this was a handful of years ago I was a
new mother and home with my firstborn child he was a couple weeks old and it came time for me
to get an oil change and tire rotation for my car instead of sitting in the dealership waiting
room for an hour plus I figured this would be a good opportunity to walk around
this Arboretum that wasn't too far away I've been to the Arboretum a handful of
times before but this time I noticed a sign for Patriots path this is a paved trail
that extends 35 miles
throughout the county the trails are broken down into segments as
they are separated by roadways or neighborhoods I would frequent other parts of the
path and never felt uncomfortable in fact it was a nice way to feel connected
to Nature while sometimes encountering other people exercising and doing the same without
hesitation I decided to walk the path to kill time I was excited to explore this new to me trail
first the path cut through tall grasses then a curved and increasingly became m
ore of a
wooded area this wasn't concerning to me as all the other parts of the trail that I
have walked on were exclusively in the woods as I was pushing my newborn in a stroller and
enjoying my time in nature I came to a fork in the path the other parts of the trail I've been
on were always one path no Forks the right path was on higher ground so I headed that way as I was
going the path was getting increasingly difficult for the stroller tree roots broke through the path
and it was a ro
ugh ride for my baby I wasn't able to keep the pace I was going since I was going
significantly slower I looked on my map app to see if it included the path and where it would bring
us on the map the left side of the fork traveled along a Waterway so I decided to try that route
as I was turning around I saw a man well dressed slowly strolling towards us I got the stroller
free from the tree roots and started towards him he had his phone up to his face as if he was
on a phone call but he was
n't talking we got closer and I looked at him to give a friendly nod
as I usually do when passing people on the path he just looked Straight Ahead expressionless
when I was processing that interaction my gut told me something was off he was wearing an
outfit I could best describe as business casual most people on the trails are in exercise
clothes he wasn't talking at all on his phone that he held up to his ear and the
other hand he was concealing it he had it in a rigid position behind his
back as if he was
carrying something that he didn't want me to see I turned to walk the other path of the fork
and convinced myself I was imagining it all after some more walking I heard the sound of
babbling water according to my map app I thought I should be able to see the Waterway by now and
the path should open up to a parking lot I felt like I should see the parking lot by now when I
tried opening my map again my phone wasn't working I was in the woods alone with my baby with no
pho
ne access and I had a strange interaction it was time to turn around and head out of the
woods much to my dismay there was that man again this face was still expressionless his phone
is still up to his ear he was still not talking on the phone and his other hand still hiding
behind his back I felt my heart sink into my stomach and my stomach jumped into my throat why
did he turn around on the first part of the path why did he turn at the fork he was close
enough to us for me to realize he m
ust have turned around soon after we did he must have
seen us turn down the other path at the fork all the alarms in my body were ringing to get
out of here when we needed to pass him I started to jog hey I'm wearing the appropriate outfit
for a trail that most people use for exercise maybe my intention was to jog this whole time I
didn't stop jogging until I was out of the woods and in the tall grass I turned to look behind
me and luckily my son and I were alone again I jogged some more un
til there was a
large distance between us and the trail we waited in the dealership waiting room for
the rest of the time they were working on my car I did go back to the Arboretum after that
but I haven't ventured down that section of the trail ever again now maybe
that was just a regular businessman nothing happened between me and this man
and maybe nothing was going to happen but personally I'd rather go for an unplanned
jog than ignored my gut and find out what you are about to read is
a warning I beg
you I implore you please do not go hiking in the woods around Pittsfield Massachusetts I
know those woods like the back of my hand I was playing with my little brother among those
trees when I was still in single digit ages so trust me when I say that something has
been changing out there and not for the better I first noticed something was horribly wrong
during a hike a few weeks back in early spring birds migrate back from the warmer Southern
climates to their Northern T
erritories and Mass thousands upon thousands of tiny songbirds occupy
the trees around Mount Greylock during the month of March each singing is sweet chirpy song
that is in reality a bellowed warcry a call for Challengers to step up and knock them off
their perch it is at church through the previous Winter's Leaf litter I couldn't hear a single
goddamn thing no birds or any other animals for that matter seem to still call The Forest Home
this made me nervous for two reasons one animals have
an uncanny ability to detect dangers that
are imperceptible to humans their sense of smell hearing and general atmospherics are far superior
to our own if the wildlife had fled the area in such a hurry or at least refused to return that
could mean something awful was about to happen and two areas of Woodland turned exceptionally
quiet when there is a large Predator around would pigeons will become deathly quiet and still
hoping a black bear or mountain lion will just pass them by sometimes
they do sometimes they
don't but either way it will be hideously unsafe for me to wander around while one was prowling
the area so naturally I started making my way back towards my car when something real peculiar
happened I feel I should remind you at this point that I'd been playing in the woods around Mount
Greylock since I was like seven or eight years old it's pretty far from where our family lived
when I was a kid but thanks to our bikes we had a pretty large area to roam when it cam
e to
those long summer breaks point being I know those woods really well but some way somehow I managed
to get lost it first came to my attention that I'd managed to get myself turned around when I felt
my head begin to throb with a dull ache I stopped walking for a moment rubbing my eyes and the
bridge of my nose to try and massage away the ache but when I opened my eyes again and looked around
I felt a fake flash of panic running through me I did not recognize my surroundings and I cannot
understate how jarring that was for me to be somewhere I'd been visiting all my life only for
it to feel utterly foreign to me I actually had to take a moment to take out my compass just
to try and get a bearing of where I was headed but to my surprise the compass needle kept slowly
moving around even when I got it to sit still on a supposed bearing it slowly began creeping
around again now this was much less of a problem than it might appear sure it was unnerving
but there are ways aroun
d a faulty compass like for one Moss mostly grows on the north side
of a tree the side that gets the most sunlight so that provided an easy way of determining which
way was North at least it usually would because as I inspected various tree trunks I realized the
sun was hanging in the southern portion of the sky that was the moss in this area grew mostly on the
south section of the tree trunks I get that it's not entirely out of the question but that was yet
another detail that just seemed
to fry my brain nothing made sense and the less it did the more
the feeling of pure panic began to Bubble Up in my chest but to panic in that situation in any kind
of situation is to welcome defeat degradation and death I kept myself calm told myself there was
a rational explanation for everything that was occurring and walked off in the direction
I was almost sure the nearest highway was it was then I came across something I'd never ever
seen in those woods before something that seemed so
out of place that it was frankly terrifying
in all the years I'd spent roaming those woods with my brother as a kid I'd never seen anything
like the old rundown cabin that stood before me and I mean it was old as if there was no way
it could have been built any later than like 1979 so just how me and my brother had
missed this place was utterly beyond me the obvious thing to do was to knock on the cabin
door see if anyone was home and as much as I might find it humiliating ask for direction
s but as
I walked closer and closer towards The Rustic front door I felt the most unusual sensation I put
it down to General tiredness maybe my blood sugar was low I'm not entirely sure but for whatever
reason each footstep that took me closer to the cabin seemed more and more difficult by the time
I was actually bringing a closed fist up to knock on that old wooden door it felt like something
was physically repelling me from it whispering directly into my brain leave this place and
never
return Don't Look Back never look back when I finally knocked the door creaked open
slightly revealing the dilapidation behind it whatever bolts or locks that were on the door had
long since been worn away and the inside was just as rundown and rotten as the outside was it was
evidently abandoned but there was a curious order to the furniture that led me to believe that
every so often the cabin did actually receive some visitors aside from me but something
in the corner of the cabin Drew my
attention I drew my attention what I'm about to attempt
to describe is quite frankly indescribable I know it was a wooden Idol of some kind a small
statuette sat atop of a stone altar but and I appreciate this is intensely confusing to read
I could not make sense of what I was looking at it was like my brain was completely incapable of
computing the information my eyes were feeding it and with that my headache returned again along
with a kind of anxiety so crushing that I felt like I was g
oing to have a panic attack don't
ask me how I know but that wouldn't idle a mess of twigs and Vines and Moss was a representation
of pure unfiltered evil and I ran from it I'm not in the least bit ashamed to admit that I ran
like a scared child from that cabin and Into the Night the night you read that right when
I walked into that cabin it was still daylight I couldn't have been there for more than a couple
of minutes at least that's what it felt like only when I burst through that wooden
door it
was pitched black outside I ran until I found the highway ran until I found my car and drove
like a madman until I was safely back at home I haven't been able to bring myself to talk
about what happened to me that day until now I tried to tell a hunting buddy of mine once
but the words just wouldn't seem to come out but please if you're reading this heed my warning and do not go hiking in the woods
around Pittsfield Massachusetts some background information first I am male 29
year
s old living in the U.S in the New England area I live with my folks and our house isn't
super secluded or anything but we do have two acres of land surrounded by woods and our backyard
down a rather Steep Hill this happened about six years ago now and nothing like this has happened
since I was home alone for the weekend as my folks had gone to visit my older brother out of
state and I was tasked with taking care of our animals including chickens Ducks geese and our
beloved canine companion
s we have always had way too many dogs and at this time we had 10 of them
so taking care of them was a job all on its own my folks had left Thursday evening and most of
Friday passed without incident until around 12 30 Friday night I was still awake in my bedroom
on the computer browsing around with my pit bull who we had affectionately named Butters began
to whine at my door wanting to go for a walk I didn't mind as it was July and the temperature
outside was perfect for a nice midnight wa
lk I grabbed his leash color and my flashlight
and hid it downstairs as he followed excitedly we made our way outside and down the
hill across the field and onto a trail I used frequently for this purpose
the trail LED through the woods and into a clearing with a pond and another
trail that led even deeper into the woods butter still hadn't gone to the bathroom yet so
I continued down the other Trail at the same time letting go of the leash as I knew he liked to
go off the trail a bit to t
ake care of business Butters took off ahead of me aways but he always
knew to stay within eyesight finally he took care of business and I had called him over to me so
I could take hold of his leash again and start heading back when he stopped in his tracks
his ears perked up and his tail went rigid he began to growl and raise his hackles while looking
further down the dark and twisty path of the trail I called him over again worried that he was going
to take off into the night after a squir
rel or something but he completely ignored me he was
totally focused on something further down the trail I began to approach him hoping to grab hold
of his leash but as I started towards him he took off like a bolt of lightning down the trail
barking like a mad dog into the darkness ahead I started running after him hoping he would stop
but he was too fast and before I knew it he was completely gone from sight I could still hear him
barking in the distance but it was faint and soon enough I
could no longer hear him either I stopped
running to catch my breath as I knew trying to catch up to him was a futile effort at this point
I started calling out to him while continuing to walk down the path shining my flashlight into
the woods hoping to spot him nearby or something I was starting to worry as he usually never acted
like this I mean sure he had run off on a walk before but had always come right back when called
I wasn't walking for long before I heard something coming from f
urther on down the trail I aimed my
flashlight in the direction the sound was coming from it sounded like something bounding down
the bath towards me but I couldn't see anything suddenly Butters came flying out of the woods
and down the path towards me I thought he would stop at my feet so I could grab his leash but he
blasted right past me and almost knocked me over I started to feel like something was wrong as I
couldn't imagine what had my 120 pounds pit bull so spooked I spun around aft
er him shouting at him
to stop but just like before he wasn't listening and soon he was out of sight again now I was
alone in the dark without my buddy to protect me from whatever it was that had him running at
least he was headed towards the house this time I hope that he would come back at some point so
I wouldn't have to walk the trail alone but I didn't hear him at all in fact it was eerily
quiet no crickets chirping just an ominous quiet needless to say I want to get out there
as soon
as possible as I made my way onward I spotted something in the darkness ahead of me I
couldn't tell what it was exactly I called out to Butters hoping it was him but whatever it was
it didn't react to me at all I felt very uneasy all of a sudden as a chill shot down my spine
and a cold sweat began to form all over my body I moved closer hoping to be able to see it more
clearly as I slowly raised my flashlight towards it the light gradually revealing the path ahead
until I could see the boo
ts of someone standing on the trail I jerked the light upwards to
reveal a man standing there facing towards me this guy was huge built like a brick wall and
very tall I'm six feet one inch and this guy looked like he towered over me from where
I was standing he had long scraggly brown hair and a long dirty Brown beard with bits
of leaves and dirt stuck inside it his jacket was covered in dirt and his jeans were ripped
and heavily stained with God only knows what he was standing sort of hal
f-cocked swaying back
and forth in place like a drunk this was private property but even if it wasn't it would still
be very odd to see someone hanging out in the woods at night it was very dark and pretty much
impossible to see without a light of some kind I felt nauseous as my stomach dropped suddenly my
knees felt weak and I thought about running but whoever this man was he was standing between me
and the way back home I just kind of stood there my flashlight's still shining in his face
he
didn't react at all not even to Shield his eyes from the light it was as if you were in some
sort of Trance I don't even think he was aware of my presence at all until I called out to him
just as simple as hey our UL Dash I didn't have time to finish what I was saying the sound of my
voice seemed to break him out of his trance and to my surprise and absolute Terror he began
sprinting towards me screaming like a madman I stumbled backwards and almost fell over as
I turned around to run b
ack down the path his boots stopping on the ground his mad screaming
approaching fast he was absolutely crazed like a rabid animal as he chased me down the
trail further and further away from home I was panicked at this point my heart was pounding
away in my chest as adrenaline coarse through my veins I was scared really scared as I couldn't
imagine what this man was going to do to me if he caught me I knew I couldn't keep running in this
direction as the trail eventually Peters out and sor
t of dissolves into the woods after a certain
point I thought maybe I could lose him if I turned off my light and hopped off the trail to hide and
let him pass the man had stopped screaming and I dared to steal a quick glance behind me I could
see that the man was still keeping Pace with me I shut off my light and pushed myself as hard
as I could hoping to gain a bit more distance between us the path turned to hid and I thought
if I could get around that corner and hide before he caught up
I might be okay I had never run
so hard and so fast in all of my life and it was beginning to take its toll on my lungs I
had asthma and it was getting harder to breathe when I felt like I had gotten far enough
ahead of him I jumped off the trail and hid behind a large pine tree just
at the outside edge of the path I pressed myself up against the tree and tried
to quiet my heavy breathing as much I could it wasn't long before this crazy bastard came
bounding around the corner he was a lot
closer than I had thought and I hope he hadn't seen me
turn off the trail to hide he stopped about five feet away from my Hiding Place and began searching
around for me I really didn't want this guy to find me but I was too afraid to move he started
shouting incoherently and violently thrashed about in the brush just a few feet from me I had
to get him away from me I slowly bent down against the tree and fell on the ground for a rock or
stick anything I could throw to distract him luckily m
y hands found a good sized Stone and
I took hold of it and waited for a break in the noise he was making I wanted to be sure he would
hear it when I threw it in between the sounds of his thrashing and growling I tossed the stone away
from me and across the trail it smacked into a tree across the way and fell to the forest floor
with a thud the crazy man stood upright and took off in the direction of the sound still thrashing
about violently and shouting gibberish I wasted no time and quickl
y but carefully made my way back
onto the trail and took off sprinting towards home I kept my flashlight on as I was scared I might
trip over something I wasn't running for Long Winter my horror I heard the maddening screams
of the madman chasing behind me yet again I was tired and still pretty out of breath from earlier
but the man hadn't slowed at all if anything he was even faster than ever I was giving it my
all but I could tell he was gaining on me fast I had made it to the clearing pa
st the pond and
onto the small trail that led to my backyard I practically launched myself down the trail I
could see the light from my house at the top of the hill the man was laughing as he chased close
behind I blasted out of the trail and into my yard quickly making my way across the field I got
halfway up the hill when I realized I couldn't hear the man anymore I stole a quick look behind
me and stopped in Surprise the man was no longer chasing me he had stopped at the entrance to the
trail and was just standing there looking at me I shined my light at him and he gave me the
creepiest smile and waved at me as if we had been playing some kind of game that he'd lost and then
he simply turned around and walked back into the woods I made it back to the house to find Butters
waiting at the door like nothing had ever happened wagging his tail excited to see me I rushed
inside to call the cops and they sent a couple officers over I described the man to them and they
searched a
round the area but didn't find anything thankfully though they stayed and patrolled
the neighborhood for the rest of the night and that made me feel pretty safe I don't really know
what more they could have done in the dark anyway I couldn't stay mad at butters for bailing on me I was just too happy and relieved
that we were both home and safe I never expected anything like that to happen so
close to home and on our private property from that point on I never went for any midnight
walks wit
hout a knife and some pepper spray
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