I know this may be a worn and torn type of story about the time someone had an encounter with a cryptid and then they go hunting for it for one reason or another, just to narrowly escape with their lives. I use to think some of those stories were all a load of bull and just good for killing time at work, or to share around the camp fire with the kids you are watching over at summer camp, just to scare them with a loud roar or your fellow counselor coming out wearing a mask. Then again, that's what I use to think, until I found out that some of them weren't stories.

I guess I should start with how The first encounter happened. I was driving along a back road going to work close to midnight just trying to keep my eyes open so I don't crash into any deer or stray dog and total my vehicle making me miss more days then I could afford, when on the road ahead of me as my headlights came over a hill, I saw a deer standing in the middle of the road. I had to slow down because this was a one car road, no way i could have gone around it unless I wanted to go into a ditch or go off a cliff. I came to a full stop with the deer looking at me from about 20-ish feet away, just standing like, well, a deer in the headlights. I honked a couple of times hoping it would go bounding into the woods and it would be over, but no, it still stood there and stared at me. Trying to just get on my way I opened my door and set foot onto the dirt hoping I'd scare it being a human, but turns out, there's worse things out that night then humans. As I was just about to fully step out of my car, from the right side of the road, a furry blur came bolting out of the shadows and, for lack of a better term, tackled the deer off to the other side of the road. It was brief but from what I could tell, it was a foot taller then the deer when it was hunched over, it was covered in black fur Looked like it was a man but with a dog's head, and a tail, not bushy like a wolf would have but not or flat like a lab would have. Seeing my first monster and not having any weapons on hand, I jumped back into my car and sped off, all speed limit signs that night be damned, I wouldn't have stopped for anyone but God himself.

Now, that was my first encounter, and it wouldn't be my last with its kind or I dare say, that same one.

I live in the back woods of good old Michigan where all the Amish roam and do tractors are the real issue with day time driving, My family home is back in the woods just enough so people won't see us, but not to far to not see a fire if it happens. Being backwoods, we raise animals, sadly nothing fancy like cows, goats, sheep, or pigs, but I've raised ducks, chickens, and turkeys ever since I was knee high, and being out here you loose some birds, be it from elements, old age, or more often then not, animal attacks. When they happen it's clear what did it because they leave a pattern, but when half the flock, about 6 or 7, is torn up and there's some unusual tracks and marks, that's when we know something is wrong. I came out in the morning to let the birds out before I leave, but I find that the coup door is busted off and some of the birds were going about their day, it made alarms go off in my head, i look around for some of the other birds. I find one but in an odd fashion , its chest looks like it was ripped open and all the insides were gone and most of the ribs were chewed on and missing. First indication that this wasn't normal was the body. Racoons and possums would have hidden the body somewhere so they could eat, and the head or throat would be gone, the bird was in the open and the head was still on. The second thing is there's only one way into the bird's area, it's always closed so the birds don't escape, and the area has 6 foot tall fencing going all the way around so nothing could get in or out normally.

To keep the rest safe I moved the body deep into the woods so nature could clean up what it left, but nature had its own little surprise. As I walked the beaten down path from years of a young boy running around care free, there were tracks on it. The usual deer tracks, a couple squirrel hops, a turkey scratch patch, and a new print that made me pause and stare at it. It was a dog print, but no normal dog could have made a print like this, I wear a size 9 1/2 shoe, and I put it right next to that print, it was the same length and a little over twice as wide as my foot. It being day time and out of my shock of finding the print, I dropped the bird's body and pulled out a knife I always wear when I go out into the woods, one of those good knifes you find in the camping section at any big store, just for basic protection and to make myself feel better, and like the stupid kid I was, I followed the tracks. They twisted and turned around the trees in a weird way as I walked deeper and deeper into the forest. I was about a mile in when I thought about turning back and heading home, when I saw something familiar...A feather. It wasn't a wild turkey feather, or a vulture, or a hawk feather, but a chicken feather. There were more going further in, so I kept following until I found a small shaded clearing littered with bones from deer and cow and the feathers I was following, as well as the prints I first saw.

I was staring at the prints and the bones and thought I should set up a trail camera here just to see if I could capture whatever is here on camera and maybe figure out a way to keep it away from my livestock. Remembering the way back home I started walking, retracing my steps and trying to figure out what it could have been, not thinking it would have been something I'm not use to, nor was I paying attention to my surroundings. I started paying attention when a loud snap of a branch echoed through the woods and that was it. Looking around now fully focused, there was nothing. Nothing moving, nothing making a sound, it was like everything was waiting. This realization made my hair stand on end and as slow as my legs would let me, I started backing up, not turning my back from where I was, I'm glad I didn't otherwise you wouldn't have this tale. As I kept walking, there was another snap, it was in front of me and I saw what made the noise. It was so close to the ground and moving as slowly as I did, if it wasn't for the sun no one would have seen it. It had brown hair like the fallen leaves that carpeted the forest floor covering its entire body, its ears were low and turned back trying to not stand out, its muzzle baring teeth like a large dog's, and its eyes, oh god the eyes. It was about 70 feet away but I could see the eyes. A deep green that stared at me with hate, hunger, and anger. Once again, it wasn't smart but I couldn't help it, I ran. I ran as fast as my legs could take me but that wasn't fast enough. It was running behind me, keeping pace and gaining on me, snarling with every step it and took. I knew I couldn't out run it so I ran towards a riverside ledge that has a steep cliff like drop. I stopped and turned to face what was chasing me, now it wasn't trying to hide. I was tall, 6 1/2 feet tall, broad and powerful shoulder and just like what I saw that night going to work, it had the body of a man, it was skinnier than the other one, Had the head of a dog but larger then any normal dog, hands with inch long claws on the tips, and a tail that wasn't to bushy. I held my knife at the ready and shouted for it to attack me, hoping it would take that bait. It did, it charged and lunged at me and tried to claw swipe me, I got clawed on my arm as I avoided the brunt of it, but not enough to keep me up.

As it went over the edge, I followed, tumbling down the cliff trying not to bash my head against the stones and roots that riddled the cliff side. Mine and the creature's bodies crash onto the floor with a thud from me, and a loud yelp and cry of pain from. The wind is knocked out of me and my body is sore but I'm able to move. Looking over at the creature it's been impaled by a broken off branch through its abdomen and pelvis, blood spilling from the wound and its mouth as it whimpers in pain. I stay where I was to regain the ability to walk properly after the fall and watch the creature struggle. It still looked at me with anger, but now sadness and fear. After I was able to get up, I walked over to the creature knife in hand, it looked pale and now whimpered softly, it was on deaths door and still in pain. I took the knife and in as swift a motion as I could at the moment, I drive the knife into its chest and through it's heart, it made one last deafening screech like cry and fell silent. I stared at the body for a minuet before walking home, battered, sore, bloody, and extremely confused. I now know monsters were real, and I killed one.

I got myself home and took a long, well earned shower to wash off the dirt and blood from the events of the morning. I researched what i encountered just to be sure of what it really was, all the way to night fall. Laying in bed I couldn't sleep, recalling every little detail of what happened and what I saw, then I started to feel uneasy, like, something was off and someone was staring at you. I looked out the window and from the shadow of the trees, I swear on my mother's life. I saw eyes. Big yellow eyes staring right at me and into my soul. They held an anger that one would have when they want revenge. I hid under the covers and prayed to whatever god there is out there that I wouldn't wake up in front of the pearly gates. The next morning comes, and the eyes were gone, I was still alive, and maybe, just maybe, everything was just a dream. I walk out of the house to let my birds free again, when I kicked something. I look down, and there's my knife, I forgot to take it out of the creature the other day, it was still bloody, but that's not what worried me, what worried me was the print on my porch. It was bigger then the last one.

That's the end for now, this is a tester to see if my tale is worth fully telling on here, tell me what you all think, and next time, I'll tell you all about when the hunter became the hunted.