my family has a little vacation home in Colorado my parents are Avid skiers which was the motivating factor behind that purchase the home has been in the family since before I was born it's definitely showing its age in a lot of ways but it's also like 40 years old it's not going to look new my dad's had to do a lot of upkeep on on the place over the years it's still in our family today and it's really on its way out at this point my dad talks about knocking it down and putting up a
new place but I don't really get involved in his decision this story takes place like 15 years ago when I was 8 and my brother was 11 we were up in Colorado during a blizzard the snowfall was insane and of course my brother and I had to go out and play in it the great thing about going up there when we were kids was the sheer amount of space the property has a huge opening with Woods surrounding in all directions there's a deadend road that goes downhill which leads to a few more almost equally big
properties it's the perfect layout for hide-and seek or snowball fights or any number of games like that my brother Josh and I went out in our snow gear to play our snowball flight game with our own little custom rules basically we'd set up two forts we could pick our forts to be anywhere but we had to tell each other where we were picking we would then make one giant snowb wall as the so-called Jewel that we'd have to successfully steal from the other base and bring back to ours Josh chose to make his base on
the nearest neighboring property there was almost never a car like nine times out of 10 that we'd go there so we'd often play games on their property too since they were never there what we do is build little walls to emulate a fort and then put the big snowball Behind the Walls so to get to each other's bases in this game we could either cut through the woods or take the road up or down to get to the opposite fort once Josh ran down the road and disappeared I was supposed to wait for him to
blow the whistle to signal that the game began I waited for a while like a long while over 5 minutes he had already set up his fort by then so all he had to do was get back down there and blow the whistle when it hit around maybe the 10-minute Mark is when I decided I probably just couldn't hear the whistle from there so I started plotting my route was it better to go through the woods or down the road I opted for the road because honestly going through the woods during a blizzard at 8
years old was a scary thought I started trudging through the unplowed snow on the ground as flakes of snow blew into my face with the amount of layers my mom made me put on though I wasn't cold at all as I approached the driveway to the neighboring property I looked through the trees and didn't see Josh over there with all the brush and trees bare in the winter it was quite easy to see through the woods so I cut into the property through the trees to kind of sneak in but Josh was literally nowhere in
sight I saw his fort so I looked around and when I could confirm he wasn't anywhere in sight I approached his fort to grab the jewel before I could I heard a woman's voice yelling out excuse me are you looking for your brother I turned in the direction it came from and it was an older woman at the front door of the neighbor's house I called back that we're playing a game she responded with your brother isn't here I was very confused I started walking towards the front steps of the house and as I got
closer the woman's face got clearer to my 8-year-old mind she looked a lot older than she probably was as I got closer to the house I noticed that one of the upstairs Windows there was someone looking out at me for a second I actually thought it was Josh it was someone with half their face covered presumably by a black beanie and the bottom part of their face covered under the bottom of the window I also noticed another trail of footprints leading to the front door they had to be Josh's the woman was giving me a
very creepy smile I remember that feeling of my heart dropping for some reason she waved me inside to come in and get out of the cold I stopped dead in my tracks and screamed joshh but there was no response the woman stopped smiling she didn't expect me to do that I also noticed that the other trail of footprints was doubled over if it was Josh his Footprints turned around and headed back towards the woods I then heard heavy footsteps from inside the house they sounded like they were upstairs coming down I started to run and
the woman screamed something at me or someone else that I didn't understand I looked back once at the house and that face that was upstairs at the window before was no longer there I ran off the property back on the road running through my previous footsteps I started to hear my dad's whistling from up the hill the whistling he'd do to get my brother and I home at dinner time when I made it back to our driveway my dad and Josh were there already having been on their way to get me before I could even
try to explain what just happened Josh was already telling me that there were people in the neighbor's house telling him to come inside I said the same exact thing happened to me so my dad went down there with some kind of weapon in his hand while we waited in the home with our mom he came back after a long while and said that the front door was locked and no one was answering so we went to another neighbor's house and they knew the owners of the house and they called them this part still gives me
chills whenever my dad met mentioned what he was told the owners of that house were not there that weekend nobody was supposed to be in the house the cops were called and everything and my brother and I did have to speak to one of the officers on scene to describe the woman after that we were no longer involved according to my dad the back door was unlocked and the house was investigated which turned up nothing for this reason my parents took home any extra valuable things in fear of a break in while we were gone
after that day we steered clear of playing on that property just from the creepiness factor of that memory alone thank God we didn't go in that house I've been skiing for as long as I've been able to walk my parents used to ski competitively that's actually how they met so it was really important to them that my siblings and I learned as early as possible fast forward about 20 odd years years and that's how old I am now this story happened to me a few Winters ago when I was 21 years old I was a
senior in college everyone knows the best skiing accessible to the Northeast is Vermont it was going to be a trip like any other it was me Jaden Ryland and air I can't remember for the life of me what mountain we were skiing that trip as Jaden had booked the whole thing and Ryland was driving what I do remember was that it was massive with like seven ski lifts covering all the different Peaks if I had to guess it was Killington we skied nearly two full days and I'm sure there were still Trails we missed that's
how big it was it was the second day after skiing the day before we had a pretty good grasp on the trails we enjoyed so this day would mostly be about testing ourselves and pushing the limits as per tradition I'd also be lying if I said we didn't have a handful of Fireball Shooters to liven things up we were having an extremely enjoyable trip the double blacks never got boring and racing down down each slope was its own little game we had maybe an hour left until the lifts closed we were all exhausted but we
knew as soon as we hit the road to head home we'd instantly miss the mountain again we were contemplating how we would end the trip at the top of the lift when two girls without their helmets made their way over to us now this might sound a little odd to some people but I wouldn't be doing the story Justice if I left out this detail the girls one brunette and one blonde were dropped at gorgeous and I don't say that in any type of strange way they were just objectively two of the most beautiful women
I'd ever seen in person it was disarming they introduced themselves as Taylor and Devon and we started making small talk they basically told us that they were bored because the mountain was full of older folk which was actually something I had remarked to my friends about the day before so it made sense why they approached us a group of young guys that seemed around their age Devon seemed like a really seasoned skier as she kept asking air all these technical questions about his ski him and Ryland actually own their own expensive skis as opposed to
renting like Jaden and I always did which the girls seem to be impressed with Taylor made a comment about our Shooters and we jokingly told them that the alcohol unlocked our true ski potential or something dumb like that which they found funny to our surprise Devon pulled out an unmarked bottle and taunted us calling us for sticking to a drink as tame as Fireball the four of us welcomed The Challenge and happily swigged some of their bottle which I could tell sent Ryland a little over the edge he tends to drink more than he could
handle so this wasn't too surprising I made a note not to drink too much because something about this whole situation just rubb me the wrong way I still had trouble believing that these two girls would want anything to do with some dumb kids like us especially since we were all wearing helmets and our faces weren't exactly visible things were going really well though Amir was being his usual overly flirtatious self but Taylor seemed like she was into it so I didn't complain I figured we were just going to spend the remainder of our time on
the slope with these girls which I didn't really mind too much hell maybe they knew something we could do after the slopes closed just then Devon asked us if we had skied down a trail called Devil's Forest a name which I definitely didn't recognize our other friend Chase would have had the trail map memorized as he's literally a walking GPS but he wasn't with us we told them we hadn't and they explained that it was a Glade Trail that's a little obscure and rarely open for those who don't know Glades are basically trails that extend
in between trees so that you're skiing through a forest we actually enjoyed skiing Glades more than anything else so this Devil's Forest Trail peaked our interest we told them we were game and they motioned for us to follow them we reached a choke point on our skis and they told us to take them off because we had to walk slightly uphill for a short while I could tell we were in a relatively desolate part of the mountain as the snow was perfectly fresh and there was no one around the thought of an adventure was kind
of invigorating though so I thought nothing of it drunk and curious we clipped our skis off and followed the girls up the mountain air and Ryland ran ahead presumably to flirt some more with them and Jaden and I hung back a little bit to give them some space as we followed I could tell Jaden looked a little wary so I asked him what was on his mind I like to think of us as the rational level-headed ones in the group air was too unpredictable and impulsive and Ryland would follow a girl if she let him
off a cliff Jaden said that it was weird that this supposed Trail would be inaccessible from a ski lift which I agreed with I had never had to walk uphill to reach a trail before we agreed to just keep a keen eye on things what could two girls do to a group of four big guys anyway they led us into the forest and the terrain finally started leveling out Jaden and I caught up with a group and it was apparent that Ryland and Amir had both made considerable progress Ryland had his arm around Devon who
was smiling and laughing they pointed in the same direction we had been traveling which had all of a sudden become a downward slope I sighed knowing this was another instance where we could have used Chase's help he would have known exactly where we were and where this Trail would have led Jaden was still skeptical and asked the girls if they were sure that this was a real Trail they responded Yes and told us that it would also take us right back to the lifts before I could say anything Devon pulled the bottle out again and
told us we had to finish it a Mir and Ryland happily took some Hefty swigs but when the bottle got around to Jaden he said he was drunk enough as soon as he spoke I could have sworn Devon's smile became a really angry scowl for a split second but by the time I blinked she was smiling again I must have been the only one to notice because I looked around at my friends and their expressions were all normal she put on a seductive smile and batted her eyes at Jaden asking him nicely he reluctantly grabbed
the bottle if just to shut her up up by the time it got to me I put the bottle up to my mouth but didn't actually drink everything about this encounter was trickling alarm Bells suddenly in my head I handed the bottle back to Devon who put it away I noted that neither girl drank this time around it dawned on me that I hadn't seen either one of them drink anything this whole time I checked my phone half an hour until the lifts closed I tried to come up with some excuse for why we couldn't
ski this Trail saying that we wouldn't have enough time to get back up and down the mountain to where we had parked the girls insisted that we'd have enough time and that the lifts were connected on the bottom anyway then without warning they told us that we were wasting too much time and took off toward the slope telling us to follow them if we could Amir and Ryland immediately followed clearly hoping for a favorable outcome at the bottom Jaden and I obviously didn't want to but figured we had no choice but to follow so that's
what we did I let Jaden lead the way because after all this was still a a challenging looking slope and skiing in the forest is no joke I'm not sure what I was expecting but when we made it to the bottom I was relieved the four of them were at the bottom of the slope laughing and flirting like they had been before Jaden and I caught up with the group but something was wrong there wasn't a lift in sight we were still surrounded by Forest on all sides I sternly asked the girls where the lift
was and they told me to stop worrying and that it was close by then they said they'd take us there in a few minutes I relaxed a little assuming that I was worried this whole time about nothing as I was rubbing my eyes I heard a distinct thump in the snow I opened them to see Ryland who was literally passed out on his back in the snow the girls laughed calling him a lightweight but I could tell it was more serious than that before I could even react air slumped over too I started freaking out
and I rushed over to them unclipping my skis I thanked my lucky stars that they they seemed to be breathing normally but I was beyond horrified Jaden took a step towards the girls asking them what the hell was going on they seemed genuinely shocked saying they have no idea what was wrong Jaden took another step before he too passed out in the snow I stared in shock still trying to wrap my head around the gravity of the situation I just couldn't fathom that this was happening to us my head started spinning and I was sure
that I was next the girls had stopped pretending by now and they looked at me like they were waiting for me to pass out I felt myself getting dizzy so I sat down in the snow even though I wanted to stay on my feet I demanded to know what they had given us they didn't respond or even move for that matter I yelled at them over and over again but they still didn't react I wanted to get up but I quite literally couldn't stand I didn't pass out though I kept my eyes open the whole
time eventually Taylor turned to Devon and said something along the lines of he must have not drank enough she looked more pissed off than anything Devon cursed before telling Taylor that they had to go I was still frozen after unclipping their skis I watched them take air and Ryland skis before trudging off into the woods I had to do something but my body still felt numb I couldn't just let them walk off with my friend skis I knew they wouldn't be able to move that fast carrying two sets of skis each especially through the snow
another few minutes passed and and I started to regain control of my body I stumbled after their tracks in the snow but it was actually freakish how far they'd gotten even with all that added weight eventually I turned to bend and saw them in the distance way ahead of me I figured as long as I kept them in sight I'd be able to track them down I followed for a couple minutes and that's when things got crazy the forest gave way to a clearing which I could see turned into a road we must have literally
been on the opposite side of the ski mountain which made sense looking back that's when I noticed the van parked in the distance I stopped in my tracks at the edge of the woods the side of the van opened and four bigl looking dudes stepped out to intercept the girls the girls motioned for the guys to get back in the van and one of them turned and pointed directly at me that's when I realized I was in too deep and also felt like an idiot for leaving my helpless friends unconscious in the woods the guys
from inside the van seemed to be debating whether or not they should leave or chase me and I wasn't waiting another second I started wobbling back the way I came knowing I'd be able to find my friends on the account of the tracks I left behind in the snow I found them still passed out I figured Jaden had had the least to drink so I tried shaking him awake first after a couple of handfuls of snow to the face he was awake enough to talk I told him what had happened still in shock we tried
waking air and Ryland up but had no luck Jaden and I figured we had no better option than praying those guys didn't decide to track us down but they never came I might not be telling the story if they had we waited about an hour for our friends to wake up and when they finally did we told them everything we had a million questions who were those girls who were those other guys what were they going to do to us it was chilling imagining what could have happened had I not been quick enough to pretend
to drink best case scenario was that we would have just woken up robbed but even that would have been horrible something tells me that no one would go to those extremes just to Rob some broke college looking kids besides who really keeps valuables on them when skiing I guess Amir and ryland's expensive skis were worth stealing but it still felt like Overkill plus how would they have even known that we had expensive skis with us as opposed to renting things didn't make sense finding the car was hell reporting it to the police was hell the
drive back home was hell the people running the mountains swore they'd identify those people but we obviously had to get back on the road and couldn't verify that the police took it a little more seriously and told us we'd be updated should anything come up I think it even made local news but it's been years now and they obviously never found everything to this day we have no idea what kind of rofy they even gave us nothing online described anything that was so effective so quickly especially in a moderately small amount our best guess was
that the substance was a mix of drugs which makes sense because all my friends were feeling kind of woozy after they woke up those girls and whoever else was behind the whole thing were some sick people I can only hope it was just an elaborate robbery and nothing more [Music] Sinister this is going to sound a little weird but bear with me every winter my friends Kyle Ricky and I have this little tradition of walking out onto this frozen lake a few Towns over it's not some Grand Event or anything we just do it for
fun there's something about the vibe of being out there on the ice surrounded by by the quiet Stillness that feels almost otherworldly it's just one of those simple things we've always enjoyed call us weird but we can never get enough of the serenity if you've ever been out in nature by yourself with the only sound being the gentle patter of snowflakes you know what I'm talking about it feels like you've got a piece of nature all to yourself the photos always turn out great too which is a huge Plus for a couple of edgy guys
like us this happened this past winter it's April as I'm writing this so about 4 months ago now I know what you're probably thinking but don't worry none of us fell through the ice that's not what this story is about it was snowing pretty heavily that night which was the main reason we decided to go it had been consistently below freezing for a couple of weeks too so we were relatively confident the lake was completely frozen over I'd personally take winter over summer any day of the week I bet all my friends would agree there
are about a million reasons why but one of them is as simple as the snowfall itself first of all it's just pretty what I like most about it though is that you'll never find yourself in complete darkness even after Sunset The World Isn't entirely dark the light reflecting off the white snow Blends day and night so you're left with this really surreal feeling that doesn't arise from anything else the moon was also pretty full that night so that feeling was Amplified Kyle was driving that night he had a pickup that handled pretty well in the
snow so we just played it safe and let him drive even though Ricky was usually the one who chauffeured us around the lake itself is surrounded by a thin Forest so we couldn't actually drive all the way to the water's edge I don't think Forest is the right word it's really just a cluster of sparsely scattered trees but it's more than enough to prevent a car from driving through we parked in a nearby lot and got out of the car it was freezing out the three of us bundled up and walked toward the lake I
didn't smoke at the time I still don't but Ricky and Kyle both do so they lit a couple of cigarettes as we walked I think it was after midnight but I can't say for sure all I remember is that there wasn't a soul out there not an animal not a person nothing no movement whatsoever besides the three of us we reached the lake and as we anticipated it seemed completely frozen over the three of us were laughing about something stupid when Kyle picked up a small Boulder and chucked it onto the ice testing its Integrity
it didn't even crack so we took that as an indication to make our way towards the middle of the lake we obviously didn't go super far on the ice that would have been careless but we did Venture a decent ways away from the ledge we were maybe 100 ft out when something caught our attention on the far side of the lake near the edge where the trees bordered the ice something big and dark was moving we stopped talking immediately we just stopped in our tracks watching whatever it was it was large hunched over and moving
slowly toward the lake finally we realized what we were looking at it was a bear Ricky was the the first to say something he whispered is that a bear as quietly as he could I didn't answer my heart was already racing if it was a bear the last thing we wanted to do is draw its attention we stood there Frozen not even daring to breathe too loudly but then as the figure moved closer something felt off the way it walked wasn't quite right too upright Too Human it also looked like there was something dragging behind
it nothing about it made sense it was one of the most bizarre things I'd ever seen and that's when it straightened up completely and we realized the truth all at once it wasn't a bear it was a person a person wearing some kind of bear suit Kyle said what the hell in a low voice and I was thinking the same exact thing I know it doesn't sound scary in a generic sense but if you had been there you would have been terrified too I tried to respond but the words wouldn't come I don't know if
I was more afraid or confused but something told me to stay quiet the figure kept moving toward the ice dragging something behind him at first it was hard to tell what it was the snow blurred the details but as he got closer I realized he was holding a rope that was attached to the thing he was dragging and a few moments later we could see it more clearly it was a small black bag it looked like a smaller sized garbage bag if they even made those either way it was chilling we stood there unsure of
of what to do my mind was screaming at me to turn around and leave but my body felt paralyzed I couldn't move I don't think Ricky and Kyle were too keen on turning around and leaving either because neither one of them flinched I probably wouldn't have left right then even if I hadn't been so scared I needed to know what that person was doing and then as if the situation couldn't get any stranger the man unzipped and stepped out of the bear suit seeing him as a person didn't make things any better he wasn't particularly
large or intimidating but there was something unsettling about him we watched as he bent down presumably to pick up a rock but I couldn't tell from so far away and then the sound started he knelt down holding what looked like a rock and began repeatedly slamming it into the ice it might have been Placebo but I swear I could feel the vibration in the ice even from the distance he was trying to break through most likely to dispose of whatever was in that bag Ricky tapped my shoulder and I turned to see him and Kyle
moving back towards Solid Ground without a word I followed suit and the three of us tried to move quickly without making too much noise every step felt deafening in the quiet even though I knew there was no way that guy could hear the crunch of snow from that far away we barely made it a few yards when a voice yelled out hey from behind us I didn't even look back I just started running praying that guy didn't have a gun the cold didn't help I found myself starting to get winded after not even a minute
minute of running I don't know if he followed I don't think he did but in that moment we were in fullon panic mode we reached the edge of the lake and at that point I was gasping for breath after a very short break we made our way back to the car silently and Kyle drove off immediately none of us had any idea what we had just seen Kyle said it was probably someone dumping their trash but I told him that was ridiculous who in their right mind would dress up in a bear suit in the
middle of the winter to illegally dump their trash there was no way Ricky said it was definitely someone dumping a body but I told him the bag was way too small for that the three of us talked about at the whole ride home but we couldn't agree on a definite explanation we never got an answer the reason I'm thinking about this now is because my mom was watching TV the other day and an old missing person's report popped up on the screen it was a child from around our area and the timeline of his disappearance
matched up pretty closely with what we had seen on that Lake I'm not jumping to conclusion I know it's a long shot and probably just an unfortunate coincidence but I can't help but wonder if those two things are somehow related by the time you're hearing this we've probably reported our sighting to the police
