my head I would swear I dreamt the whole thing. The scar on my forehead will always be a reminder of my terror. Earlier this evening I decided to do research on the forest but found no more than the same childhood rumors. However I found a statistic that has made me want to change professions. That side road has an extremely high concentration of accidents. All accidents, no collisions.
Credit: Tenac
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