…..

This happened when is was a younger lad in my early twenties.

I was walking on my own the way home. it was night the and the street lighting was shining a dimmer light than usual.

After looking at the time, 21:40, I decided to take a look at my schedule for the coming week.

I kept moving in autopilot for the next few minutes as I was walking away from the village. The atmosphere was quieter and slightly darker than usual the only source of light was the occasional light hanging outside people’s front doors or windows.
I decided to take a shortcut, despite the fog via an empty playground, after a few yards the tar pathway gave it way to a narrow woodland walkway.

Torch is on attention is high, despite walking along this path multiple times, I Always pay Extra attention at night.

A noise around the undergrowth gets my attention as I shine my flashlight at it, something is moving, feeling relieved when I hear a meowing, a beautiful Calico cat looks at me and starts walking ahead.

There will be a few more minutes to walk till a turn that takes me back toward a road, so follow the beautiful fluffy cat.

She takes a turn then another one till I’m walking through someone’s back garden.

I’m gonna be in trouble for this.

Yes it did happen! the cat owner came out to let her in… in a split second I turn around and walk away.

A light bulb goes off,…shit nothing good is gonna come out of this, I am used to stir up arguments on social media but this is totally different… .

“Hello” … I’m stuffed now….”what are you doing in my backyard?”

I know this voice…

” Look I was walking along when I found your cat and… well I followed her then here I am…” I say turning around.

” Aww ok” I look at him… it can’t be…

” I’m sorry the scare” I walk on.

” Milo?”

“Yes”

” Are you Dan?”

” Yes”

What a coincidence… a very odd way to meet after such a long time.

We chatted for a bit.

He says, ” I’m going for a hike with a few friends this Sunday if you want to join…? ”

” Awesome” ” call me here is my number”

“Nice to see you”

” sure, See you on Sunday”.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened on the days leading up to the weekend, I could not help thinking over the happening of that evening.

Was it safe to still accept the invite?! He could have been a totally different person by now… and I walked in his backyard in the middle of the night…. .

“what time are you planning to meet this sunday then?” and I hit send.

Walking that evening in the dim light of a few street lamps I wandered how after spending such a long time around these parts I didn’t run into him,,, or did I?!?

I saw another cat waiting under the streetlight, this time I decide to walk past him or her… .

That very moment my phone lit up….

” 10:30 am by my house?” ….

After a few texts we arranged to meet at a carpark at the base of the hill where we would be going for a walk and a picnic.
—

Sunday came around fairly quickly.

I turned up a little ahead of time to scan the area and to chat to Dan in case he was early.

As soon as I got out of my car I heard him calling my name.

We greeted each other and I was introduced to his friend who seemed to be a really likeable person.

After chatting for a few minutes we decided to make a move.

I later learnt that a few more people would join us later along the trail.

We sat for a moment and waited for Mark’s girlfriend and her mate to join us.

After a short wait they turned up as planned.

We walked quietly for a while as time went on I could see that Dan, Mark, and Claire were chatting away quite easily.

It was clear they knew each other for a while… it was different with Laura.

She did not seem to show interest in their conversation… I wasn’t particularly into it myself but being socially awkward business as usual for me.

Laura was walking by me… I tried to glance at her every now and then.

I was having a hard time reading her.

I felt intrigued and unsettled at the same time by this mysterious lady… .

Every now and then we exchanged a few small talk.

After a short while we found out a few things about one another, including that she was invited by Claire.

They decided to stop to have our pack lunch.

Despite having a good time with them, I could not shake that feeling of unsettlement mixed with intrigue.

While having lunch they do not seem to make a huge effort to include us in their conversion.

Me and Laura decided to have another short walk on our own.

While walking along I noticed an unusual mark on the side of her face just behind her ear.

I was doing my best to not keep looking.

Shortly after we found a really well positioned bench from which the green hilly landScape was very well visible. We sat and admire the view.

She noticed that with the corner of her eyes I was looking at… I felt a bit embarrassed.

“Do you have any hobbies?” I asked, in an attempt to break the silence.

I started to feel increasingly unsettled. I was sure she now came to know that I was aware that she was hiding something.

After a few long moments of an awkward silence… .

Laura forced a smile ” i like books and horror movies”

” Me too, have you seen the autopsy of jane doe, it really is a must watch for horror fans ” I said trying to shift the subject of the conversation.

As time went on we were happly chatting away.
The feeling of uneasiness was still there but slowly fading away.

We went for another hike around the woodland… .

The day was gently giving it’s way to the evening….I hope she knows her way around this place…. I thought.

The dark of the evening came and we were nowhere near catching up with the rest of the group.

Walking about we found a small clearing and decided to settle there for a rest.

In the back of my mind, the thought of what was gonna happen next was becoming more and more frequent, but it looked like she knew what she was doing, and I was trusting her.

I was surprised when she pulled out two small tents from her back pack…

” You sure are very cautious, ” I said.

She smiled and handed me one one of those emergency tents.

Why did she bring two?!?!

Sitting in each other’s tents we carried on chatting and listening to music from her phone.

We were becoming friends… I could not believe what situation I was dragged into.

Trying to fall asleep in the middle of the forest, exposed to weather, animals, or worst of all not well intentioned people, was not an easy task.

I could not help to think how I ended up here, almost putting my life in the hands of someone who felt like a best friend and a creepy stranger at the same time.

An hour later I woke up, then again in another hour, and again and again.

Soon I knew that sleep won’t come very easily tonight, so I walked about for a few moments, in the misty, dark woodland.

After a few minutes of straying around in the almost pitch black, I found a small water stream.
After sitting on a rock nearby for a moment, I heard a tiny noise coming from behind me, not thinking much of it, I remained seated, enjoying the feeling of security provided by the dark quietness of the forest provided.

On my way back I was paying extra attention to the path I walked on trying my best to not to get lost, probably anything else went on in the background.

I had a funny feeling in my mind that I was being watched, despite knowing for sure there was no one else close enough.

Few moments afterwards I found my way to the tent site, I looked around for a few moments, something was up.

Earlier on I walked away in a straight line perpendicularly to the tents now I approached the site from a different angle dispite earlier on I walked on a straight line still walking in a straight line.

Trying to not give it too many thoughts I grabbed my torch. and located the entrance to my tent, before heading I glanced on both sides, I was alone.

Suddenly I felt a sudden push in the Front if my shoulder I fell backward hitting my head hard against a rock.
A noise caught my attention and I was still confused… my eyesight came back slowly

” What happened ?” “Are you ok?”

Opened and closed my eyes few times to make sure I was seeing things right.

I was shocked by what I saw… I was shocked, what I saw would stay with me for a very long time.

She had no face, no hair, just plain wrinkled skin.

Andrew
PS:
I did my best to write this story by English is not my first language so it might be a bit repetitive.

Author: Andrew