Something got out of the cave near my cabin
It was supposed to be a nice break from the real world. A getaway to my cabin in the mountains for a few days to collect myself after the awful past few months. I bought my property from some old miners who had run the mountain dry. The cabin they had built only needed some minor improvements, and the remains of their fruitless mines made for some cool features to show friends. The big mine near the cabin couldn’t even be called a mine, as they had essentially blown open the entrance to a cave wide enough to get tools inside. The night before I was going to head back, the largest rainstorm in a century hit. All roads leading back to civilization were flooded, and there was no chance my crappy car could hope to make it through. I wasn’t too upset about it; just thankful I still had enough food to last me another few days. The truly awful part was that the shoddy power system I made had gone out, and my phone had died long ago. I needed to wait a while for the solar panels to charge, so I decided to make the best out of a bad situation; the rain had made the woods truly beautiful, and I still had around a dozen polaroids to use in my camera. The walk was truly amazing. The rain had made the green in the forest even more vibrant, and the canopy had provided enough cover that I wasn’t soaking wet. Only problem I ran into was the insane amount of broken branches on the trail. I knew the storm had been bad, but in my years of owning this cabin I had never seen this amount of clutter pile up in such a short time. I had no idea how so many branches below the canopy had broken. I had been walking for a few hours before it started to get dark, and I decided to head back. I suddenly came up with the bright idea to take a photo of myself to commemorate the time I got rained out in the mountains. I turned on the flash and timer, setting my camera down on a nearby rock, and backed up a few feet. The only thing I heard before hitting the ground was the crack of wood splitting. Something had hit me in the head. Hard. Still dazed, I tried to figure out what just happened, but whatever hit me didn’t give me the chance. It grabbed my ankle, rolling me onto my stomach and raising my leg into the air. There was a sudden blinding light, and everything stopped. I heard the polaroid eject from the camera and softly land on the ground. I laid there for a minute, praying for the ringing in my head to subside. It took me a while to wrench my ankle free from the things hand and sit up. The person, monster, whatever it was, was just standing there, frozen. After the ringing in my head started to go away, I finally started to comprehend what I was looking at. It looked like a human, but the proportions were all wrong. It was too skinny, to the point where I could see every rib, bone, and tendon. The skin was taut, gray and wet. One hand was open, palm facing towards the camera as if it was trying pointlessly to hide its face. If you could call it a face. Its head looked mangled, dented and bumpy, as if a child tried to mold a human skull out of clay. The eyes were the only part that resembled a human, although they looked empty somehow. The monstrosity had a piece of my calf between its pointed teeth. I had no idea what this thing was, but I figured that the flash from the camera had somehow stunned it. I got up to grab the camera, but the pain from my leg shot through me. I had to grab a stick off the ground to balance on as I stumbled to the rock. I saw out of the corner of my eye that it was moving. It was so slow that I could barely tell, but its outstretched hand was definitely moving towards the camera. I wasn’t about to let it destroy the only way I could defend myself. Pushing myself through the pain, I grabbed the camera and started back along the trail towards my cabin. If I could only make it back there, I had some only hunting gear that could maybe kill it. I don’t know how long I had been walking. My bad leg and the cluttered trail made it painfully slow to traverse, and I tripped any time I tried to speed up. I counted 4 remaining polaroids, but I was more concerned about the flash. I needed to make sure nothing damaged it, or I would be as good as dead. I noticed some landmarks saying I was about halfway back to my cabin when I heard the branches breaking behind me. I ducked off to the side of the trail, and looked up at the trees. I saw a dark shape swing past me, moving faster than I could comprehend. It only made it a couple yards past me before it stopped, crouched up on a branch, searching. Searching for me. I readied my camera, pointing it at the creature in case it leapt at me. We stayed like that for some time, so long that it got dark enough I could barely see it. The rain clouds had covered up the moon, drowning the woods in an oppressive darkness. I would’ve had no idea it was there had it not been for the faint glow from its eyes, replacing the emptiness I had seen in them before. I nearly jumped out of my skin when it finally left, clambering onto other branches. I waited for a minute, making sure it was gone before stepping back onto the trail. I had taken a few steps when I heard something drop behind me. I turned as fast as I could before, polaroid ready, and took another photo. It just was a stray branch, broken by the storm. I breathed a sigh of relief before realizing how grievous this mistake was. I just told the creature exactly where I was. I tried to run down the path, but I could already hear the approach of cracking wood. I backed up against a tree, aiming my polaroid up in preparation. It landed on a branch above me, crawling down the opposite side of the tree to stay out of sight. I crawled away, but it was too fast, grabbing me by the shoulder. I managed to turn and point the camera, barely getting a photo off. I heard the polaroid shoot from the camera and fall to the ground. I had to use all of my strength to pry its gangly fingers open. I turned to see the creature staring me in the eye, its bloody mouth open in a scream. I could already see it starting to move again. It wouldn’t stay frozen for as long as it did last time. Not wasting any time, I started back on the trail. I was freezing cold and drenched to the bone. The remaining energy I had was fading, fast. I made out enough landmarks to know I was close to my cabin, a little less than a quarter of the trail was left before I made it. I hadn’t heard any signs of the monster, but I figured it was freed from whatever shock the flash put it in. It wasn’t long until I could reach my cabin, but if I kept pushing like this I would trip and roll down the side of the mountain. I decided to sit underneath a short tree a few feet off the trail, making sure to hide myself underneath the leaves as best I could. I rested my head against the bark, catching my breath. Using my break, I checked on my leg only to find it a bloody mess. I put my camera in my coat pocket as I tore apart my pants to make a makeshift bandage. When I lifted my head, I saw the faint glow of a pair of eyes staring at me. It was following me, silently this time, just watching. As quickly as I could, I reached for the polaroid and took a photo. I saw the blinding light, and heard the gears push the polaroid to the ground, but when my eyes adjusted I saw nothing but trees. It moved out of the way. The creature leapt at me from behind, not about to give me the chance to get away again. It pinned me down, holding me with a force I had no idea it was capable of. I stared at it, waiting for it to bite into my neck and tear out what remaining life I had left. Before I could come up with a way out, it grabbed my face and forced my head down onto the ground. Everything went black. I woke up to the rough coldness of stone. I slowly sat up, feeling the back of my badly bruised and bleeding head. It was pitch black; I couldn’t see my hands in front of my eyes. I stretched out my hands, feeling the coarse rock that surrounded me, until my hand drifted to a warm puddle. Following the liquid to its source, I felt coarse hair. It was a dead deer. I felt next to it, finding another dead animal, slowly discovering an ever-growing pile of animal corpses, all with their skulls caved in. That creature had brought me back to its den. Did it think I was dead? I reached into my coat pocket and let out a sigh of relief when I felt the familiar plastic of my camera. That relief suddenly turned into terror as I heard scratching coming from somewhere to my right. It must have heard me. I only saw one way out of this. I climbed into the pile of bodies, covering myself with organs and small animals. I heard the creature turn a corner, pacing around the room as it searched for me. The cover I made must have been good, as I heard it walk past me. The sounds of it walking slowly dwindled, until I heard nothing. Moving as quietly as possible, I slid out from under the pile of corpses I made, walking towards where I heard the monster enter. My progress was slow, but I kept quiet and hoped I had picked the right way to go. Just when I was about to give up and turn around, I felt hope, a breeze. I followed the breeze out, crawling through tunnels and shimmying through corridors until I could see the faint outline of an entrance. I leapt out of the cave, allowing myself to fully breath for the first time in forever. Collecting myself, I searched around the outside of the cave for some kind of landmark to tell me where I was. I then saw a faint light to my right. It was my cabin. Whatever this monster was, it had brought me to the old cave near my cabin. It was pitch black out now, the rain still coming down hard. Thinking of the best course of action, I heard an ear splitting scream come from somewhere deep in the cave. It already knew I made it out. I limped towards my cabin as fast as I could, throwing open the door and locking it behind me. The power had come back on while I was out being chased, and I wasted no time making sure every door and window was locked or covered. I was lucky the old miners only built one tiny window at the front of the cabin. I scrambled to find where I had left my phone, only to remember it was out of battery. I plugged it in, realizing I needed to wait until it was charged before I could leave. I wasn’t getting through the storm in my car, so all I could hope for was to get far enough to reach a signal and call for help. Remembering my hunting equipment, I got out my rifle and some rusty foothold traps. I set the traps up at every door and a few spots in the cabin. The only thing to do now was wait for it. I lit a fire in the meantime, letting the warmth soak into my bones and harden my resolve to survive. It didn’t take too long to hear scuttling along the outside of my house, going up towards the roof. I had never been more glad for a fire, knowing it couldn’t go through the chimney without getting burned. The scuttling increased in speed and sound, as if the creature was getting frustrated it couldn’t find a way in. It then started pounding on the doors, running between them, testing which one would give in first. I shot at the doors until my ears were ringing and my shoulder was numb, but the thing never stopped. I heard a crash as the window at the front broke, the monster’s elongated arm reaching through and flailing around in an attempt to grab me. A few shots from my gun dissuaded it, but then it decided to make its own entrance. Using what I could only imagine to be a large rock, the thing relentlessly beat on a wall until the wood started to split. No matter how many shots I put through that wall, it wouldn’t stop breaking it down. I was frozen there, trying to think of a way out of fighting something I couldn’t kill or trap. But it was already too late. The monster crashed through the wall, immediately rushing me and hitting me across the room. I sat there, the wind knocked out of me, watching as it approached. It knew it had me. No matter how many foothold traps it stepped in, it never slowed its approach. I wanted to save it in case I had to make a run from my car, but I had to use it now. I pulled out the camera, aiming it at the monster and took a photo as it started to run, trying to stop me before I could press the shutter. I heard the gears grind, and the polaroid drop to the ground, but I closed my eyes when I realized it: the flash didn’t go off. I was about to die. I don’t know when it happened, but my camera must’ve been damaged. It’s probably toying with me now, waiting for me to open my eyes so it could make me watch as it devours me. But there was only silence. I finally opened my eyes. Its hand was only a foot away, reaching for the camera. It was frozen. I looked into its eyes, but something was wrong; that haunting glow was gone. All I saw was that familiar emptiness I had seen when it first attacked me. Confused, I dropped my camera and scrambled around it, going for the door. Something stopped me, and I looked back at the creature, seeing its hand slowly starting to move. I thought it was reaching for the camera, but it was going for the polaroid. I cautiously approached, grabbing the polaroid before the creature could. I expected the photo to look normal, but I instead saw a gray haze in the rough shape of the monstrosity standing before me. The haze in the photo looked as if it was moving, writhing around as if trying to escape. Taking the photo had ripped it out of the monster, and it wanted to go back. I knew what I had to do. I limped to the fireplace, and tossed the photo in. The creature immediately started to scream; I imagine it would have deafened me if shooting the gun hadn’t already. It dropped to its knees, its pale skin bubbling and bursting. It crawled towards the fireplace, using the last of its fleeting strength to fight against the burning agony it was in. In the end, it was too slow. By the time the polaroid was ashes, the creature was only a pile of misshapen bones. I grabbed my phone and car keys. I drove it as far as I could, but the shitty thing got stuck in the mud a few miles out from the nearest town. I managed to limp the rest of the way, pushing myself with energy I didn’t know I had. I’m writing this in the home of a kind stranger as they try to call the police, but they can’t get out here due to the storm. I should be able to upload this account with the little signal I can get. I’m realizing now that I should’ve stayed in my cabin, as all I’ve done is sentence another poor person to die. I see their eyes out in the tree line, dozens of glimmers as they stare at me, curious, waiting, watching. I don’t know if taking photos with my phone will work. Even if it does, there’s no way I can stop them all. I’m posting this as a warning. Stay out of the mountains. They’ve come to take back their land. Credit: R.P. Harris Copyright Statement: Unless explicitly stated, all stories published on Creepypasta.com are the property of (and under copyright to) their respective authors, and may not be narrated or performed under any circumstance.