Rachel Schaffner – Staff Writer 

RLS6117@psu.edu

The wind howled in the night as the moon above the heads of wanderers was the only source of light to guide their way. Deep in the misted woods something lurked, watching with three eyes on them. A hushed whisper fell upon the wanderers as the wind carried the breathing of what was watching them. What could have sounded like just the leaves scratching against one another, they brushed it off and kept wandering. Following them, this creature within the shadows killed everything that was living in its path. Birds fell onto the ground, getting crushed underneath the weight of the creature’s feet thumping onto the ground, yet, the people who were close by were unable to hear it. 

Once they stopped to inspect one of the dead birds that fell in front of them, the creature swung its head in their direction, slowly reaching out to grab the one closest, but its hand flinched away when they stood up, walking away, disregarding the dead bird with black ooze coming from its head. Quickening its pace, the creature closed in the distance it lost from just standing there, confused why they did not notice the signs that they were in fact being followed. 

It did not take long for the wanderers to get lost in the woods. Typical of those who go in at night and never mark what trail they took. It was almost cliche the creature would say, if it spoke. But all that could come from its mouth were small screeches and moans. The wanderers spun around in circles, trying to find anything that looked remotely familiar to them. Now was the chance to strike. Slowly walking around them, the creature stopped before all three of them when they turned their back to it. Reaching out from the mist that cloaked it, grabbed onto one of the wanderer’s legs, pulling it into the mist.

“Derick?” the other two called, but all they heard was a scream followed by a thud.

The rustling of leaves was heard a few seconds after silence and Derick was running from the mist. There was what looked to be a rash on his skin, but the other two knew it was measles. Backing away from their friend, the one closest to the mist was sucked in, getting dragged around by this creature. A scream echoed, followed by another thud. The second friend ran back to the others, their eyes pink and pus pouring from the bottom lid. 

“What the f-ck is happening?” the one who was not diseased yelled.

A loud screech emitted from the mist. Coming out, finally revealing itself, the creature slowly walked out and its footsteps were heard after all this time of being overlooked. Clop. Clop. Clop. The large hooves made contact with the ground, causing it to shake beneath the heavy monster. The moon caught the monster at the right angle, showing that it was skinless. All the muscles were shown and the blood was so black it could almost be mistaken as the headless horseman. That was not even the tip of the iceberg. The bottom half of the monster was indeed a horse, with a singular eye in the middle, unblinking and it started at the three friends. The real horror was about to appear.

The upper half, too, had a fleshless appearance. Its oversized head swung from side to side, as if it was going to fall off any second. Its lanky arms were dragging onto the ground as the horse moved further into the moonlight. Every muscle fiber could be seen as it moved its arms upwards from the ground. Its neck, with a sickening crack, put itself into an upright position, looking down at the group of friends. Turning its head side-to-side, getting a better look at this trio. With one arm, it reached out, pulling all but its index finger inwards, touching the nose of the one friend who was not diseased. Immediately, they started to cough like they were hacking up a lung. They grew weary and weak, shivering as the muscle and fat in their body became nothing to just skin and bone. 

Pulling its arm back, the creature leaned in closer to the three friends that were there. A low sound emitted from the back of its throat and formed the one word it could.

“run.”