[Music] my life had turned into one of those cliche country songs I was divorced broke unemployed and annoyed at the world 5 years down the drain with a woman I thought I'd spend my life with only to come home one day to find her already packed and halfway out the door the job loss came a month later and at that point I figured the universe was just trying to kick me while I was down I needed space no well-meaning friends telling me to focus on myself or find the silver lining to hell with all of
that I didn't want Silver Linings I wanted silence so when I found a listing for an off-grid cabin in the Appalachian Mountains it felt like the perfect Escape it was in some cozy rental package with a hot tub and a fire pit on airb be just a barebones cabin buried deep in the mountains the description was short remote off-grid cabin in the Appalachian Mountains no service no electricity for those looking to truly disconnect no reviews and the pictures were blurry but it looked beautiful I didn't even have an exact location just the general area and
a contact number normally I'd be wary of something that vague but at that point I didn't care I booked it for a full month the guy who owned the place was weirdly insistent that I couldn't drive there myself he said the trails were too easy to lose and that GPS was useless that deep in the mountains instead he arranged for a local guide to take me out it made perfect sense Mountain Roads rough terrain the risk of getting lost didn't seem that strange I met the guide at a rundown General Store about an hour outside
the nearest town he was already waiting when I pulled into the lot standing beside an old ATV with a trailer hitch to the back the guy looked like he'd been living in the woods his entire life try picturing a stereotypical park ranger that's been doing his job for a few years too long that kind of guy you the renter he asked I nodded tossed my backpack onto the trailer that obvious he grunted and climbed into the ATV get in the ride up was rough as hell the trail was barely more than an overgrown deer path
full of sharp turns and sudden dips after about an hour of bouncing over rocks and weaving through dense tree cover we hit a clearing with no more roads this is where we walk he said already unloading my gear I stared at him how far is the cabin few miles I grabbed my bag adjusted my jacket and followed him into the trees the hike took another hour and the deeper we went the more I realized just how far removed this place was there truly was nothing here just solid Forest pressing in from all sides I expected
to hear birds bugs maybe a distant stream but at some point the woods got quiet not in a normal way not in the peaceful Wow nature is so relaxing way I mean quiet I noticed that the guide also hadn't spoken in nearly half an hour when the cabin finally came into view I exhaled it was exactly what I wanted small sturdy a simple twoof Flo set set up with a wood stove and a creek nearby for water just me the trees and miles of untouched Wilderness the guide set down my gear on the porch and
adjusted his cap you will be fine he said finally breaking the silence long as you don't wander too far then without another word he turned and disappeared into the trees the first few nights were exactly what I needed I woke up when the sun came in through the windows spent my days hiking reading and just existing I finally didn't have my ex-wife's lawyer blowing up my inbox the first time I realized how deep I really was in the mountains was on the second night I had stepped outside to do my business and was hit with
a kind of Silence you don't get in normal life it wasn't just quiet it was absolute at the time I figured it was just how the forest worked I read once that Predators moving through an area could cause sudden silences probably just a bear passing through right so I Shrugged it off and went to bed by the fifth morning I started noticing things it wasn't anything obvious at first just a sense that the landscape was slightly different the bushes by the tree line looked Disturbed like something had moved through them probably dear plenty of them
in the area but as I walked over I saw the dirt was churned up like something had been digging or shuffling around further along I found scratches on a few trees deep ones I ran my fingers along the grooves I had no idea what kind of marks bear claws would leave but I figured this must have been a big one that was the first time I got that nagging feeling that weird gut level discomfort that something was off even if my brain was trying to logic its way out of it I pushed it down Bears
deer mountain lions this was the Wilderness if I was going to start jumping at every broken branch and Disturbed Bush I was going to drive myself crazy so I went back inside made coffee and told myself to stop being paranoid but for the rest of the day I couldn't shake it by the 12th day I was feeling at home in the cabin it was still eerily quiet most of the time but I convinced myself that's just how it was out here I'd been living off canned food and dried Goods but I still had a good
supply of vegetables rice and Seasonings I figured I'd treat myself to cooking something hot a big pot of stew I knew cooking food outside was a gamble in the wilderness even with scent blockers it wasn't foolproof if an animal got a whiff of it I'd probably lose the whole thing but at that point I didn't care worst case I'd be out of some food so I built up the fire in the stone ringed fire pit set up my cast iron partt and threw in everything I had let it simmer low and slow covered it with
a heavy lid and just to be extra safe wrapped the whole thing in a scent neutralizing tarp then I went inside stretched out in bed and fell asleep to the distant crackling of the fire the next morning I stepped outside and the yard was completely destroyed at first my brain couldn't even process what I was looking at the dirt had been torn up in massive swaths like something had been claing or shoving at the ground chunks of Earth had been thrown in Long scattered arcs as if something had raged through it with oversized limbs the
bushes near the tree line were flattened smashed down into the soil some of them were uprooted completely lying in mangled piles with their Roots exposed several small trees were bent at unnatural angles their barks scraped away in places I'd expected to find it gone obviously maybe the pot knocked over the food licked clean instead the pot was shattered split into pieces scattered across the yard chunks of food were everywhere rice carrots potatoes smeared into the dirt like something had deliberately flung them around it looked like someone had picked up the entire pot and slammed it
into the around over and over I stood there a long time gripping the railing of the porch trying to wrap my head around it a bear would have eaten the food even a raccoon would have at least picked through it this felt like something had been angry like it hadn't been looking for food but throwing a tantrum I swore under my breath and ran a hand through my hair feeling annoyance outweigh the uneasy KN I'd been careful and now I was down an entire meal in a good cast iron pot great I muttered bending down
to scoop up some of the mess for the next hour I cleaned up trying to convince myself it was just some animal acting weird I buried the ruined food deep in the woods scrubbed the yard down as best I could and sat on the porch as the sun sank below the mountain I wasn't scared exactly just annoyed the whole thing felt like some bizarre prank except there was no one around here but me whatever had wrecked my yard thrown my food around and smashed my pot had done it for no good reason and now I
was down a solid meal and cooking equipment I sat on the porch for a while after dark sipping from my flask staring out at the tree line the night air was cool the forest stretching endlessly into Blackness beyond the dim glow of the cabin's Lantern I tried listening for anything I laughed drily shaking my head that's what I thought I spoke into the silence before finally heading inside I bolted the shutters stoked the fire and crawled into bed still smelling the faint scent of stew on my hands and then the noises started it wasn't loud
at first just a faint disturbance something pressing into the Earth outside the cabin a long dragging sound I lay completely still eyes locked on the ceiling heartbeat picking up another step then another I wasn't just imagining it something was walking through my yard in all my nights I'd spent here I had heard nothing come this close to me yet the way to the footsteps was deep solid not a small scavenger something big I strained my ears trying to track its movement it wasn't the erratic rustling of a hungry animal it was wasn't snuffling through the
dirt looking for scraps it was just [Music] walking I swallowed forcing myself to stay calm of course it was back whatever wrecked my yard last night was probably checking for more food but there wasn't anything outside this time I smirked to myself rolling onto my side and pulling the blanket up jokes on you I closed my eyes listening as the footsteps circled the cabin closer now a slow steady crunch of something huge pressing into the soil then for a long moment there was nothing so I fell asleep when the Sun finally climbed over the mountains
I was itching for answers I grabbed to my boots stepped outside and just stared for a second there pressed deep into the damp soil were tracks at first I thought they were hoofprints maybe from a deer or an elk but as I crouched down my stomach tightened they were massive and wrong the facing the weight distribution they weren't four-legged whatever left these tracks had been walking upright a bip pedal I traced my fingers along the edge of one feeling the way the dirt had been compacted picturing the size of the thing that could leave Prince
this deep my head buzzed with static no that didn't make sense I stood up scanning the yard following the trail with my eyes they LED from the tree line straight to the porch and then they stopped like whatever made them had just disappeared that night I didn't even try to sleep I was done pretending this was normal whatever had been coming to my cabin wasn't just looking for food it was looking for me so I stayed up killed the fire early DED myself in scent blocker and sat in the darkness knife in hand waiting for
it to come back 1:43 a.m. the sound was distant a rhythmic crunch of heavy footsteps pressing into the dirt I grabed the knife tighter barely breathing it was back the footsteps approached the porch and then wood groaned under an impossible weight something was standing right outside the floorboards creaked a slow dragging inhale it was breathing I could feel the weight of it through the walls the pressure in the air like the whole cabin was shrinking around me I'd planned to peek through the window maybe even step outside and see what it was but I wasn't
so sure in the moment because whatever was standing on my porch wasn't a deer or a bear or anything else that belonged in these Woods it sounded huge I stayed completely still every muscle locked gripping the knife as hard as I could then just as suddenly as it had come and left the weight pulled away from the porch the footsteps retreating back toward the trees but I knew somehow that it wasn't really gone it was just waiting for the right moment I didn't sleep I just sat there in the dark staring at the door knowing
that I had no way out of these mountains until the guide came back I should have grabbed my pack walked until sunrise and never looked back but I was too afraid of getting lost so I made a plan I wouldn't try to fight it I wouldn't try to see it I would just hide the following night I did everything I could to AR Raise Myself I dowed myself in scent blocker rubbing it deep into my skin my clothes my hair I piled Furniture in front of the bedroom door not that I thought it would help
but it made me feel safer then gripping the only weapon I had a rusted hunting knife I'd found in the cabin I squeezed into the Wardrobe and pulled the door shut I sat in the dark knees to my chest breath slow and controlled and then I waited this time it didn't make me wait long at midnight I heard it it let out a sound like a hyena choking on its own laughter then a loud bang the door downstairs shattered inward the whole cabin shaking from the impact heavy footsteps wood splintering furniture shattering the thing wasn't
searching cautiously anymore it was tearing through the cabin breaking things apart as it moved a deep sniffing sound filled the air dragging inhales like a dog trying to catch a scent I pressed myself deeper into the closet tightening my grip on the knife the sniffing stopped for a long moment there was silence then from just outside the bedroom a heavy [Music] Creek it was at the door I held my breath I wanted to close my eyes to squeeze them shut and pretend I wasn't there but some horrible part of me needed to see it so
I shifted just slightly just enough to peer through the slats in the wardrobe door and that's when I saw it it had a duck under the door frame as it stepped inside toing easily 8 ft tall its body was a grotesque mixture of animals as if something had stitched it together from several different corpses its arms were long ending in disturbingly humanlike hands except the fingers were doubled two sets of Knuckles each twisting and crackling its body was covered in thick matted fur except for its torso which was strangely bare pale scarred skin stretched tightly
over its rib cage a pair of antlers curled from its skull but they weren't symmetrical one was twisted bent at the wrong angles jutting out unnaturally its jaw didn't match its face the mouth was wide gaping too far filled with teeth that didn't seem to fit together but it didn't seem to have any eyes Ro's eyes should have been there were only patches of dark sunken skin it was safe to assume that it was blind but that didn't seem to matter it sniffed the air turning its massive head in slow jerking movements it's breathing deep
and uneven it knew something was here and it was angry it took another step forward shifting its weight onto the wooden floorboards the scent blocker was working but I didn't know if it would be enough I stayed still silent I didn't breathe for a moment I thought I was safe then it lunged not toward me but toward everything else it roared slamming its fists into the walls a cural furious sound frustration twisting its movements into wild jerking violence it ripped through the room tearing the bed apart knocking over the dresser I gritted my teeth trying
not to Flinch then its hands landed on the closet my breath hitched the Wardrobe shook I pressed myself as far back as I could feeling the rough wooden panels against my spine the thing sniffed again growled low in its throat then it shoved the closet over I crashed to the ground Tangled in wooden fabric my knife slipping from my fingers for a single agonizing moment I thought this is it but as I lay there Frozen waiting for teeth and Claws and death I heard it shuffle and then it left I don't know how long I
stayed there lying in the wreckage staring at the ceiling shaking so hard I thought my ribs might crack eventually the sun rose I was out to the the cabin before the sun fully broke Over the Horizon no hesitation no second guessing I didn't care about my supplies my food or the fact that I still had weeks left before the guide was supposed to come back I just grabbed whatever I could carry my backpack a flashlight the knife a bottle of water and I ran I didn't look back if I got lost so be it it
was better than waiting to get killed by whatever that thing was all I knew was that I couldn't be there when night fell again I tried to retrace my steps following the same path the guide had led me down almost 2 weeks ago but the deeper I went into the woods the more uncertain I became everything looked different the trees felt denser closer together the trunks pressing in around me the light filtering through the leaves felt dimmer than before I tried to focus tried to match landmarks in my head the rock formation I'd passed that
on the way in that fallen tree had it been on my left before or my right doubt crept into my mind like rust the oppressive silence returned and I thought back to that article I'd read how the entire Forest goes silent when there's a predator around I wanted to believe it was an animal a bear a deer a goddamn crocodile if that was even possible anything but what I knew it really was I wiped the sweat off my brow and kept moving for whatever reason it never showed itself during daytime I walked for hours the
Sun and climbing higher in the sky my legs burning from the effort but no matter how far I went the feeling never left I was still being followed not hunted in the way a predator goes after prey this was different it was letting me tire out toying with me all I saw were more trees and behind me just at the edge of my hearring that awful sound one moment I was forcing my legs forward dragging my body through the thick forest lungs burning with exhaustion the next pure survival Instinct took over branches whipped against my
arms Roots snatched at my boots my breath came and went my vision blurred with sweat and still the feeling of being followed never left [Music] the sun was lower now the trees stretching into elongated shadows and just as I thought I couldn't take another step I saw it the break in the trees houses I stumbled forward my body moving before my brain could process what I was looking at a small village old buildings wooden storefronts a few houses tucked between between them a church steeple rising in the distance it wasn't modern not a row of
houses with mailboxes and street lights this place felt old weathered like it had been sitting here untouched for decades I didn't care how strange it was didn't care how it wasn't on any map I had seen before all I cared about was that it was civilization I had made it I was safe relief flooded me so hard I almost collapsed for the first time in hours I felt something other than sheer Terror I was out I turned I shouldn't have I should have kept walking should have run straight into that Village screaming for help and
that's when I saw it standing just beyond the tree Tree Line a figure motionless the last Light of the sun stretched long across the dirt road painting the sky in shades of gold and deep violet and just as the final sever of daylight dipped below the mountains it moved slowly it got down to a crouching position like it was getting ready to run the first building I reached looked like an old General Store The Wooden sign above the door had long since faded but I didn't care what it was I just needed to find someone
I pushed through the door the Bell above jingling as I nearly collapsed inside the air was thick with a smell of dust and aged wood dim Lantern light flickering from the walls a few people stood inside men in old work jackets a woman behind the counter a boy sitting on the stool near the St stove they all turned at the same time their expressions were blank not surprised or alarmed but definitely curious I gasped trying to catch my breath my throat felt raw my lungs burned I must have looked insane covered in sweat and dirt
shaking like I just crawled out of a grave I tried to speak but my voice cracked I I need help I managed gripping the door frame something's out there in the woods they said nothing no what are you talking about no slow down son no that sounds crazy just silence then after a long pause the woman be behind the counter stepped forward she didn't even ask what I'd seen she just looked me dead in the eye and asked calmly carefully did it follow you [Music]