The last couple days have been busy at the Police station. I’ve been filing paperwork for what feels like a lifetime these last couple days. There's been multiple missing persons reports recently and the town has been worried. As the Sheriff of the town, I have a lot of responsibilities and I've felt a bit over my head these last couple days. The other day my partner Tom came into my office with a lead.

“Dave!” Tom burst into my office.

“We got a lead on one of the missing persons. Their wallet was found on the West side of town near the river and out by the old forest.”

I grabbed my jacket and followed Tom out of the Police Station. We got to our cruiser, quickly cranking the heat to stay warm. The evening was cold and damp from the autumn rain and there were little to no signs of life in the town that night. As we approached the edge of town there was this ominous fog that creeped over the bridge crossing the river. As we slowly passed over, I felt a chill down my spine like a ghost had passed through me. Something was always off about this area so it didn’t surprise me to find out the lead was here. We arrived at the scene, at first there was little to see.

“Over here” my partner yelled over my shoulder. 

“What is it?” I said as I stumbled my way through the field over to him. 

When I reached Tom I saw what he did. A shoe, buried in the grass. I could barely tell it apart from the rocks that were hidden in the tall foliage. The shoe was not much smaller than mine, maybe a size 9 or 10. I would guess it probably belonged to a younger man.

“I think we should look around more, I will go near the forest” I said to Tom. Tom agreed to split up and decided to look down by the creek more. I started to make my way towards the trees. The ground was soft and wet from the rain and I could hear my boots as they released from the mud. The trees were tall and thin, blocking out the little light provided by the moon. I painted the ground with my flashlight, hoping to find something. I started to lose hope, carelessly throwing my beam of light left to right. Then I froze in my tracks, peering through the trees about 50 feet away, there seemed to be a piece of clothing. 

“TOM…” I yelled into the darkness 

“Come here, I think I got something” 

Tom and I make our ascent up the hill. My eyes were fixated on the cloth trying to make out what it could be. As we got closer I could make out the blue rain jacket-like material as it hung from the branches of a tree. 

“Seems like someone was in a hurry” chuckled Tom 

I didn’t pay much attention to him, I couldn’t. My mind was racing through possibilities.

 *CRACK*

My head whipped to the direction that the noise came from. My eyes strained as I tried to make something out of the darkness. 

“Probably just a deer.” I say to Tom trying to convince myself more than him.

We continue to look around the area, splitting up to cover more ground. I walked more into the forest trying to block out the thought of something watching me, but it clawed onto the back of my mind. My heart pounded like a drum with every step into those dark woods. The unsettling feeling ate away at my mind. I felt trapped, unable to tell my direction. Then a piercing scream rips through the dark silence. In a panic, I start running towards the sound. Tripping and stumbling over the dark ground, unaware of my surroundings. As the sounds grew louder I drew my weapon, unsure of the danger. I knew I was close. I came to a small opening, frantically looking around with my light. Then it landed on Tom, who was lying lifeless on the ground. He had a large gash in his chest and was painted red with blood. I quickly went to him to help, but he had lost consciousness from all the blood loss. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might explode. I looked around, hoping to find an explanation for what had happened. Then in the reflection of my light, I saw in the darkness two eyes that glowed like embers on a smoldering fire. The moment I saw them they disappeared in a flash. I fired multiple shots into the direction of the eyes. After the ringing of my shots faded, it was silent. I had no idea if I hit anything but that wasn’t important at the time. I grabbed Tom, pulling him over my shoulders to get him out of the woods. I slowly try to carry him out. One hand holds him tight over my shoulder. While the other, clammy with sweat, squeezes the cold steel of my gun. I felt exhausted, taking shaky steps like a newborn. Sweat dripped down my face and I could feel Tom's blood soaking into my clothes. As I dragged myself out of the forest, I could hear the creature nearby. It sounded restless like a predator who wasn’t done with its prey. I tried to block out the thoughts, pushing forward with what little energy I had left. I knew we were getting close to the cruiser, I could see its familiar shape through the trees. The sound of the creature was fading and I never thought I would be so happy to see the light from the moon. We got to the cruiser and I situated Tom's lifeless body in the car. I then raced to the hospital. Desperately grasping onto the little hope I had for the survival of my partner and friend.