My friends and I had planned a camping trip in the woods.
It was summer, so the heat waves made it unbearably hot, but there was a lake nearby that we planned
to swim in and cool down anyways.
While we were setting up the tents, there was an unsettling feeling in my stomach that
just wouldn’t go away.
I kept feeling like something was watching me.
So I turned around, and met eyes with a deer.
But it wasn’t a normal deer, it’s eyes looked strangely human.
I’ve always had a fear of being watched.
To be more specific, I have a fear of eyes itself.
The idea of looking into the abyss, and seeing a pair of eyes staring back at me just terrifies
me.
I stood there frozen for a moment, until one of my friends called out to me.
Just for a moment, I turned away, and when I looked back, the deer was gone.
I hadn’t heard any footsteps indicating that it left, which I found really strange.
How could an animal as big as that leave without a trace?
I tried my best to ignore the strange encounter and joined my friends at the lake to swim instead.
Personally, I was a pretty strong swimmer, so I felt safe going out further than everyone
else.
At a certain point, I realized my friends’ laughter had completely faded away.
Now, I was left all alone in an unknown part of the forest.
I looked down at my reflection and stared into my own eyes, realizing how frightened
I looked.
Then, something interrupted my train of thoughts
In the distance, I heard a sort of “psst.”
Almost like someone was discreetly trying to talk to me.
I turned around, looking to see if any of my friends had somehow wandered off and followed
me.
Then, the voice began to call out my name.
After hearing it repeat it multiple times– I quickly realized that the voice belonged
to my friend, Jason.
As he called me deeper into the woods, half of me felt reassured.
The other half of me felt like something was wrong.
Like something with his voice just wasn’t right.
I kept staring at the direction of the voice, not wanting to leave the water, in fear of
what was really calling me.
Then I saw the same deer again, but this time it was standing on two legs and hiding behind
a tree.
But one thing didn’t change, the way it’s eyes pierced into my soul.
That freaked me out enough to swim away towards the direction I had come from, not bothering
to look back.
I wasn’t brave enough to go check it out, and the way it’s eyes stared at me was burned
into the back of my mind
When I got back, I tried to act casual.
I was known for being the calm and collected one within the group, so I didn’t want to
freak everyone out just because I saw a deer in the forest.
Everyone was getting ready to go fishing, so I decided to take a nap in my tent instead.
Surprisingly, it was easy for me to fall asleep, but when I woke up, the top flap of my tent
was open.
The first thing I saw were two eyes staring back at me.
I tried to scream, but nothing left my throat.
Not once did the eyes blink, we were just trapped in a never ending staring contest.
There was nothing I could do but close my eyes and pray that they would leave.
That’s when I heard Jason calling my name again.
I jolted up, and realized that weird encounter had been a dream.
Even though it felt so realistic
Jason told me it was time to eat dinner so I got out of my tent.
I was still shaken up by my dream, but I told myself I was just being paranoid.
As we sat around the fire, I asked Jason if he had seen any deers around the area.
He looked confused, and told me that this was an empty forest, no animals lived here
other than the fish.
A wave of paranoia washed over me.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t help but keep glancing over my shoulder.
Was I starting to see things?
But the deer felt so realistic...
I quickly ate and then started to take a walk around the campsite.
I wanted to be sure that I wasn’t seeing things, but I was also scared of what was
actually out there.
While walking, I started to hear footsteps that weren’t mine.
I stood still, and continued to hear the footsteps.
I turned around and saw the exact same deer following me.
it’s unwavering human eyes continued to stare straight at me.
At this point, I was completely frozen.
Slowly, the deer started to contort and transform..
It’s jaw unclenched, and something dark started to crawl out of its mouth.
It revealed itself to be a figure without a face, just purely eyes covering its skin.
The reality of the situation kicked in and I began to run deeper into the forest, scratching
at my skin from the terrifying event I just witnessed.
Even as I ran, I could hear my friend’s voice coming from that horrifying monster.
“Angelll…Angelll..ANGELL.”
As I scratched my skin, I could feel hot air bubbles forming underneath the surface and
my vision seemed to become more and more blurrier.
After running as far as I could, I somehow came face to face with the figure again.
My hands reached out to plunge my nails into their eyes, but my hands were submerged in
something wet.
I gorged the eyes out until all I saw was darkness.
Then, I felt hands pulling my body away from the river