STAY AWAY from WITCHCRAFT in the REZ...Native Skinwalker Stories & Cryptids

my dad had moved away to live in South Carolina in the United States for a year where he was living with his brothers he had tried to stay here in Mexico with his business his car tire business it was right there on the side of the road until almost no one passed by anymore and eventually business went down but he tried he tried in many ways until nothing was working days would go by with without a single customer and when some money came in from a simple repair just as it came in he had to

go pay it to Mrs Clarita who would always let us borrow some money as well so that we could have something to eat we were struggling big time financially and then he decided to move up north to the states to make some money he promised her that with his first paycheck he would pay off the debts that he owed her his own and those left by his brothers as well well that's how my dad was one of the most amazing people I ever came to know always looking out for his family and working the day

that he left I remember not wanting to say goodbye I didn't want to see him deep down I was actually very angry with him looking back well we were all dumb emotional teenagers at some point on the day he left I went on a school trip and we came back that afternoon towards evening however I know my dad was waiting for me at home to leave he wanted to see me before he left to the States but I ended up calling from a friend's house to tell my mom that we were going to be running

late that we would actually arrive a few hours later and I didn't get home until 8:00 p.m. I knew that my dad wouldn't be able to wait that long and that by then he would have already left this way I wouldn't see him I know at this point you might be me arrogant dumb stupid and all of the above I learned my lesson and I regret not being able to wish him safe travels and say goodbye but inside of me I wanted him to know that deep down I didn't want him to leave us besides

no one had really told us I actually found out through rumors of the Town my sister was also younger than me so she also didn't really know too much I just felt a certain way that he didn't tell his daughters his plans that's how it was here where I lived it was a very small town that everyone knew everyone I did miss him a lot but as the days and weeks went by I sort of forgot about those feelings when I was hanging out with my friends my mom spent most of her time taking care

of my sister who at that time couldn't walk much due to a disability and somebody had to take care of her all the time I took care of her mostly in the mornings but towards the evening it was my mom's job among everything that I'm going to share with you I do ask that if you judge my immaturity considered that I was um an obnoxious teenager and that when I look back I'm not proud of myself along with Sessy my best friend we were always wandering around town she was very beautiful so we were extremely

popular well I was popular by association and we were invited everywhere everywhere wanted to be our friends well her friends and well I guess cuz of that they wanted to be my friend as well and that's how we started hanging out with the two guys Rodrigo and Fidel Rodrigo was one of the most handsome guys I knew and the friendliest in town so I was surprised when they approached us obviously because Rodrigo wanted to talk to me and so Along Came Fidel and Sassy eventually started dating Fidel this girl completely fell in love with him

and so that's how the four of us all became friends and we were always hanging out it was like this just about every weekend well Rodrigo didn't actually live in town but after we became friends he would come every weekend to visit Fidel and so that's how we would all hang out one evening they invited us to a party it was going to be held in some abandoned Farmhouse there were many stories and rumors about that place place it was said that the people who had lived there just left one night just like that without

leaving any trace or sign of where they had gone but another rumor said that the cartel had taken them apparently they owed something but that's what people say around here when they want to feel safe when they prefer to think that when bad things happen to people it's because those people were involved in something maybe they owed some people money or maybe they were involved in bad things so the four of us went to the party when we got to this Farmhouse let me just say that the vibe was just off it felt strange as

if something terrible happened there maybe it was because of the rumors and stories told about it not to mention we didn't really know some of the people who were there pretty strange especially because like I said it was a small town and we sort of didn't recognize anybody there at least outside of Rodrigo and Fidel we weren't drinking and I suppose that's why we were the only ones who felt this way everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves so as soon as we could we were able to get Rodrigo and Fidel's attention and we told

him that we wanted to leave when we left I swear the vibe that we had felt earlier and all the feelings just went away I blamed it on the violence of that place not exactly to anything paranormal however I must say that this town where I live is not known for three things and please keep this in mind for everything else that I'm going to tell you one people don't live here for long they move in and they end up leaving just like that two the sort of connects with number one but half of the

people who leave end up in the cartel by choice or by force and three most important we are known for the witches for witchcraft however one doesn't have to worry about them as long as you don't mess with them they don't mess with the people they don't talk to people outside of their circle plus they live up in the mountains in places that are kind of difficult to reach not because there's not a path but because apparently only those they choose or pick can find them the witches here never let themselves be seen so much

so that when you grow up you think they are just stories told by your parents by other adults just to scare us now when I say witches I don't mean old ladies in pointy hats and brooms I mean people who just practice witchcraft I relate this to people who have neighbors or know people who practice cleansings and healings and stuff like that well that's how it is in this town technically everybody practices witchcraft to an extent however you decide to Define that anyways so after the party which fell all from the start it was still

early and we all debated on what to do next Fidel suggested that we go visit the old Cemetery just to read the graves and at that age the thought of sneaking around a cemetery it sounded like the perfect Adventure the cemetery wasn't far and with that in mind we all decided to go as we all got into the car everybody was excited and nervous the closer we got to it the more quiet we all be came you sure this is a good idea sesy asked half joking but with an edge of nervousness in her voice

it's just an old Cemetery Rodrigo said keeping his eyes on the road Fidel leaned from the back seat looking between me and Rodrigo you know nobody goes there anymore right the place is basically abandoned no one's actually been buried there for decades all the graves are old most of the people who remember those who are buried there are actually long gone themselves here it is cut the lights Rodrigo turned off the lights as we rolled slowly towards the cemetery gate trying not to be seen by anyone who might well most likely not be around the

gate was barely hanging on broken down throughout the years it's kind of sad when you think about it all these people buryed them forgotten even the ones who used to visit them are gone now like they never existed almost like no one remembers you when you're gone the cemetery was actually older than the town itself and no one had taken care of it in so many years the fencing had long been knocked down and the ground was uneven with weeds overtaking the headstones there wasn't even any more room for new Graves so the place was

left to just Decay Rodrigo turned off the engine all right here we are he said his voice a little too casual we all sat there for a moment staring into the darkness sassy took a deep breath all right let's do this who's going out there first she asked we all laughed nervously and just got out of the car the Cemetary didn't seem that scary anymore sure it was old and overgrown but it wasn't like we were walking into some scary movie I looked around and for a moment it actually felt pretty peaceful Rodrigo reached for

my hand as we started walking even though I wasn't exactly scared a few yards ahead Fidel and Sessy were in their own world whispering to each other we walked around like that for a bit pointing out an interesting gravestone here and there or just making jokes here and there honestly this place isn't that scary I said to Rodrigo I thought we would be freaking out by now he squeezed my hand yeah I kind I expected more but as long as I'm spending time with you I don't care what we do Rodrigo said eventually we caught

up with sassy and Fidel near the edge of the cemetery all of us starting to relax a bit if anything we started laughing because of how non-adventurous the night was becoming well this is the last time we left fad decide what we're going to do I said and we all started laughing as we started walking back to the car for some reason reason I looked back one more time and that's when I saw her a woman standing out in the distance her back was turned towards us I stopped and Rodrigo stopped as well before turning

back around I said hey do y'all see that as I turned to face my friends they were already looking back as well without saying a word p dead motion for us to stay quiet and to move behind find a tombstone with him all of us hiding as we stared at this person do y'all know who she is he dead whisper nobody said anything y' for the first time we are seeing one of the witches from the mountains my sister has told me that sometimes they come down here for the soil apparently because their own soil

isn't good enough for the rituals fedel said their own what do you mean their own I asked yeah the soil from their Cemetery The Witch's Cemetery I asked confused come on now where do you think they live where do you think they go what stories do you hear around here I thought you'd been here your whole life he continued look they say that just up in the mountain here there's a small Cemetery with just a few Graves but instead of crosses they have satanic symbols it's a witch's Cemetery they often go there to perform their

rituals because apparently it's a very powerful place as it holds the spirits of those who have died they stay there but when they need Cemetery soil which is Holy Ground they have to come down here to this one people say that they also take pieces of the Dead when they need them we all continue staring at her as she started walking into the tree line without having the slightest idea what Fidel was talking about ignoring him basically as we were too busy looking at this which sassy started giggling and we asked what she was laughing

at and she said how old are y'all to still believe in witches oh you don't believe me you think these are just stories fine let's go follow her I know where she's heading you two can stay in the car and keep it running because I guarantee you we're going to come back running sassy stayed quiet for a minute and then surprisingly she agreed and here I go with my stupid choices as well but I wasn't going to wait in the car with Rodrigo alone we were coming too and I wanted to see it for myself

as well I guess you can say that I spoke for both of us even though by the look on his face I could tell Rodrigo was a bit scared he most likely didn't want to go and well after what happened I know if we could go back he would have just ran out of there instead so that's what we did we started following her keep in our distance and staying quiet as we moved out of the cemetery and into the tree line the woman walked very slowly her clothing blended with everything around which was black

and dark making it hard to keep track of her at some points but every few seconds fedad would catch a glimpse of her when we look back we could still see the town lights in the distance clear enough that it seemed like we could shout or signal for help if some crazy stuff went down even though screaming wouldn't help best nobody would hear us or maybe it was simply because it was Pitch Black and we were surrounded by a bunch of trees as we kept walking suddenly someone I don't know if it was Rodrigo or

Fidel who were in the front whispered for us to stop as it was completely dark he said he could see them up ahead me and Sassy walked towards where the Rodrigo and Fidel were at and that's when we saw them far in the distance the Silhouettes Of what look to be people it looked like they were marking stuff on the ground it took me a few minutes for my eyes to adjust in this Darkness almost like there was some sort of mist but I noticed the Silhouettes were dressed in black blending into the darkness it's

like your eyes had to focus on them for a while to actually see them the reason why is because there was no campfire No Light No candles nothing then they started chanting almost singing but it was pretty strange they started to Twitch and move weird and that's when sessi or Fidel one of them moved their feet because I heard it to my left one of them broke a twig and with that they stopped their singing and it just got really quiet they stayed still for what felt like minutes and that's when Fidel said let's go

back right now we then started running back down from where we came from you could see the cemetery but we ran down laughing yet scare laughing because Fidel was just shouting at us how he told us and we didn't believe him we then hurried into the car and took off now this is where we should have known that stuff started happening but we ignored it when we got inside a car and the interior lights turned on he dad said which one of us had stepped on some dog because yeah it did smell like it but

we all checked our feet but we realized that all of our shoes seemed to be covered in dirt some yellow dirt that had a disgusting smell Rodrigo said that he was going to make us clean his car after we got back and just like that we sped away as we were on our way back to town I started feeling really exhausted and just ready to go home I'm not the outgoing type well I am I mean we all are but not this late that's when I asked Rodrigo to drop me off first even though sassi's

house was closer I started feeling ter terrible like I was going to vomit at some point we all assumed it was whatever this gold dirt mixed with crap that we all had stepped on so as soon as I got dropped off at home I took off my shoes and left them outside in the front I figured I'll clean them tomorrow I went inside my house and my mom was asleep with my little sister beside her in the living room for a moment I was startled when I looked towards the corner I swear I saw someone

standing there but it was just the close that my mom used for her sewing a bunch of black shirts that were piled too high on the chair next to the window and formed a very clear silhouette of a person it always scared me to see these things imagine walking around your home and out the corner of your eye you see a silhouette especially late at night whenever I walked around the house I would always have to look twice everywhere this time I couldn't wake my mom or take my sister to bed as I always did

I felt awful but I just went to my room and before I could even undress I fell onto the bed feeling like my head was spinning Looking Back Now I can tell you it felt like I was very drunk but without losing Consciousness just a feeling but my mind was still working fine plus I think it was a mixture of everything like the singing that we heard at the witch's Cemetery I kept echoing in my mind as I was laying down in bed I suddenly got this strange feeling to vomit and as best as I

could I threw myself off the bed to avoid doing it there and threw up on the floor I felt it deep for my stomach but then that's when I felt something in my throat like if something was stuck there an itchy feeling and this time I made my own self throw up it was a small dimiz ball of black hair Tangled together with pieces of what seemed to be dirt I don't know why and I'm not sure how to to explain it or why I thought what I did at that moment but I started freaking

out because I had this feeling that it was a dead person's hair so much for sleeping right away I cleaned everything up and went to go shower when I came back out and laid in bed I was looking up at the ceiling and my head started to feel like it was spinning I felt some sort of headache coming and I started feeling dizzy to the point where I just passed out as I woke up in the early morning I was on the floor somehow even though I know I fell asleep on the bed but I

did feel better however I could still hear that same singing echoing in my head and the only thing I could think of was that I had to go back that I had to take this thing this hair whatever it was back to the cemetery I couldn't stop thinking about it that morning and so I decided that I was going to do it my mom then told me early in the morning that she was going to go make deliveries of the the shirts and dresses that she made and that she would leave my sister with me

to take care of her as soon as she left I immediately put a jacket and a raincoat on my sister and then I called Rodrigo to come pick us up and take us back to the cemetery I didn't explain to him why or anything and he just said that he would be here shortly come to find out he was also feeling sick for some reason so it didn't seem unbelievable or crazy as to what I was requesting from him about 15 minutes later it was outside my house just as an FYI in small towns like

this where stories of witches and curses are told from one generation to the next there's one rule that everyone knows if you are ever touched by witchcraft you have to go back where everything happened and undo what was done it's not just Superstition it's something that everyone believes as we got inside a car I put my sister in the back back and I got in the front as soon as I opened the door I noticed that his car had been cleaned already dang that was fast I said Rodrigo looked at me weird and said it

was actually like this when I got inside of it this morning like all the dirt just went away weird I didn't want to talk about what we did last night in front of my sister so I simply waited for us to get to the cemetery after a while of just being silent the rain had almost stopped when we arrived we got there and my sister was just looking everywhere but I know she would be fine I told her to wait for us in the car and that we wouldn't take long and Rodrigo and I began

to walk towards the cemetery when we were a bit further from the car that's when I stopped Rodrigo and told him do you know about the stories that were told growing up about the witches and the curses did your parents ever tell you these things growing up yeah they did he said his voice quiet why do you ask ask I took a deep breath in towns like ours if you've been cursed or touched by witchcraft you have to go back to the place it happened the curse stays with you until you undo what was done

that's what everyone says what do you mean Rodrigo asked I think we ended up disturbing something that night maybe it was the way we treated the whole thing like a joke maybe it was the dirt the yellow dirt that got stuck on our shoes but the rule is always the same you have to go back you have to return to the place or it'll follow you he stopped and looked at me uh you think we're cursed I hesitated for a moment then reached into the pocket of my jacket I pulled out a small plastic Ziploc

bag I held it up so that he could see it but I didn't say anything at first he looked confused what is it he asked I spit this out I whisper my voice barely steady last night after we came back I was feeling really sick and when I threw up this came out Rodrigo stared at the bag you think that came from the cemetery I don't know all I know is that something inside tells me that we shouldn't have been here last night it's not a coincidence to me all I know is that maybe we

need to find the lady the one we saw last night even if we got to go back into that section of the woods that we went into all right fine but first time we see someone your we're leaving I did agree and when we crossed the old cemetery and started to enter the bushes and woods Rodrigo stopped for a moment and said are you sure you want to do this I mean you don't want to at least maybe wait and go with sassy or Fidel at this point I was just over Rodrigo being scared I

told him that he could wait here but I was going to go in and see if I could find this old woman to be honest I was scared but remember remember how I told you witches aren't witches like the ones you see in the movies they are real people they can be your neighbors even good people who practice healings and cleansings are considered witches again as long as you don't mess with them they aren't going to mess with you I ended up telling Rodrigo to stay here and wait for me then and then I would

go up there alone since he was being a Scary Chicken Plus he could actually keep an eye out on my sister just to be on the safe side my surprise he actually agreed I swear if he thought this relationship was going somewhere those were major points being taken Honestly though I didn't know what I was going to find or what I was even going to do I expected the worse and still nothing nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I arrived at that place from the previous night where those Figures were standing

I want to be very careful with what I'm going to tell you maybe because you won't believe me but I'm going to try my best to explain as I was walking I could feel the voices in my head quiet down that's when somehow I recognized the place I was able to see the graves just a few maybe about seven of them they seem to have been there for a long time maybe about seven of them I went up to them there was nobody around they seemed very old like they've been there a long time the

weird weird thing is that instead of crosses like in the old Cemetery there were all sorts of wooden symbols as I approached the first grave I noticed something the graves were open it was like somebody had dug everything out and they were also empty the only thing that was inside of them was what seemed to be clothing when I leaned into one of them to get a better look that's when I felt like I was going to throw up again except this time I couldn't clear my throat or do anything I started to feel like

I was choking my knees buckled and for a moment I almost felt like I was being drawn into the pit and that's when I felt someone they were holding me it was Rodrigo I stood up and hugged them and I thanked them for coming I grabbed the little Ziploc bag I had with me and tossed it into the grave and Rodrigo said are you sure you're supposed to do that I'm not sure but it's worth a shot right if only that woman was here we could have asked her what she wanted or if we did

anything wrong but I was so ignorant stupid there's nothing good in witchcraft not even the good kind it can open doors to things you don't even see you think these witches have some sort of power or something where do you think they get it from where they draw it from or who gives it to them if anybody could do these things everybody would be doing them but but it comes with a price and it comes from those things that we can't see Rodrigo said I can't believe he was over here trying to lecture me about

everything I just told him I had experienced so far and to be honest at the moment I felt a bit offended because there are good witches that live in town like my other friend Karina that I will tell you about later I was annoyed at Rodrigo at this point so I asked him why he even came over when he was supposed to be watching my sister he told me that the only reason he came is because he heard me calling him but I told him I didn't say anything and then it hit me my sister

was alone in the car we ran back to the vehicle and that's when the rain started to pour down again I felt this Panic run across me I can't believe this fool left my sister alone I said in my head I felt a way of relief when I saw my sister waiting in the car in the distance when I came out to the tree line I ran up to the car and told Rodrigo to unlock the car she looked worried I opened the door and that's when she hugged me she told me that some people

had passed by the road and looked into the car saying something to her but that she didn't say anything back to them and they just kept walking it didn't seem that strange right but to me it did why well no one in town ever went down this road it would only lead to the cemetery and that's where it ended no one had any reason to go to this area especially in this weather there were no houses nearby and the road didn't go anywhere else I told my sister that there were most likely Neighbors From the

nearby house even though there wasn't any nearby houses but that's what I told her just to keep her from being worried that's when Rodrigo said yeah let's not come here again by the way clean your shoes as I realized I was covering that yellowish mud dirt again and he was too Rodrigo dropped us off at home not even saying anything on the way back home which was actually perfect for the next several days it seemed like everything had just went away nothing else happened no headaches nothing you know how sometimes you know you did something

wrong and you just know that the other person somehow knows basically I felt free but I do wish that would have been the case a few days later I was awakened by a noise outside the house my mom wasn't home she had stayed with her godmother to take care of her as she did every other week I wasn't too worri there's always animals that make noises like that however this time it sounded different it sounded like well I'm not even sure how to describe it a non-animal noise I I know it wasn't an animal this

time I peaked out the window and saw a black figure moving quickly around in the darkness like a cat but the size of a person crawling on all fours I panicked and closed the curtain thinking it was my imagination or was I just sleepwalking I have to make sure so I looked again and I didn't see anything I let out a sigh of relief thinking it was just my eyes playing tricks on me and as I was about to go lay back down in bed I heard my sister's bedroom door opening and then the sound

of her struggling to walk down the hallway to my room I got up to help her and asked her what was wrong why she had gotten up there are people outside she said what do you mean I asked there are some women outside come sleep with me she said I helped her walk back to her room and we both laid down in bed together my sister was disabled but I know she never said any weird things like that so I had to make sure there was nobody outside I got up and approached the window and

what I saw was exactly like what we had seen days before at the witch's Cemetery in the woods it was them those same black figures they were outside my house but they weren't doing anything they were just standing there call me stupid but all I did was close the curtain and got in bed with my sister and try to think of something else I was scared and just started praying quietly in my head because I didn't want to scare my sister I thought about my dad about how much I missed him how I wish he

was here with us to protect us to comfort us and tell us it was okay I hated myself for being mad at him I eventually fell asleep with my sister because the next morning when I woke up she was next to me I wish I could tell you this was it but this continued every night for the next few days they were always out there at random times at night even though my mom was home the next few days I was still terrified and I didn't want to tell her I know that she was most

likely going to get on to me claiming that I must have done something to be experiencing those things the only thing that I did tell her was that I saw something strange outside my window and night I didn't exactly tell her that there were figures standing around the house the ones that were just looking at us at night or the time when I woke up and the silhouette of someone was in the window outside or the one about when I saw an old woman that would be peering into my window at night I know it

wasn't my sister and she wasn't ready able to walk that much plus she would never go outside or stand at my doorway for the next week it was like this I even started sleeping with my my sister every night and she thought I was trying to keep her safe which in a way I was but if anything I was doing it so I could feel safe the final straw was one time when my mom wasn't home at night I woke up really thirsty and got up my sister was a deep sleeper which is another reason

why I knew she wasn't the one walking around at midnight I left the room and closed her door I went to the bathroom first and after that I went to the kitchen and I was going to get some water when I noticed that the back door was completely open I quickly went to close it but then I noticed something on the floor in front of the door Footprints of yellow dirt traced the entire hallway leading to the living room the only thing that I could think to do was to walk back over to my sister's

room even though I had to pass by the living room doorway which is where the footprints led to forget the glass of water I left it on the counter and decided to go back to the safe space of my sister's room I walked slowly through the hall I could just continue straight to my sister's room but I needed to look to make sure who or what was in here as I walked by I peered into the dark living room there was nothing however just to double check I was about to step inside and that's when

I saw someone sitting in the middle of the darkness my heart stopped I was about to run to my sister's room when I realized it was my mom's pile of clothes that she makes as always forming a silhouette have you ever washed your clothes and just thrown it everywhere on a stand or chair you can just imagine right I let out a sigh of relief Scar and even finding a little bit of humor in it I turned around to go back to my sister's room but then something made me look back as I did the

head of this figure the silhouette that was formed by the darkness started to turn I focused my eyes just to make sure I wasn't seeing things again but then that's when I distinguished the human face a woman with no hair sitting with her back to me but she started twisting her neck to face me when she did I felt like my whole body froze I couldn't move she has some black eyes that I will never forget no eyebrows just big black pits I was going to try to run but that's when she stood up so

quickly and just ran towards me I closed my eyes and just started screaming and screaming not holding anything back I'm not sure what happened next but all I remember was screaming feeling like time had slowed down because while screaming I could remember thinking how fre freaked out my sister was going to be if she heard me I came back to my senses my mom was hugging me and my little sister was turning on the light crying not knowing what was going on I assumed she was crying from the confusion of seeing me like that I

pointed to the living room to the chair but there was no one there all the clothes and fabrics that my mom uses for her business the ones that were all piled up everywhere we're now on the floor covering that yellow dirt I tried to calm down and my mom was trying to help me as well finally I was able to breathe my mom fixed me some tea and she also said that if I wanted to I could sleep with her in her room which is exactly what I did not only her but my little sister

as well we all ended up sleeping in bed with my mom I told him that I had a terrible Nightmare and apologized and believe it or not I actually convinced myself looking back obviously it wasn't but I think sometimes we as humans want to convince ourselves that something isn't happening so that we don't got to deal with it or face it and so I spent the next several days with nothing happening which actually made me think that everything was just a nightmare nothing more than a feeling of guilt for visiting that place I they start

taking some sleep keeping pills in secret from my mom as a matter of fact the same ones that she would use and she could no longer sleep without them because of the stress caused by my father's absence or the financial struggles of having to provide and also maintain us as a family there were many times I think she actually didn't mind and maybe it even felt comfortable me being there with her I thought everything was fine and back to normal however that's when the rumor started people were saying that some of the old graves in

the old Cemetery had been open vandalized and suddenly everyone was talking about the same thing out of nowhere All the gossip was about the cemetery the one that no one went to anymore the one that we actually went to go visit it was filled with people with police officers even people from the capital in a small town like this something like this is sure to make the news at least in our local news because not only were some of the grapes died out on seven of them the bodies were taken at least what was left

of the bodies now there was no Facebook yet but the photos started going around in email chains and in some forums that were used to keep the community informed many people were talking about who could have done this while other people were saying that it was the witches everyone knew there was women who practic this witchcraft some of the rumors were that you never knew who was a witch it might have been your neighbor so when people spoke of them they wouldn't exactly say it was the witches as they were scared to say it they

just described the bad witches as old women who roam naked throughout the forest who would come down to steal some of the livestock some stories were even used by parents to scare children at night the talk was that the bodies were used by witches for their own ritual but the m May of this town a middle school teacher who didn't even know how he ended up in that position tried hard to convince people that it was all nonsense but he assured the town that it wasn't anything paranormal or witchcraft itself he swore up and down

that none of that was true that it was most likely some of the young kids who again everyone in town knows that only the young kids go to that place to smoke and drink to get away from the public and not be seen he said that this had nothing to do with somebody doing witchcraft that there wasn't a witch's Cemetery I couldn't help but think that maybe all of this had something to do with what we saw and experienced that night but I couldn't say anything I had to keep it a secret why get myself

into trouble why get involved in something I shouldn't why should I admit that we walked to that hidden cemetery and that it was real that we saw those figures those witches the next day hey even though there were always two policemen guarding the cemetery that the mayor had actually placed there to guard it further from anything else they found something strange well not really strange they found the remains of something of someone people started saying that the witches left something or someone a body but it was in a terrible State the talk or the rumor

was that it was the body of a kid or what was left of him at least they had placed it in one of the seven Graves this actually did cause true fear in the whole town the people in the town began to stay inside at night saying that the witches were on the loose and hunting the only people who went out at night from that day on were the police and the mayor and his wife the mayor wanted to show the people that there was nothing to fear that there was nothing going on but there

was one night when I chose not to take those sleeping pills I just didn't want to grow dependent on them and that night something woke me up around 3:00 in the morning I got up from the bed and looked out the window nobody was there but that's when I heard voices coming from the hallway I stepped out of my room and the hallway was empty but that's when I heard a strange raspy voice coming from my little sister's room but the voice or whatever it was was now my sister's voice it was the sound of

an old woman I ran to her door terrified but it was locked no matter how hard I tried to open it it wouldn't budge and that was impossible because our doors didn't have locks but the door knob wouldn't turn it was almost like someone was holding it from the inside to prevent me from going in I went to get my mom but she wouldn't wake up so I went back determined to break down my sister's door if I needed to but this time it opened my sister opened it looking at me like if she had

just woken up I hugged her and checked her room but everything was fine normal I asked her what happened who was in there with her hoping that she would say no one that it was out a mistake and that maybe I was dreaming but instead she said she left who was in here with you I asked the lady the old woman with no eyes or hair the old woman who comes every night I took a few seconds to process what I just heard to ask her what the hell she meant by saying that she came

every night I couldn't believe it my little sister had been experiencing all of this and hadn't told us she could barely walk a few steps without falling without needing somebody's help she had been going through all of this alone for so many nights it broke my heart she told me it was the woman from the yard among other figures as well but only she would come close to the window looking in but the night that I woke her up with my screams that's when she started appearing inside naked sitting in the wooden chair that we

kept in her room by the window my sister said that she would tell her that our dad was never coming back that he already had another family over there in South Carolina that he had found a woman with perfect daughters not like us with a healthy daughter not like her a kid who could run and play alongside him that over there he had an older daughter who wasn't crazy like me who was always in a good mood and a mother a partner for him who had become a girlfriend not like our mom who blamed them

for now being able to support the family and get ahead in life my sister told me this without crying but deeply sad accepting it even though she was too young to understand adult relationships and all the stuff that comes with it and that's why because of what she was saying and all the details of it I knew she wasn't making any of this up that it couldn't come from her own mind someone was telling her this someone was talking to her every night everything made sense now someone was coming to visit her I ended up

sleeping with my sister the rest of the night the next morning when I woke up I decided to talk to my mom about this I don't know why but knowing that my poor little sister was going through all of this actually made me say something about it if it was just me I would have been fine with it I mean not fine but you know face this alone and let me face the consequences of my own actions but now that my little sweet innocent sister was brought into this I had to tell my mom everything

everything that happened in the cemetery everything from the yellow dirt from what happened when we returned to the cemetery the next morning those people surrounding my sister in the car every single detail but she didn't believe me I felt that she didn't want to believe it she told me that if I was worried about the witches why didn't I go to the police and tell them what I saw show them exactly where that Str Cemetery was at that maybe this could help them solve what they were investigating and then what she told me next broke

my heart she said that it's not that she didn't want to believe me she said that if she accepted to believe me there would be no limits that I could basically invent whatever I wanted just to get away with whatever I wanted to do in life she said not to talk to her about this no more and that if a witch did come come at night she was going to send her to my room so I could deal with her what the sometimes I just couldn't understand my mom well so much for out of this

I ended the conversation and went back crying to my sister's room she was already awake and asked me what was wrong I just hugged her for the next hour or so not saying anything I then heard my mom be not sure where she was going but I swear my mom was nice sometimes almost like bipolar she had these characteristics where it was like who are you you know I heard the vehicle turn on as she left I realized this was my chance remember when I told you that I had another friend a friend named Karina

she was actually the neighbor from across the street she was taking care of the house that the neighbors had left behind they left it to her so no one would break in or take over Karina was around 20 years old and she also had a son his name was bito there were never any signs of the dad the story was that he ended up marrying somebody else from town who didn't want to take responsibility for paito Karina was only a few years older than me she knew a even though we were close in age she

was sort of a misfit she didn't really hang out with anyone I often saw her at dawn walking through the town with paito tra to her back she would return with bundles of plants and plenty of bags in her hands she would light small Fires at random hours preparing mixtures outside and singing and chanting in the backyard stuff that I couldn't quite make out it was well known in town that Kina practiced kuras or healings in English it was her own form of medicine passed down through her mom but it was nothing like the healings

I had seen before her methods were a bit different people respected her for it even though many kept her distance which is why she was more left alone and not many of the young people wanted to be her friend maybe I got to know her better because we were Neighbors when I saw her outside that day I decided I was going to ask her what she thought of everything that was going on the moment that I approached her before I could even say a word she looked at me and asked have you seen her yet

surprised I replied have I seen her who even though I already suspected the answer the woman that came into your house she lives there she leaves through the window and crawls into the hole in your roof that's where she hides during the day and at night she comes back out and enters through your sister's window when she told me that I felt a chill down my spine I got scared I looked back at the house and indeed there was a small hole near the roof like the holes that pigeons make to get inside that's when

it clicked the noises that I've been hearing that were hard to describe which I thought were animals were most likely coming from the attic and the only thing I could do in response was to ask another question she's a witch right no she's a dead woman I'm not sure where you brought her from if it was a witch that's been hanging around she wouldn't have let you get close to my house she said smiling as if she realized she might have been too honest she must have clung to you from some place you enter But

if you haven't seen her yet I don't think you will not many people notice them but everyone can feel them and she was telling me that's when I saw paito he was playing with a girl that I didn't know off to the side of of her house she looked to be about 7 years old she told both of them to go inside and that she would be back soon she was just going across the street she then took some plastic bottles that were filled with something from her bag it almost felt like she was expecting

me this whole time they don't always stick around much but with a good Kura a good cleansing they leave they go back to where they came from by the way where did you go to bring this one back with you she was asking as we crossed the street together there's been a bunch of times where I had the chance to talk with Karina but I was always amazed by how she spoke about these things I think that's why for the first time in days I felt peace almost safe around her she knew what she was

talking about even if I didn't fully understand however from the time that we left her house until we crossed the street and reached mine I noticed that she was starting to slow down as we approached my house she then peaked in through the window as if looking for my mom and I told her not to worry that my mom wasn't home my mom didn't like me spending much time with Karina and she also knew that everyone in town sort of felt this way one because they blamed her and accused her of witching the guy that

she was with and that apparently that's why he left her because again everyone knew that she practice her own stuff she started shrug her shoulders and said she felt something strange on the back of her neck she then asked if we had a ladder or something to get to the roof I said no but my dad left a bunch of crates from his business in the backyard so we went and pulled some crates we had behind the house and set them up to stand on them our own little platform she then soaked the cloth with

water from one of the bottles that she had brought she started praying something and then stopped again it already seemed like something was B bothering her something was making her feel uncomfortable the confidence that she had a few moments ago was nowhere to be found she climbed into the crates with the so cloth in hand and was able to appearer through the hole in the roof and that's when she gasped she then jumped down and started walking towards her house dropping her bottles dropping the cloth and almost running back across the street I followed right

behind her very confused asking what was going on and she kept repeating that I should take the cloth wipe down the doors of my house take the bottles and sprinkle them on the doors and windows I kept asking her why asking what she was going to do about the woman on the roof she then ran inside her house and with the door half open she looked out scared and told me not to go near that hoe in the roof to use what she had given me that maybe maybe it would help me get through the

night calmly but that she couldn't help me any further and just like that she slammed the door in my face I knocked again after she slammed the door begging her to tell me what was happening I asked her what she would do if it was her kid in that house like my sister was she opened the door looking down avoiding to look behind me at the house and she said there are many many of them hiding in your roof they looked at me they way I saw their eyes shining in there like animals they're feeding

off of somebody I don't know how long they've been there I don't know where you went but I can't help you anymore I only know how to do little things I'm sorry really I can't help you anymore she then asked me to come closer and when I did she whisper in my ear there's a witch in your house she's calling the dead and just like that she slammed the door in my face again I ended up walking back home confused wondering if everything was true I mean she didn't have a reason to lie I got

back home and got on the phone with Rodrigo to find out what the heck is going on in this town his mom asked me if he wasn't with me and I told her no she asked if he was okay and she said that her son had been acting very strange she also said that Fidel had come to look for him in the middle of the night and they stayed talking outside for a long time she mentioned that Fidel looked very thin like he had an Aiden days and that's when it hit me I realized it's

been about a week since I had spoken with Fidel or sessie not sure if it was just cuz of everything going on but it had been about a week now since I heard from them both she told me that this whole time she thought he was in our town hanging out with us and staying with Fidel I told her I'm not sure but if if I was to hear from him I would let her know well so much for him being Dependable I made my sister breakfast that morning and we just talked it felt nice

I went out with my sister and we went around the neighborhood I was pushing her wheelchair because she couldn't walk well she could walk but only a little bit before getting tired and her legs giving out not just her legs but her voice too she was always feeling very weak it wasn't anybody's fault that she was born like this so I would try my best to be the best sister she could have sometimes I did feel guilty or bad because I would go out with my friends and she couldn't go nowhere but stay at home

she didn't even have friends the only friends that she had was me and my mom and well my dad but he was nowhere to be found he hadn't even called back home since he left what if he really did start another life in the states this wouldn't surprise me a lot of people do that a lot of men they end up leaving saying that they're going to get a Visa or permit and they go make some money and come back sometimes they just disappear building a whole different life up north we were outside that whole

afternoon just going to the market square looking at the different vendors and we just spent the day together clearly to stay away from the house after a few hours I figured my mom would be back home and we decided to go back my sister was very sleepy that she even fell asleep on the wheelchair but it was okay she spent most of the day sleeping the past few days and now I finally understood why she couldn't sleep at night at least the past few days when we got home the door was open and my mom

was standing in the doorway very angry looking at some of the stuff Karina had left what is this my mom asked pointing at the bot mod they're from Karina she told us it's to keep us safe that we need to sprinkle some of it around the house but my mom cut me off grabbing my chin saying don't you dare sprinkle this around the house and she walked away still mumbling though cuz I could hear you don't listen why don't you just listen why are you just like your father y don't even do anything around here

she then started pacing back and forth she then took her container of pills out of her pocket stormed inside and I could hear that she locked herself in her room before I could even say anything my sister started crying and I just told her it was going to be all right that Mom is having a bad time from working so much as I was moving the wheelchair up the steps to the doorway the car pulls up to the driveway of the house it was Rodrigo and Sassy was with them I was so happy to see

them without even saying anything I close Clos the house door and locked it just in case my mom stepped out of the room she wouldn't hear us Rodrigo and Sassy stepped out of the car sassy looked like a different person she seemed to have age looking twice her age heavy eye bags and looking like she hadn't slept she asked me how we were holding up I asked her what do you mean and she replied isn't there someone in your house didn't someone follow you from the cemetery I briefly describe everything I've been experiencing and I

even described everything that my sister was experiencing yeah it's her sassy said I only see her as a floating head in my room but it's the same woman the one without eyebrows or hair she appears to me just like that just a floating head in the middle of the night not only that I spoke with Fidel and he said that we needed to go back to the witch's Cemetery he said that we have to return with everything that we brought including the clothes that we wore when we first went in there and burn it all

there inside of the graves basically purify ourselves he said he doesn't know if it's going to work but it's worth the shot I looked around and that's when I said so where is he he said he wasn't feeling good today when I called him this morning so he was just going to stay at home sassy said let's go see him him I'm sure all of us convincing him will make him get up even if he's sick as I said that sass he got quiet we tried to go pick him up but his mom said that

she hasn't seen him and she thought he was with us that's weird Rodrigo I tried calling your place and your mom also said that you haven't been home he looked at me and said I slept over at F dad's house and this morning I stepped out but when I came back to his house a few few hours ago his mom said that he thought he had left with me and that's when I went over to Sassy's house and now we came over here maybe he went to the cemetery but that wouldn't make sense we can't

even go near that place because of the police and because of the body that they found they would blame us the mayor had been pushing the idea that there were no witches it was just the local kids and if we weren't safe we would be the ones to be blamed so we decided that we would do it all together including Fidel especially since it was starting to get dark and because the mayor had mandated a curfew we couldn't even be out this late before they left I pulled sesy aside feeling a little unsure but asking

her if she could help me with something before she left I gave her one of the bottles that Karina had given me earlier Karina said this could help to keep us safe can you help me sprinkle some around the house house sassy gave me a skeptical look you mean that crazy girl you really believe this is going to work I Shrugged I had no other choice I'm not sure but it's worth a shot with that we walked around the outside of the house sprinkling some around the corners and near the windows I looked over to

Rodrigo as he stood by the car glancing nervously at the sky he was probably anxious about getting back home the mayor was strict about the curfew especially because of the Grave disturbances and anyone caught outside after dark was going to get in trouble I mean it's not that you couldn't go outside but basically if you got caught you better have a good reason as to why you were outside well if you were a teenager you had to be with a guardian anybody else wasn't exactly excuse as long as you had a good reason as to

why you were out he was serious about cracking down too Our Town isn't that big well it is big but everything is spread out just a few streets so it was easy to come across someone at night because there weren't that many roads we couldn't afford to draw any attention to ourselves so I figured that's why he was looking nervous I mean after all we did go around and leave all of our Footprints and fingerprints around the graves but I know it wasn't us who did anything with that body once we we were done sassy

and Rodrigo quickly said their goodbyes you should head inside Rodrigo said the police are going to come by here in a few and I got to drop Sessy off and hopefully Fidel is back at the house by now he has to be I nodded watching them disappear down the road before turning back to my sister who was just sitting quietly on the porch I lifted her into my arms I carried her inside her head resting on my shoulder I walked inside the house I felt quiet we both fell asleep in the living room and for

a moment I felt a sense of relief maybe because I felt safe with my sister or maybe because the only escape from everything that was going on was when I was asleep whenever I would dream dreaming and forgetting about everything and I did dream and it was my Escape but then something happened that I think actually did happen if that even makes sense I heard someone knocking on the front door then I heard my mom's bedroom door open she asked who was knocking at the door at this hour I woke up it wasn't quite morning

yet but it wasn't completely dark outside the sun was beginning to rise someone's knocking on the door go check my mom said I got up to look out the window and there was a a woman outside knocking I recognized that face she was extremely thin standing outside it was the old woman I had seen in the living room the old woman that my sister saw the one that sess he saw she was now standing knocking at my door I begged my mom not to open the door but she didn't listen she opened the door and

stepped outside I couldn't do anything that's when I heard my mom say good evening and a voice outside responded filled with fear I peaked out the window I didn't even dare to get close to the door good evening The Voice replied through the window I could see that woman in front of my mom however she was locking eyes with me looking straight at the window where I was they were talking but I couldn't understand what they were saying what creeped me out the most was that she was looking directly at me the whole time she

then approached my mom and gave her something from her purse and that's when my mom said yes I'll be right back I figured that she was coming inside so I ran to hide well I acted to be asleep across from my sister my mom came back in and I'm not sure if she thought I was asleep or if she just didn't care but my mom quietly approached my sister and I acted to to be asleep only slightly opening my eyes so she wouldn't notice that I was watching that's when my mom took what seemed to

be a red rag it almost looked like a scarf and she passed it over my sister's face then she went back to the front door as soon as I heard the door close I got up to go look out the window again and I saw how she handed the rag to the old woman she then put it inside her bag and the old woman looked at at me with a look that I will never forget she grinned and that's when I noticed that she was missing a few of her teeth then she waved at me

that's when I ducked away from the window just as I noticed that my mom was about to turn towards the window and that's when I woke up I woke up next to my sister I looked at the clock in the living room and it was 6:00 a.m. surprisingly this night was different from the others aside from the dream that I just had we didn't experience anything strange no creepy noises no lady standing in the corner no floating head nothing it was almost peaceful almost like if what Karina had given us actually worked I drifted off

into sleep again with my sister next to me thinking that maybe just maybe we had done enough to protect ourselves when I woke up in the morning I assumed my mom was still in her bedroom because the house was quiet and my sister again she's a heavy sleeper I then got up and did my business in the bathroom and I figured I would try to go get more answers from Karina when I went to go knock I realized that the door was cracked open I knocked for about 5 minutes and no answer I decided to

push the door a bit open just to see if everything was okay but when I did the whole house was empty like completely empty like if nobody was living here there were no signs of her or even paito it's almost like she had moved out I went walking down to Mrs clarita's store you know to see if she knew where Karina might have gone or if she moved out or what she said that she hadn't seen Karina in a few days but that if she did leave it wouldn't be the first time that someone left

the town without paying what they owed I know she was hinting at my dad I know what she meant but I mean it's not like I could do anything about it my mom was trying her best with her clothing business then she smiled and said speaking of people who leave do you know when your father will be back I told her I didn't know but that it wouldn't be long before he came back for us I say that because I already did want him to come back and just moves out of of this cursed place

I told her thanks for letting me know about Karina and to not worry when my dad comes back he's going to pay her in advance yeah right I thought I have no idea when he's coming back as I was walking back home I started thinking about how I couldn't trust my mom anymore I had no idea what my mom had done what she was doing where she had been going or anything damn I wish my dad was here I regreted big time not saying goodbye to him I miss him taking me out and holding me

always locking down the house and making sure everyone was inside then I got angry I started to remember what the old lady who appeared to my sister said about him that he wasn't going to come back that he had another family and had forgotten about us when I got back to the house it was quiet my mom wasn't home I wonder where she went this time and for a moment I actually felt a small sense of relief I actually felt better well the house itself felt better when my mom wasn't home my sister was still

fast asleep in the living room so I decided to make us some breakfast it felt good just spending time with my sister playing with her as she woke up and having a normal morning for once we hung out together eating and just watching a Nolla just as I was starting to feel some sense sense of calm the house phone started ringing I picked it up and on the other end was sesy her voice shaky you need to come over right now please we also have an idea without thinking twice I convinced my sister for us

to go to sese's house she gave me a look like here we go again but that's how she was I mean there was no way I was going to leave her alone here I packed everything up for my sister and I grabbed her wheelchair and off we went it was Midday by the time that we got there the streets were empty the whole town was empty people almost seem to be afraid of everything that was going on well with the graves and everything else that is including the curfew especially because nobody wanted to take a

risk and be caught outside after dark especially after what was found later that poor kid or what was left of him buried in those Graves when I finally got to cass's house fedad and Rodrigo were already there I started to wonder why Rodrigo hadn't pick me up at this point instead of having to walk with my sister all the way over here I figur he must have been dealing with something as well because when I got there they all looked different even Rodrigo looked like he hadn't slept in days I told my sister that we

were just going to be here for a few and I placed her in the living room with the TV on and so all of us moved to the dining table sitting down we ended up talking about everything that was going on and even Rodrigo said that he started experiencing some things at Fidel's house basically we all determined it had something to do with this creepy woman that we all kept seeing sassy then said after her and Rodrigo left my house last night they went over to fet's house and he was there so they were just

chilling outside in the front porch even eventually Rodrigo went inside the house to sleep and that as they were just outside talking they started to hear some crying it sounded so close they assumed they were no longer in danger well let me backtrack you know how people down here say when it comes to Laona that if you hear her cries far away she's close but if you hear her cries nearby she's actually leaving well they said that's what they heard but that suddenly down the street they heard a woman who was walking crying out loud

talking to herself and crying looking around and turning towards them when she saw them she ran up to them and they were going to run inside the house but sese's mom had locked the door so that they wouldn't go inside for all you young people when we would visit each other and our parents had to go out or something they would lock us outside so that we wouldn't go inside the house house or they would lock us out and they would go to sleep that way they would have to wake up to open the door

and find out what time we got home the next thing you know the lady is right behind them as they turned to look at her she started saying my son my son sassy started screaming because she recognized her as the mayor's wife not only this she also looked like she was somebody else heavy eyes looking like she hadn't slept or eight in days she then started saying my son give me my son back give me my son back give me my son back then a police vehicle quickly arrived it was the mayor he got out

and hugged his wife apologizing to sesy and Fidel but the woman wouldn't stop asking sesy about her son but then she started saying Help Me Help me find my son the mayor took her away and the two policemen apologized to Fidel and sessie telling them not to worry that it was just a mental breakdown that she was having sassy then asked the police officers but is her son okay she said that one of the policemen was about to answer when the other one interrupted him saying the couple never had children you know that they then

walked away and left with the mayor and his wife I then started telling them about what happened with my mom as well how I saw my mom go over to my sister and do things to her well not do things but whatever it is that she passed over her face I'm not sure if it was a dream or not but it all felt real I told him how I had watched from the window as my mom talked with this old woman the one with the missing teeth smiling and waving at me I don't know if

I can trust my mom anymore I don't know if she's part of all this or if she's being manipulated but she's been acting very different Sassi then said whatever this is it's getting worse everything is f then said that he remembers aside from all the stories that he was told about the witches from when he was younger he said that his mom used to say that this town was full of witches and that sometimes these witches strike deals with some of the town's people who could pay or offer something of value something The Witches could

feed on at least that's what some of us were told when we were younger rumors that is but he always thought there were just stories to scare kids into coming home on time and so that they wouldn't talk to strangers wait you don't think that my mom is offering my sister's health for something do you I said who knows what's going on at this point Fidel said for some reason I didn't think my mom would be doing this but I wouldn't doubt it with how she's been acting we we couldn't trust anyone but I also

didn't know what to do I think we need to go back to the cemetery it's not a coincidence that all of this started after we went we need to find that woman Fe dead suggested but the cemetery is guarded sassy said not that Cemetery back to the witch's cemeter no one knows where it's at no one's been there or will even go there they're not guarding that one they're guarding the old Cemetery where the body was found I don't think they're even looking for it why don't we go before night falls we still have a

few hours before it gets dark fad said I looked at Rodrigo who's been quiet this whole time what do you think I asked he looked at me and said at this point I don't know maybe we shouldn't be digging into things we have no business messing with what if it just makes things worse some things are better just left alone where we shouldn't have been in the first place the Rodrigo said only the police and the mayor and his wife were out at night trying to convince everyone that there was nothing to fear that there

were no witches that's what they told everybody even even rumors began to spread in found that on top of this people could hear the yorona at night and this was true to a certain extent I believe it was the mayor's wife since thatu fad and Sassy came across I ended up leaving my sister at Sassy's house she said that her mom was going to work late today so she would be the only one here and so this time we did something different from last time instead of going to the old Cemetery first we decided that

we would park at the old abandoned Farm where we went to the party and walked from there to the cemetery it wouldn't be that far however we were going to have to manage our time since we would have to make it back before night time when we stopped at the old abandoned Farmhouse we went inside as the plan was to put Rodrigo's car inside but once we ENT we noticed that the walls look differently than from when we first came for the party there were strange symbols all over the walls the floor and even the

ceiling I'm not even sure what it was but it looked like this place had been used for something dark well witchcraft that is a glance at Rodrigo and Fidel you guys never mentioned any of this when you told us about the party I said where did you even hear about it Rodrigo let out aside avoiding my look but it was Fidel who answered looking nervous as he SC scratched the back of his neck someone posted about it online on a forum he said with his eyes looking down we didn't think it was anything serious I

stared at him trying to process what he was saying you're telling me that you dragged us here because of some random post Fidel's face turned pale it's not like we knew it would be like this all right let's just get this over with and find that old crazy woman at this point we walked out and decided not to even park the car inside the symbols the markings everything felt weird about that place so we decided to walk to the cemetery approaching it from the side in order to avoid the front gate from a distance we

noticed something strange there were no police officers there maybe they were only stationed there at night but it didn't matter we were planning to cut through the forested area on the side and find the witch's Cemetery again we did end up walking through all the brush and the branches and trees however after about 30 minutes something was off this is the right way right Fidel asked I noded even though doubt had already started creeping in my head yeah I mean it should be Rodrigo chimed in we found it last time it was close by we

didn't walk this long over grown bushes the sky was starting to darken as well Rodrigo stopped and looked around you could see that he was annoyed we've been out here for almost an hour and still there's nothing it shouldn't be this hard to find or maybe it doesn't want to be found sassy said under her breath but loud enough for everyone to hear what do you mean fad shivered and ran a hand through his hair this is crazy y'all let's just head back before it gets too late plus I'm starting to get creeped down looking

around one last time the darkness was creeping in fast yeah we should head back I need to get back to my sister and if we're caught out here after dark we'll have to make up some excuse for the police after we get taken to the police station if he dead then looked around and said all right let's call it we'll try again tomorrow but we need to find her we ended up retracing our steps and walking towards the only light out of the woods as we finally made our way out of the woods we stopped

dead in our tracks there standing beside the open Graves was someone it was her the witch the same woman from a distance we knew it had to be her the witch that old woman however it wasn't completely dark yet yet so we could distinguish her shape that's when I started running towards her my heart pounding in my chest I'm not sure what I was thinking but I wanted answers from her as I closed the distance she looked up right at me that's when I realized it wasn't the old woman it was Karina my mind raised

trying to piece it together what was she even doing here why was she at the cemetery but before I could even call out to her she turned and ran in the opposite direction Straight Into the Woods I chased after her without thinking too fast and she stayed ahead of me disappearing between the trees my friends all of my friends started shouting behind me stop don't go back into the woods but I couldn't stop I had to know what Kina was doing out here why she had ran and what she knew and my friend's voices started

ringing in my ears I slowed down realizing that she was gone I stopped defeated turning back towards them Roo caught up to me first shaking his head you can't just go off like that fad look shaken we told you to stop who knows what is out there I barely listen my mind's still on Karina we need to go something's not right we have to get back to my sister we made our way back to the abandoned Farmhouse and as soon as we got there that's when we heard it low Eerie singing the same ones that

I heard after the day of the party the day after the cemetery the ones that had followed me home we looked towards the cracks of the doors of The Farmhouse and we could make about seven figures your Silhouettes barely visible in the darkness none of us even D to step inside whatever was going on here we were not going to find out let's get out of here Rodrigo said and with that we took off we went back to Sassy's house my sister was asleep and I hugged her they took us home it was very late

I imagined that my mom was going to tear me apart when I got home but instead she ran out of the house when Rodrigo pulled into the driveway I stepped out and she hugged me and she said that we needed a talk but she was smiling happy she was saying that my dad was on his way back she said that she spoke to him and that he was at a cousin's house about 6 hours away however since the Greyhound bus doesn't go close to our town he was going to catch a private a transportation company

bus to bring him here and he would be here at 4:00 in the morning my mom said that he was coming for us I'm not sure if it was to take us away or to stay but he had told my mom that we would never be separated again I kind of forgot about everything that we had been experiencing as I was excited like never before even my friends got happy and I jumped for Joy even my sister woke up I told her that our father father was on his way back my friends ended up leaving

and I told him that I would call them tomorrow we all went to the living room and stayed up as long as we could waiting on him my father had gone to the states a few times and he always brought back so many things for us even all small toys and sweets were pretty cool however my dad didn't arrive by 4 in the morning we stayed up a little longer a few hours and then Dawn came and we were still up my sister was already asleep and I'm sure we all ended up snoozing in and

out throughout the night that's when my mom started calling his cousins who actually said that he had left on time that they dropped him off at the bus station and they hugged him and said goodbye and they actually did see him get on we spent that whole day making phone calls and asking around town calling my cousins asking them if they made sure it was him that they left him on the correct bus but it's like nobody knew anything about him in the next few days fead Rodrigo sesi and I all ended up losing someone

someone disappeared like Karina who I never saw again the people who do end up leaving town like the mayor who stole everything that he could who went on to work for the state government and now now he in the Republic and a multi-millionaire and and he's married to a very beautiful very young woman who actually seems just as bad as him at least that's what we think everything seems to have gone well for him except for his wife who went crazy lost her mind she was admitted to a hospital back in the capital my sister

she woke up healthy one day which is basically the only good thing that has happened since then you can say my mom my mom has also been losing her mind during the day it's not so noticeable but every night she wakes up and goes to wait for my dad I don't really speak too much with sassy he dad walks around the streets of the town like a madman Getting Thinner and looking like he's on drugs or something Rodrigo does come around but he never lets himself be seen by anybody people do say that when he

comes it's only for a day or two he gets here in the evening and he always leaves Before Dawn without seeing anyone sometimes I feel like the cemetery is calling me sometimes I'll see Flyers posted around town talking about invites to parties and this and that but who's even putting these things around town sometimes I'll have drinks dreams and in the dreams these people are begging me to go to the cemetery but I refuse to you know what's the worst part sometimes I hear my mom talking to someone when her room is supposed to be

empty sometimes I hear someone answer her sometimes that pile over cloes on the chair moves in the darkness and I refuse to look I refuse to see if it's her again that old woman as a matter of fact I see her so often she sits at the market square she looks very old she seems like she's about to die but she's still here every day she sits in her wheelchair smiling at me with that same grin almost like mocking me anyways anything I say from here on would just be theories and speculations and because of

that it's better that you come up with your own guesses as to what happened here maybe from the outside you understand better than I do but I swear before I say goodbye for good hear me out I wish I could sit here and tell you that I left the town that I was able to escape with my family far away from this place that I got married and started my own family and was now just telling the story but I can't I feel like my time is coming to an end my mom is losing her

mind my friends are not here no more and the guy who was supposed to be my boyfriend is no longer the same I believe that the old woman is still alive because she took my father and not only him but also the relatives of sassy Rodrigo and Fidel that's why it seems like she's about to die but she keeps hanging on I think the witches or her also took paito and made Kina joined their Clan maybe that's why she also lost her mind and that's why she was wandering around the cemetery maybe the mayor's wife

lost her child because the mayor gave him up possibly in exchange for what he has now and that's why she went crazy just like my mom who still waits for my father father every single night something I don't understand is why Rodrigo comes back but he doesn't let anyone see him why does he come back and why does he leave as far as the dreams and signs and the voices calling me back to the cemetery I feel like they want me to do something in exchange for someone else's life so that maybe this old woman

can keep living but I'm not sure maybe I'm just going crazy like everyone else in this town for now all I can say is this you might be curious about witchcraft about everything that surrounds it but I beg you don't do it don't mess with things you don't understand and Don't Go Near something that doesn't seem to have good intentions looking back I should have known better who in their right mind would go to a c AR at night or two strange parties thrown by people you barely know in the middle of nowhere I'm writing

this and posting it online maybe one day someone will find it maybe someone will read it and wonder what really happened in this town maybe they'll dig deeper but who knows if I'll even be alive by then I never got the chance to say goodbye to my dad how I wish I could go back back to that day to see him just one more time to wrap my arms around him and hold on to him a little bit longer to actually say the words that have been stuck in my heart ever since but I didn't

and now it's just me and my sister sometimes I wonder if he gave his life so that my sister could be healthy I'll never know for sure but what I do know is That's Just the Two of us now we hope to leave pretty soon to get far away from here but where can we go I have no idea maybe I'll finally say goodbye but for now I'm left with just the memories I just wish I could see him one more time hear his voice telling me that everything is going to be okay I'll wait

just like my mother is waiting like we have all waited for that moment when I can finally say goodbye if it ever gets here and unless something happened that I'm not aware of this is the first time anyone outside the family has heard it it happened on the Navajo res in Arizona that's where my father's family lived well some of them still live there while others like some of my aunts and uncles moved out with their own families as well they moved outside the res we eventually moved to a nearby town as well also outside

the res now why did we move out well if you didn't know some parts of the Navajo res are almost like dry deserts at the home that we were staying in the early 9s which was Grandma's house there was no running water nor electricity no phone service and everything was miles away my grandparents rais sheep and took care of the land life was simple back then however as the years came by so would the droughts and crops would dry up the water pumps in the ground would stop working and sometimes the whole day was basically

spent getting water for out of us and for Animals from other communities miles away as my grandparents got old they could no longer manage the task of taking care of livestock and Hauling water and a few other things all her children including my dad would take turns hauling water from nearby communities and helping with the livestock with this came arguments and discussions among the siblings about whose turn it was to get water or to take care of the animals everything started one day when nobody went to go get water on a super hot day I

forgot the exact details but the arguments had reached the point where everyone thought someone else would do it that day nobody went and so my grandpa decided to go get the water himself on his way back home the trailer he was pulling veered off the road and he got into a wreck and well he didn't make it this caused a rift in the family with cene's pointing fingers and blaming each other for his death this tragedy created a whole bunch of issues between families for many years years it was hard for all of us we

were super close I would even have dreams of my grandpa dying and it was pretty bad that I started having nightmares and sometimes I couldn't even sleep arguments and fights between siblings happen well from my dad's side that is everybody pointing fingers to each other or maybe it was because they all felt guilty and that caused everybody to drift apart some of them even blame my poor Grandma for not taking taking sides everyone thought they were right and some of them felt betrayed when she didn't support them to the point where some of my aunts

and uncles stopped coming around at all because of this I barely saw her and from what I know she was spend so much time alone she refused to go with her children or visit them not because she held anything against them but because she didn't want anyone to think she was showing favoritism instead she preferred that people visit her if they they wanted to spend time with her she refused to go with her children and chose to spend the weekends and even social Gatherings by herself I suppose none of her children could be at peace

knowing that their mom was alone my dad at least suffering silence here and there and it seemed like he was the one closest to my Grandma as he is the one who communicated the most with her but you know how family arguments go after years everyone comes back around acting like nothing happened they lose meaning but the lost time and the impact they had came be recover and we all know the memories still linger there anyways I remember it was Thursday morning Christmas was approaching which we actually don't really celebrate however it is the holidays

and so people are off work and that's when we received the phone call I answer it was my grandma and she wanted to talk to my dad she sounded a bit nervous when my dad took the phone my dad always had the house phone on speaker because he had a hard time hearing through the phone therefore I could hear the conversation that Grandma was having with my dad especially because it was a house phone for those who don't know house phones could only be taken away from where they were disconnected a few feet so privacy

wasn't really there unless you were sent to the room or somewhere else to not listen she mentioned that she felt real sick and she was calling ing all her children saying that she didn't want to leave without talking with everyone and she wanted to invite everyone over this weekend as tomorrow is never promised then she mentioned something strange at some point I could tell my grandma stepped away from the phone because of what she said wait a minute son there's something outside she said Grandma walked away from the phone opened the door and stepped outside

I could hear the wind blowing and through that sound I could hear my grandma's voice shouting cursing trying to chase something away from the house a few minutes passed by and my grandma got on the phone again sorry son that down dog is back but no worries I took care of it this was even more strange because I know my Grandma loved every dog the Flor that she had were strace when she found them abandoned on the street she was the most affectionate person we knew when it came to dog so it was weird what

dog is that my dad said one of those dogs that's been lurking around the home for days but don't worry I'm going to stay outside to keep an eye on it in case it comes back and I'll call you back soon my dad couldn't respond before she hung up he then went out to the car to talk to my mom they only talked in the car when they argu trying to keep us from listening to their fights did work but we still worry whenever they they didn't this time however it was different when they finished

my dad went straight to his room my mom then came to the phone and made a phone call I couldn't tell who she was talking to or what she was talking about because she was more quiet than my dad she then hanged up the phone and looked at me and said we're going to spend this coming weekend with your grandma for me it was surprising but very good news I saw my grandma less and less each year and felt less connected to her the idea of spending a weekend with her for the first time since

I could remember filled me with happiness my mom then went into the room with my dad and they talked for a few minutes I could tell something serious was going on and just like that she came out and told me to start packing because they were going to send me with my cousin to Grandma's place first thing tomorrow she explained that Grandma was sick and it wasn't good for her to be alone apparently they had already talked to my uncles and aunts to find out who all was going and everyone including my cousin Alex was

going I then asked why we're not all going and she explained that work would complicate things I know we had a stationary store and she would manage everything on those days we sold a lot of gift WAP and Christmas decor it was our best time of the year so therefore they were going to send me and my cousin tomorrow and the rest of the family was going to join us Saturday morning the next morning we had everything ready none of us had ever gone to Grandma's house by public transport but we were able to find

the place without struggling too much the street was just as we remember it felt like time hadn't passed there I can't explain how happy I was to see grandma again not in passing like before or at a funeral we saw her we hugged each other she cooked for us and she told us stories it was just like before back to Simple Times where the only worries were about the sheep and the land that evening we all sat down for dinner sharing a meal that Grandma had cooked for us the table was filled with traditional Navajo

dishes and as we ate the room was filled with jokes and remembering when we were younger I felt like in that moment we were all together and that's all that mattered soon it got dark and the wind started blowing really bad we were all sitting around the table when the dogs started barking but it wasn't the normal barking of a dog it was the kind of bark that means someone or something is nearby if you have any dogs you know exactly what I mean this one sounded like something was around that's when my cousin Alex

peaked out the window and stayed quiet for a few seconds before coming back to us he looked pale almost like he had seen a ghost po there's a dog trying to get in through the back Garden door isn't there grandma said Grandma had a small garden in the back of her home which is why there was a door leading to that area that's when Alex said there's a dog standing out in the distance that's when Grandma then grabbed the machete and walked towards the door she then told us stay inside and don't come out no

matter what you hear this isn't a normal dog it's something else it's been coming around here for a few days and I try to scare it off but it just comes back I see in its eyes and I know it's not just here for food it's here for something else something it wants for me I need to show it that it's not welcome here she went to open the door and we all stood at the doorway grandma didn't struck the door twice trying to scare the dog away but it didn't seem to be scared at

all she started walking towards it and as soon as grandma took like four steps it looked at her then at us and then it calmly turned and walked towards the hills as if nothing happened Grandma still kept shouting curses at it however the way the dog was looking at us it's hard to explain but it felt evil like it didn't care about anything we slowly retreated back into the house the night closing in around us Grandma's expression was one of deep concern but she tried to reassure us we'll be fine she said even though her

eyes were saying another thing hey Grandma I said that's not a dog it has to be something else how is it that it's been around for days and you haven't called the police or dad to come and help you grandma didn't stay silent for a moment her eyes reflected sadness but also a sense of relief they wouldn't believe me y'all's parents will think that I just want them to come as an excuse if anything an excuse to just see you all it's better this way just like they said before she said there was a moment

of silence obviously not knowing what to say as we're not familiar with the conversations that our parents have with Grandma when everyone gets here tomorrow we will all be together for a purpose she said for a purpose what does that even mean she then told us to go to bed as it was getting pretty late we were going to stay in a small guest house in the back it actually belonged to my uncle who was Alex's dad as he was one of the last to leave when he did he built a two room house near

the fence to live in for a few years now it was empty even though it still had some furniture as we gathered our things and headed toward towards the guest house I couldn't help but feel a chill in the air I forgot how dark it gets out here in the r how it's different than being in the city where everything is lit up walking across the yard the wind had died down the dogs now quiet huddled close to the house the guest house stood at the back of the property we settle into bed but sleep

didn't come so easy you know how teenagers are you get them alone without the supervision of their parents and it will be a sleepless night as I laid in bed I found myself thinking about Grandma's words and the fear that she had in her eyes hey Alex what do you think Grandma meant when she said we will all be together for a purpose Alex no sound I looked over and he was dead asleep I stayed awake thinking how it's been years since we've been here and how great tomorrow it must be with the rest of

my cousins coming over as I was starting to fall asleep something woke me up something I could hear outside there was something right outside I heard the breathing of what seemed like a person and I felt like it was at the window Alex was snoring completely unaware I mov very slowly crouching just to check that the window was securely closed and it was but there was definitely Ely something outside I left the room and went into the other room which faced my grandma's house I peaked out to see if everything was all right especially to

see if the dogs were there because they weren't barking I looked out and saw one of the dogs down to sleep by the door of my grandma's house the light was on and I could see it very clear then something else caught my attention a few meters away at the back of the house standing in front of my grandma's window was something a dog standing on two legs peering through the window it was almost the size of a tall person and then it turned its head to looked towards me I got ready scared and ran

back to the room where my cousin was sleeping I woke up Alex alarmed and I told him that the dog was back and I was trying to get into our grandma's house that's when he told me to go back to sleep and that I was most likely just seeing things but that's when we heard the breathing I knew whatever this thing was was now right outside of the guest house I motion for addict to get up quietly we put on our jackets and sneakers over our PJs instead by the door I told him we were

going to run to Grandma's house to not look back to look straight at the door and to just keep running we counted a three and did it we ran and even though I didn't look back I heard things moving behind the house the whole time I was praying that the door was left unlocked to the Garden as we got closer that's when Grandma opened the door before we got to it she told us to come inside she started shouting you're not welcome here you're not welcome here you're not welcome here and that was it she

closed the door but there were no phone calls made to the police or to our parents me and Alex were shaking inside as my grandma came back she gathered around the living room and trembling I said Grandma what was that she looked at me and Alex that was y glossi I know you all been seeing him in your dreams and it's after the family what do you mean you all been seeing him I said oh you don't got to tell me I know what's been going on I know you all been having nightmares and dreams

while they are real these things are happening and I can tell you you both aren't the only ones y's parents have been seeing the dog as well but let us stop talking about this with that she burned some cedar around us and said Creator will be with us tonight get some sleep we're all going to stay here in the living room the next morning went when I woke up my parents were already there as were Alex's parents and more uncles and aunts kept arriving it was December 23rd but it felt like Christmas I guess this

is what Christmas feels like I didn't understand it fully but everyone was acting if they were getting ready for some sort of party the uncles were cooking outside and the Ants were inside cooking as well everyone else was playing outside and Grandma was just standing watching everybody even my Uncle Max arrived with his impressive dog very obedient after greeting everyone he quickly went towards the hills with his dog as I said I'm not sure if this was the first time that all families had gathered together or maybe it was just because it felt really awkward

at least between us siblings didn't feel that way we were outside playing the whole time towards the afternoon soon that's when one of my older cousins decided to talk to us do you know why we're all here he asked without waiting for a response he started talking it's because of something that happened with our family and a skin walker it's all tied to what happened with Grandpa and the dog there's been a curse on the family as soon as he said this it sent chills down my spine a man accused of being a skin walker

had cursed our family grandpa had confronted this man believing that he was responsible for the strange occurrences and misfortunes that were surrounding our family in a fit of rage Grandpa beat him he left a permanent mark on the man's face as my cousin was telling us this I could actually see fear in his eyes he continued Grandma believes that all tragedies and strange events including the accident that took Grandpa's life or connect to this curse but there's more to it the skin walker cursed Grandpa specifically around water knowing how vital it was for all of

us he said that the family would always struggle with water either having too little or too much and it would be the source of all of our greatest issues Grandpa's accident was just the beginning that's when my uncle called out to him and he left us there Alex then looked at me and said what do you think about that I'm not sure but I know Grandma was right aside from the dreams of my grandpa dying and those horrible dreams that I have there was always a dog in the dream as well it was always out

in the fields just standing looking at us looking at me watching my grandpa in that car accident Alex then looked at me and said man I'm not sure but I'm definitely going to ask my parents when we get back home as the night went on all the adults got everyone together and they asked us to come close because they had something important to say that's when my dad spoke we've been planning a ceremony for some time now he began it was under the recommendation of Grandma and some of the elders that I talked to the

medicine man is on his way we all listened and my dad explained how the ceremony is to cleanse our family and to restore peace everyone started looking at one another I'm pretty sure that not everybody knew that a ceremony was going to take place he then told all of us to sit near the fire and to just wait the fire was crackling in the center of the circle that we had formed that's when a man whom I didn't recognize got there his face was painted and he was wearing no traditional Native clothes clothing I knew

this was the medicine man who was going to perform the ceremony but he wasn't alone there was another man beside him he was also dressed in traditional clothing he was carrying a large drum the medicine man greeted Grandma first talking to her in Navajo she nodded the medicine man then turned to look at us and with his hands he motioned for us to gather closer around the fire I'm not going to mention the whole ceremony itself at some parts I will leave out as told by the medicine man that we shouldn't speak about he then

laid out a few different objects on the ground a feather a small bundle of herbs a container of water several stones and a beautiful tobacco pipe and a drum he then started chanting softly we watched in silence as the crackling of the fire and his soft murmurs of his chance the only s sounds in the night the medicine man then sprinkled herbs into the flames and a fragrant smoke began to rise swirling around us he dipped the feather into the bow of water and began walking around the circle waving it around our bodies in a

cleansing motion then the medicine man lit the tobacco pipe and took a long slow draw he held the pipe out and we watched as the smoke curled upwards blinding with the herble smoke from the fire he passed the pipe to Grandma who took a draw and then handed it to the next family member the pipe then made its way around the circle the man who had come with the medicine man then picked up the drum and began to play it slowly as the drum beat filled the air the wind picked up again the medicine man's

chanting grew louder his voice rising and falling in a pattern suddenly that's when I saw the dog from earlier appear at the edge edge of the Fire Light it was standing on two legs its eyes were glowing it began to circle around us it started running around the drum beat quickened and the medicine man started shouting faster and more loud and more intense the air felt really thick the whole environment felt very tense every beat of the drum and its words echoing in my head the dog circled closer it started moving slow and the medicine

man's voice Rose in a crescendo and the drum beats became a rapid hard pounding Rhythm we huddled closer together the medicine man then took what seemed to be small bundles little bags including beads and threw them into the fire the fire flared up and the dog let out a screech the drum be was growing the medicine man then threw some stones into the fire and the fire flared up again the wind started blowing and for a moment it seemed as if the very ground beneath us was shaking the dog then let out one final Screech

and it disappeared into the darkness then everything went still the wind died down the fire returned to a steady burn and there was nothing but silence over us the drum and the singing began to die down slowing to a calm and steady beat the medicine man then stood before us his face looked very exhausted weak almost like he was going to pass out that's when the other man he had came with helped them stand and sit down we stood there silent and the medicine man then said everyone be at peace remember to honor your ancestors

he said keep the memory and their wisdom alive they will always watch over you and with that all of our parents started standing up and we made our way back to the house the whole environment felt different now almost like we were safe we all ended up sleeping all over the house some of us in the living room others in the hall others in the dining room the next morning as We Gather for breakfast the medicine man joined us his presence now familiar felt different he took a seat and began to explain more about the

curse the skin walker was attached to all of you because of the emotions and pain surrounding her husband's passing he said pointing to my grandma when he died the grief and unresolved anger among you created a fertile ground for the curse to take root and grow stronger emotions like pain anger are basically breeding grounds for these forces they can attract and feed evil spirits and curses he stopped for a second letting his words sink in we listened understanding the seriousness of it the skin walker was thriving on everything surrounding y's family the medicine man continued

every argument every moment of grief was an opportunity for the curse to deepen its hold it wasn't just the physical presence of the skin walker that was bothering you all but all the emotions as as well we not only got rid of the skin walker but also began the process of healing those deep emotional wounds Grandma nodded with tears in her eyes we have L our pain and anger fester for too long she said it's time we start healing as a family the medison man smiled gently that's what the ceremony is all about it's not

just about removing the curse but also restoring balance and harmony within the family the ceremony and I have done our part now it's your turn to do yours Embrace forgiveness love and understanding but most important now is the time for healing and Recovery talk between each other and support one another these are your strongest defenses against any darkness that may come your way we spent the rest of the morning talking and sharing stories about Grandpa remembering all the good times and the lessons he had t taught us the air was filled with a sense of

hope and renewal it felt like we were truly a family again as the day went on we all took part in cleaning up and putting things back in order the medicine man stay with us for the day guiding Us in small rituals and teaching us how to keep our hearts and home protected after that we all took turns visiting Grandma I believe she was never alone again she ended up passing the following year and after her funer eneral we all never gather together again I doubt we will ever spend another holiday together but I know

from talking with my cousins that each of us in our own way still remembers that night I'm sure you're hoping for a happy ending about how we embraced and forgave one another which we did but I guess to some extent I guess some things just can be forgotten or easily resolved after Grandma's passing everyone went their separate ways and eventually we all became pretty distant again there was one of my uncles and one of my aunts who despite everything didn't change disputes over the property who was going to get what which is a whole other

story I can tell you if you're interested we did end up contacting the same medicine man who my father had a good relationship with he counseled us and advised that we can only do our part as far as someone's bitter or hard only they themselves can be at peace you can only do so much to help someone but in the end if someone doesn't want the help it won't work while we can strive for healing not everyone is willing to let go of the past if anything I heard from my cousin Alex how his father

ended up getting into some weird stuff he started bringing strange men into their house to perform some ceremonies but this was different from the medicine man that we had known he would disappear for days and began hanging all sorts of weird things around the house it was pretty sad to hear eventually Alex's parents divorced and they separated as far as my aunt I'm not sure about her we didn't hear anything from her they simply faded from our lives and I often wonder what became of her but the reality is that the path to Healing is

ongoing and while the curse was lifted the journey to peace and understanding is a personal one for each member of our family thank you for listening my story is going to be pretty short I've been thinking about if I should share it with you all which I hope you don't find it boring my dad was the nicest person I ever known I always trying to help those in need even when it seems like it worked against them in some situations he was always willing to give a helping hand and I remember very well what he

told me happened one day when he was driving back home from work it was around 11 at night it was late and his plan was to arrive in time for dinner but at this point I'm sure he was just hoping that if anything he would find my mother awake he didn't know that we were actually waiting on him back then there were no cell phones so he couldn't warn us that something had happened and that he was going to get home late in the outskirts of our city there are some Woods on the North side

that you have to come through before getting into town it's about a 20-minute drive through nothing but a forested area we actually gone camping there a few times in the past as well so my dad told me that as he was coming through the darkest area of the forest he encountered a broken down car with a man and a young kid asking for help my dad always going out of his way to help somebody out he said he thought it was very risky but he said he couldn't leave them alone out there on the side

of the road so he pulled up the car in front of them apparently he talked to the man and they needed to change the tire which they had however he needed a jack because the one they had was broken when my dad opened the trunk to his own car he got his Jack and that's when he noticed that the kid was playing and starting to walk towards the tree line which wasn't that far my dad did say this was pretty weird as the kid who must have been around five or six should most likely be

asleep by now my dad yelled at him telling him that he could get hurt but the kid didn't listen his father also didn't seem to be paying attention as he was too busy inspecting the tire so my dad just placed the Jack underneath the car and gave the tool for the man to unti in the lug nuts while he was doing that he noticed that the kid didn't stop walking among the trees line but without straining too far walking from One Tree to another as if he was playing hide and seek laughing and poking his

head out from the pines and looking at him hey you know he could get hurt there's a lot of underbrush over there my dad said hoping that the man would pay attention to his kid the man was grunting as he was trying to loosen the lug nuts damn these things are hard what did you say the man asked focused on the tire and my dad was about to repeat it but that's when he saw the kid running and getting into the car that's when he saw his face he said it seemed like he had seen

something out there he looked all scared he said that the kid kept looking at him and just like that his facial expression changed to that of a creepy weird smile almost smirking but in the evil way they finished changing the tire and the man said thanks to my dad they rolled the tire to the man's trunk and as they did the kid was staring at him with his face pressed against the passenger window weirdo my dad said well thanks so much for helping man three cars had passed by within the last 30 minutes and nobody

was stopping by I know this whole situation looks fishy I mean to be honest I wouldn't have stopped here but thank you I already do mean it the man said well there's no way I was going to let y'all be stranded out here alone plus it's pretty creepy dark and late who knows if anybody else was going to pass by here my dad replied the young man just smiled somewhat confused and walked to his door my dad said to stay safe and he started walking towards his car as well as he was walking he said

he looked back to see the man getting into the car and he noticed that the kid wasn't in the car again that's when my dad walked back to the guy's car and he said hey don't forget your kid that's when the young man's face completely changed his eyes opened wide as if they were about to pop out what kid there was a kid with you that's actually why I was convinced to stop my dad said uh I've been here by myself this whole time the man said nervously that's when they both heard a whistling sound

coming from the tree line as they looked they saw what seemed to be the silhouette of a young kid just staring that's where my father told the man that we should get out of here right now they sped off and when they left the forest about 10 minutes later they stopped at a gas station my dad ended up fixing the jack that he had just thrown on the passenger seat they talked for a few more minutes before going separate ways however my dad said that when he told the man that maybe what they had seen

and heard was something good because if the kid hadn't appeared he wouldn't have stopped but that's when the man said that when his tire blew out he thought he heard a kid laughing but he said he was most likely just hearing things however if it was good then why did my tire blow out at that spot what if it was actually evil and what if it was trying to draw us towards the woods until the day he died my dad insisted that the story was real and that it was the scariest creepiest thing that has

ever happened to him I do believe him we stopped going camping there as a matter of fact we even stopped driving through that North Side to come into the city we even started going around the long way instead just to avoid that area anyways just be careful out there you never know what's out there in the dark when I first got the position I wasn't sure what to expect I knew I would be spending quite a bit of time in the forest and what was expecting of me once I got there however this was the

location I wasn't familiar with and honestly this was the first time I had done anything like this I assumed that I would just be spending a few weeks out in the woods wandering through the Wilderness admir the gorgeous surroundings keeping an eye on my little corner of the forest and Report anything strange I was sitting in the passenger seat of an old beat up truck with a broken air conditioner the drive out to this location took nearly a full day of travel we were always having to slow down to a crawl because of trees and

over streams the driver was a Gruff looking older man with a thick saw and pepper beard he squinted despite the trees covering most of the sunlight above he barely said a word for pretty much the entire ride out here all he did was listen to the Same album on repeat some sometimes S I would catch him tapping his thumb on the steering wheel whenever I assumed one of his favorite songs played by the time that we arrived at the tower the sun was already descending painting the sky in beautiful pinks and oranges I stepped outside

of the truck and for the first time in hours the man lowered the volume on his music he told me everything I needed was up in the tower I said Thank you and with a clearing of his throat he nodded to me and drove off standing before the tower I tilted my head back and stared up at it there were maybe five or six flights of stairs circling upwards to the top of the tower I glanced around at the area and saw everything was normal being left here alone was somewh eerie but I had been

working or living around the woods my entire life I ascended the stairs to the top of the tower a wall of glass greeted me as I passed by through the glass I could see the the dark interior I pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door reaching over I flipped the light switch on the wall and nothing happened forgetting to start the generator that I had been told about beforehand I descended the steps and located the small Shack on the other side of the tower after getting the generator up and running I glanced

up and saw the tower was now glowing the light seemed to pour out like a solitary beacon in the night a track back up the tower and finally took note of my temporary home in the center was a square table with various paper stacked upon it also on the table was a firefighting device used to locate and coordinate with other Towers to narrow down where a fire had occurred on the opposite side from the door was a semisolid wall which had various maps and papers pinned to it one of the papers was a crew drawing

of a family presumably forgotten by one of the previous fir Watchers in the corner adjacent to the map wall was a single bunk bed with a narrow end table at the head of the bed the last wall contained a long shelf with a wood burning stove and a crate of wood nearby underneath were numerous containers some containing Dry Goods there were some bed sheets and other things assorted in the boxes but most of it was just standard things I wasn't really planning on using the bed sheets on the wall underneath the larger m was a

rack with a shotgun resting upon it a small box of shells was placed on a shelf next to it I wasn't very big on guns but growing up around the woods you start to appreciate their usefulness staring out of one of the windows I gazed at the Sea of Blackness the trees that sway beneath the tower in the night look like dark ocean waves I sigh as my Long Day's Journey was finally catching up to me and it was time for me to head off to bed I turned off the light near the door door

and as I turned to head back to bed for a split second I saw a light in the distance if it was during the day there was no way I would have seen it but with it being so dark outside it was contrasting against its backdrop the light was a dual red and as I looked at it for a few seconds wondering if it was a fire of some kind the light began to move then a few more seconds passed and the light stopped then disappeared confused and tired to worry about it at the moment

I got my sleeping bag and checked to make sure the tower door was secured I crawled into bed and was dragged off to sleep by the sounds of the forest below me the next morning when I woke up my brain was with me I had forgotten where I was and how I even got there that feeling passed after a few moments I stood up for my bed got dressed and looked around me the view from up in this Tower was something you can't find in photographs gorgeous landscape stretching as far as the eye can see

beautiful green trees spitting The Horizon and the Clear Blue Sky taking up the rest I started a small fire in the mini stove and heated up a pot of coffee while I was coming up to temperature I walked over to my radio system and turned it on I picked up the receiver and called the nearby Towers to check in after a few seconds of static a voice came through the speaker he said his name was Peter and he was in Tower 7 Tower 7 was within line of sight yet still quite a distance away I

had to use my binoculars just to see the tower let alone spot anyone inside of it another voice chimed in which was a woman's voice she said her name was Katie and that she was in Tower 9 Tower 9 buted right up against the only Lake in the area I knew where it was on the map and when I used my binoculars to see Tower 9 it only revealed itself as a pinpoint on the horizon I introduced myself to them as Luke from Tower 8 I sort of comedically wrote the introduction off my tongue which

got a few Chuckles from my faceless co-workers we spent the morning talking about various things such as our lives and how we all ended up out here in the middle of nowhere eventually I decided it was time to see what was nearby as it was dark when I had gotten here and hadn't had a chance to look around yet I stepped out of my tower and began a short walk around it I kept my personal radio on me just in case I hadn't really seen the need to grab the shotgun as I wouldn't be traveling

too far as I looked around the perimeter of the tower I saw nothing there was a small brook to the east a clearing and the trees to the South which had a lot of flowers laid out inside of it it was like something out of a Woody picture book other than that there wasn't much else going on so I decided it was time to head back up however when I turned to make my way back to the tower I noticed one tree in particular that was different from all the others this one had large marks

carved into it like some type of animal had brought its claws across it it most likely to Mark its territory I did think about what animal might have done such a thing and then I continue on my way as I climbed the stairs back into the tower I saw the sun was quick on its descent I gave my neighbors another radio check and wish them both a good night I locked the door to the tower I started eating one of my survival meals as I like to call them and bed it down for the night

that night something strange happened I was awakened by some feeling not a noise or any other physical Force just something that caused my eyes to drift open I glanced about without moving a muscle and spotted something odd there was a glow coming from outside of the Tower and it seemed to be circling around it like it was climbing the stairs I started to feel Panic growing in my chest as I looked at the shotgun to my left I tried to calm myself by thinking it was most likely one of the other Watchers who had gotten

lost and saw my tower then the light Rose to the main level of the tower a dual Red Lantern was slowly bobbing next to the windows what was carrying this Lantern I couldn't be sure its body seemed strange it looked like a man but it had a long curved spine tracing its silhouette a weird looking arm clutched the Lantern and held it in front it seemed to have long hair that dangled down past its shoulders it stopped just before it reached the door of the tower then it quickly turned and faced the glass looking directly

at me I stared at it with wild eyes and a few moments later it turned and began to descend the stairs whether it was fear or being confused you name it something must have driven me back to sleep as I found myself myself waking up the next morning I had no idea what that thing was I'm not sure if it was just a dream or maybe my brain using my imagination to fabricate something like that all I know is that I'm basically stuck out here and that was just the very first day