Malignant

  -Tumors that are made of cancer cells

  “I am sane. No matter what anyone tells you I am completely, 100% sane. I know that sounds like exactly what an insane person would say but I’m telling the truth. What I saw was real, and it ruined my entire life. Please just let me explain.

  My name is Henry, and I was your normal 16-year-old shut-in. I hated crowds, and other people, and had been diagnosed with severe social anxiety. The day it happened was the day I tried to break out of my box. You see there was a girl I liked at my school named Elizabeth, and she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She was a bit on the shorter side with dirty blonde hair that flowed to just below her shoulders. If you saw her laugh with friends you’d think she’s the funniest girl in the world. Her laugh was like music to my ears. She rarely dressed up but whether she wore a hoodie or a runway outfit I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. I’m getting off-track.

  It was the day of the fall festival, and my mother had forced me to go in hopes I would finally be social. The festival was being held in a clearing in the woods just outside of town. I took a dirt path no one used in hopes of avoiding people for as long as I could. When I got to the festival I-...I…I’d rather not talk about this part, it’s irrelevant anyway. What you guys care about is what happened after I left the festival in a rush.

  I wrapped my jacket tighter around my body, the early evening chill was colder than expected. My breath was coming out in tiny, erratic puffs of condensation as I dashed down the leaf-covered path. It felt like the trees were looming over me judging every shaky stomp of my boots against the concrete. My vision darkened as my mind spun, racing from each thought to the next. My breath quickened as it turned staccato, each inhale sharp and short, each exhale shaky and forced. How could this happen? How could I be humiliated like this? And right in front of Elizabeth. OhgodsheprobablythinksI’msuchalosernowandhowamIgoingtoshowmyface aroundheragainand—. I hadn’t noticed my legs picking up speed with my thoughts until I was suddenly pitched forward. I hit the concrete with my arms taking the brunt of the impact. Looking back I saw the culprit, an overgrown tree root jutting out into the sidewalk.

  As I picked myself up, something felt amiss. The noises of birds and cicadas had ceased. I took a step but the leaf below my foot didn’t crunch. I stepped again, but nothing. Over and over, I slammed my foot down on various leaves only to get no sound at all. Even the wind had stopped blowing, leaving the world feeling still. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I knew something was watching me. I looked over my shoulder but saw no one. Turning around in a slow 360, I scanned around but nothing was out of place. Nonetheless, my heart was pounding as I observed the trees like frozen giants towering above me. Knotted branches becoming hands reaching out for me, spindly mid-grasp. Then I saw it. A flicker.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I pivoted, trying to find the source but to no avail. Then again in the corner of my eye was a sudden blur. I turned again.

  ‘Who’s there?’ I called out, but nothing answered. Creeped out, I slowly started backing away from where I last saw it, whatever it was. The wind suddenly picked up again, brushing against my ear like a light whisper. My head snapped to the side and desperately I scanned the tree line. It was there concealed in the darkness of the branches that I saw two pale yellow eyes staring back at me. I took a step back, transfixed by the soul-piercing gaze. I took another step back, not daring to blink. Another step back, I could feel my mind screaming at my legs to run but they couldn’t. Step back, the eyes disappeared. Step, my back ran into something solid. I flinched and whipped around to see I had hit a tree on the opposite side of the path. I felt rooted to the ground as I waited in fear. My stupor was broken when a bird chirped, and sound returned to the world again. Glancing around I found no hint of the eyes. Whatever had been stalking me was gone. Nerves shot, I started sprinting towards my house. My footsteps pounded on the dirt path, kicking up plumes of dirt.

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  Date: [Redacted]

  Location: [Redacted]

  Researcher: Scholar William [Redacted]

  Subject No.: 003

  “Henry”

  The work above is a classified transcript of an interview with one Henry, and only authorized personnel should have access to it and this report. As for this report, we haven’t been able to conclude anything of significance in Henry’s case. The creature Henry describes being tormented by matches no known animal on earth. Additionally, the erratic nature of the subject raises some concerns about the validity of their testimony. To exacerbate the matter, we investigated the fall festival he neglected to talk about. Witnesses reported the subject having a mental breakdown and screaming nonsense before being escorted off the premises by security. It is presumable that at this point the subject took off as he describes in the interview. Upon further investigation, we also found no record of Elizabeth attending the subject’s school. In fact, no girl in the subject’s town of any age matches the description given. Unfortunately, a few hours after the interview’s conclusion the ward suffered a power outage for a few minutes. When the lights came back on care staff found the subject hanging from the ceiling via their bedding. It’s been ruled a suicide, but if you ask me...the marks around his neck looked like claws were there first.

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