SPOOKLIGHT

I’m not sure how much of this I’ll remember if I don’t get it out now, but people NEED TO KNOW what I’m about to tell you! I have to spew as much of this out before it’s too late…so just ...LISTEN…

I live in a rural area of Northeast Oklahoma. One of those places where nothing happens other than an occasional accident where a guy accidently shoots a hole in his roof or a prisoner escapes some far off penitentiary. Most important thing I can remember from my childhood is some guy showing off a massive buck that broke a record for the state...needless to say, it’s a small town…

A couple weeks ago my friend and I were driving around near the lake, looking for places to go hunting in the future. It was a January day and it was cold. Oklahoma has weird seasons more often than naught. I remember it snowing on Christmas and being 75 on New Years before, but January is ALWAYS cold.

So we’re driving around with the radio low and talking about different areas and where the game might be when, my friend, James asks if I’ve ever heard of the Spooklight. “I remember my dad talking about seeing it once up by the state line back in the 70s.” I said. “He said he was driving some girls home from college for the weekend and a light appeared behind them, maybe a few inches off the road...too low to be a car. It was catching up to him too...fast! He told me he looked down at one point and he was going 80 (which must have been pretty fast back then cause it freaked him out). He told me the light was so close at that point it he couldn’t see it directly anymore. It was under the back of the vehicle and the light it gave off shown out onto the road. He did the only thing he could think of and hit the brakes...and once he came to a stop, he looked behind him and the light had stopped about 50 feet away. He started inching forward and so did it, matching the car’s movements EXACTLY as he made them. I guess he thought about it like it was a game of some kind...or maybe he wasn't afraid of what was happening. He always told me the story in a light-hearted tone.”

“So what happened?!” James interjected. “Well...after that my dad said it followed him for a ways at about that range...then it just disappeared.”

“Maybe it was a car?”

“I asked him, and he told me that there is no way it was a car. 1 light, too low, and he’s never seen a headlight that bright before.”

“Dude, that’s so weird…”

“Right?! I would have been freaking out...and I think he was more nervous than he let on. So why are you asking about it? You hear something about a Spooklight recently?”

“Ok, so...you know Terry, right? Now I know he’s not one to put stock in on any kind of usual basis...but he told me he saw one in this area back a week or so ago.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes! What’s more strange is that it was while he was fishing on the lake.”

“What is Terry doing out on the lake, in the middle of Winter, fishing at night? I mean...isn’t that like the worst time to fish?”

“I dunno, he’s always got a packed freezer so I’ve stopped arguing with him...but if he saw one on the water-”

“Did it do anything or did he just see a light? I mean, we all know how Terry likes to drink...” I said, questioning his source.

“He said he wasn’t drinking ‘cause he forgot his cooler that night, and while Terry has been known to tell fish stories, he’s never told them about more than just fish-”

“and that one time he said he caught a raccoon on a limb line.” I said with a half-smile.

“Hey, that was technically still a fish story...he was fishing.”

“Ok, fair enough, so what did it do?” I had to get him back on track if I was ever going to hear this story.

“Terry said that it came out of the treeline and onto the lake. It just started buzzing all over the lake. IT was about 150 feet from him, but it was REALLY bright. It was a calm night with almost no waves so it couldn’t be some buoy or marker than someone left...I mean this thing was moving like it was running a Dukes of Hazzard racing trail, sometimes doing full circles and other times straight-aways for hundreds of feet before stopping and not moving for minutes at a time.”

James had my full attention at this point, but he paused for a minute and pulled off the road and put the truck in park before continuing.

“So Terry says he’s watching this and all of the sudden he gets a bite...but he doesn’t notice because he’s so entranced with this light...and the next thing he knows his pole is going over the side of the boat!”

“Damn, I don’t know which reel it was, but he’s got some expensive stuff!” I interjected

I mean we’ve all lost stuff in the woods over the years, but at least the woods were searchable. James lost a pistol once and that was heartbreaking. He was out coon-hunting one year with his dogs and sat in the fork of a tree to take a piss and when he turned back around it had fallen in the leaves or something. He never found it. I lost my good hatchet once camping in the woods around there. I was cutting up a small tree for a fire and heard what I thought was a deer or maybe coyote. I walked a little ways looking for the sound and eventually came upon a baby deer stuck in some undergrowth. I stuck the hatchet in a tree and spent a couple minutes freeing the little guy and when I turned around the hatchet was gone. Lucky me because that hatchet was only about $20.

And just so you all know, if it had been any, and I mean ANY, other time of the year that was warmer Terry would NEVER have let his pole go in the lake without going in after it. Terry loved to fish, and while he was never going to get a degree from MIT, he was more than smart enough to know that jumping in water that was just a couple of degrees from freezing solid was a bad idea, especially while he was alone.

James continued saying: “Terry quickly stood up grabbed hopelessly for his reel, missing and and watched as his pole disappear into the lake. As he looked back up for the light...it was gone. It had completely vanished! It was at this point that the light on his boat flickered and promptly went out as well. He was in complete darkness on the lake. This was bizarre thing, but Terry know the path back to the ramp and decided he didn’t want a ticket from and “lake cops” as he called them. So he sat in his chair and fiddled with the controls till he found the ignition and turned the key, and started his engine.”

“The moment the engine started he heard a high-pitched cry...it sounded similar to someone screeching their tires, which is something you aren’t going to hear on the lake. He turned around and about 20 feet behind his boat appeared the light, almost blinding him. He threw the lever down and got the hell out of there, but the light followed him rocking to the left and right inside of the wakes his boat was making. He said it would disappear into the water and appear on his right, then his left, then behind him again all while never losing any speed and continuing to make that screeching sound the whole time. He turned a bend and made a straight away for the ramp about a quarter mile away, he thought he would make it until he heard the thud of defeat. He had hit a large branch or something just under the surface...his motor died. He turned around and all he could see was the light. Next thing he knew it was morning, 4 hours later. He got up, freezing cold disoriented, started the boat with no issues and made it back to shore.”

“That’s a cool story man, but wh-”

“There’s more…”

“More?” I questioned, not knowing how there could be much more...I mean he made it home safe so what more could have happened, all his fish were rotten or something, I thought.

“I asked him about it again yesterday and he had no idea what I was talking about. He said he doesn’t even remember fishing that day. I was there for an hour talking to him while he was looking through his truck, boat, and some other places before eventually asking him what he was looking for…

“Son of a bit-”

“He was looking for the pole he lost while he was out. So he forgot not just fishing and seeing the Spooklight, but waking up freezing and driving home in the morning which is something he NEVER does. I’ve always known him to head to shore about 3-4am. He forgot losing one of his favorite rod and reels, and he forgot ever buying bait on the way there. He’s even got a charge on his account for it at 7pm! He was going to fight it, but when I asked him what he did remember from that day he couldn’t recall ANYTHING.”

“So what are you going to suggest?” I asked him, knowing that he probably wanted to go looking for this thing...and sure enough I was greeted moments later with what would be the worst idea James ever had.

“So I looked up the weather for that night, and in 2 days it’s supposed to be almost the same. No wind and about the same temperature.”

“What about the moon?”

“Shit! I forgot all about that...good call. You think it matters if the moon is a little different?”

“Who knows...if you were a ball of light, would you care if the moon was full, half, or missing?”

“Ummm...I think I would want to come out when it’s a full moon or moonless. Wouldn’t you?”

“I suppose, when it the next time one of those 2 events is happening?” Bringing up my phone to check…

“I got no service here, how ‘bout you?”

“Nah, let me drive up a mile or 2 to the hill by the lake. I think I can get reception there.”

We pulled on the road and found that the next moon phase was tomorrow night. I relayed this info and when I turned to him a couple moments later I could see he was looking up information on this thing.

“It says here that there are Spooklights all over the world, but they are called something different. Even ones close to here, like Louisiana.”

“Oh yeah? What’s it called in the bayou?” Laughing under my breath just thinking about Terry with a Cajun accent.

“It says here that it’s a Fi Follet...a soul sent back from the dead for penance, but instead of helping people sometimes they attack people...or even suck the blood of children. That’s messed up, man!” He turned to me with a slightly worried look on his face, realizing he may have gotten us into something that’s over our heads.

“Yeah, most horror stories are though...otherwise they wouldn’t be scary. I’m betting some of it isn’t true and was added at a later date just for the scare factor...if not all of it.”

“Why don’t we head back to your place and make sure we have everything we need to find this thing.”

“Sure” He said and turned around the truck and headed back to his house. It was a normal country house with a barn that housed his tools, a boat, and some other junk. We made sure that we had everything we needed to find a light at night. We knew little about it, but we did our best. We both had 2 flashlights with new batteries, a knife, a gun for both protection from whatever the hell this thing was, and in case we saw a cougar...which while they were pretty rare like bears in Oklahoma, there are still sightings every so often.

I was carrying my lever action .30-30 rifle with a scope and a box of ammo. It wouldn’t be ideal against a bear, but the chances were so slim on seeing one that I wasn’t worried about it.

James had his 9mm pistol and a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with buckshot and a box of shells. It would help if only to hit the thing when it was moving and especially if it got closer to us.

The last thing James pulled out was 2 old kerosene lanterns.

“You are a genius sometimes!”

“Just sometimes?” He smirked, handing me one of the lanterns. Then he picked up a small first aid kit and stuffed it into his bag with some jerky. It wasn’t a light weight to hike with...but it beats not being prepared.

We knew where Terry liked to fish and gathered that, based on how far away the light was from him it had to have come from a dense area of the forest about a mile from an old gravel road. Luckily not many people drove it except for hunters, so we could park off the side of it without having to worry about someone messing with the truck.

That night I went home and decided to see what I could dig up on this Spooklight. I’m sorry to report that I found very little. Just scary stories about Some place all the Parallel Forest in Lawton, which was across the state from me, and some stories about weird creatures appearing in what I think was the Rockies. I did find a couple tidbits about my area though. I guess there was an old school that burned down about a hundred years ago. People reportedly hear the sounds of children screaming when they drive by it at night, and there have been reports of lights being on inside it. Mostly could be people doing drugs in it or just exploring it, but it still freaked me out a little bit. Especially with the part about drinking kids blood. I mean, I’m 27 and James is 29, so we aren’t kids by a long shot, but it just pains me to think that there could be something out there than likes to feed on innocent children…But the worst part of all my findings was back at the burnt schoolhouse...they never recovered any bodies. 13 children died, and zero bodies were ever found. After going down the rabbit hole a little more I went to bed.

The next afternoon we got our gear and headed out to the area of the woods we planned to search and parked just off the road. We had about 2 hours before dark, so we got everything and double checked each other before starting down a little path that ended a few dozen feet into the thick wooded area. We weren’t too worried about getting lost. We each had a compass that we always carried on our keyrings and we had been in these woods many times. It’s not like there are hundreds of miles of emptiness out here...not like in some other stories where hikers get lost for days and end up dozens of miles away on a mountain...no, if we got lost, it would be hard to go more than 5 miles without seeing a house or a road in almost any direction...and if we hit the lake then we’d just follow it around to a boat ramp or a road.

We walked for a while, talking to each other about nonsense and what we thought it looked like or where it might be hiding during the day...that was interesting to me because there weren’t any sightings during the day, and with how bright that bastard is at night it must be noticeable during the day...SOMEONE must have seen it if it were out. That bothered me more than I care to admit...and the only explanation I have for it is that it doesn’t like the sun, which makes no sense because it’s light...isn’t it??? Wouldn’t it like...charge up in the sunlight or something???

Whatever it was or wasn’t, I doubted we’d see it...and I hoped we wouldn’t step in a hole and have to carry the other back to the truck. Even a mile or 2 is a LONG way at that pace.

“You loaded?” I asked him, letting out a stream of warm breath that nearly blocked my vision.

“Yeah, how ‘bout you?” He replied as he turned his shotgun to the side and pulled back the bolt to his semi-auto shotgun...one shell in the chamber. I turned my 30-30 on it’s side and opened the lever action to reveal a round in the chamber I had loaded earlier as well.

“Yep, think we’ll see anything?” I asked him while reaching back and pulling out a bottle of water and taking a drink.

“Who knows...probably not for a few hours. Should we just wait by the clearing to the lake?” He asked, already knowing that was probably the best place to start and only lead. James was like that. He could have been a great leader, but he always second-guessed himself and asked others for their thoughts to see if they were thinking the same things he was. This wasn’t a bad trait in a person. In some ways it’s what made us good friends. He never tried to push me around with his thoughts or directions unless he was completely sure he was right about it. Even then he was about to agree to disagree or in most cases see the other side of things. He had an empathy about him that made him approachable and kind. I was no casanova with the ladies, but I could never figure out why he couldn’t seem to get a girl. I know he liked girls, we spent hours of walking/camping/hunting/driving talking about who in our high school was the best girl and which hollywood actresses were the hottest. I think it was just his quiet nature or something.

I was snapped back into the moment when a large stick snapped about 25 feet to my right! In one motion I turned and brought my gun to my shoulder, leaving it pointed at the ground just below where I heard the sound. That’s something you should always do, btw. Never point your gun at something you don’t know the identity of because it could be, in this case...a person.

“Well hello boys!” Said a smiling older man who was standing next to a fallen log. It was a man we both knew and grew up around; Henry McDaniels. He was a medium built man with a bit of a gut and a balding head of dark brown hair that he always wore a hat over.

“You hunting something out here?” He asked.

“We’re scouting, really. Know any good places by the lake for ducks? Maybe a place in a tree?” James asked, keeping his composure and knowing there wasn’t anything there.

“Nah, none of those trees are big enough or stable by the lake. Their all rotted out or no bigger than my arm.” Henry said. “I’m not too accustomed to duck huntin’ like you boys though.”

“I’m sure you’re right, where are you headed? Home for the night?” I asked hoping to get an affirmative response.

“Yeah, the wife’s cookin’ fried fish tonight and I’m not missing it. Just resting here when I heard you boys walk up. I hope you find a good spot. Be careful out here at night, I’ve seen some people wandering around these woods at night recently.”

“Oh we’re always careful, and if we see anyone wandering around who wants to cause trouble we got these.” James said, patting his shotgun lightly and smiling at Henry.

The 2 of them let out a slight chuckle and Henry walked off.

“You think those hunters at night were...the lights?” James said, looking over at me after we got a good 100 feet from Henry.

“I dunno man...there are always people hunting in these woods, but at night...what are they hunting, possums or ‘coons? There are way better places to hunt smaller game like that.”

James nodded; “You’re right, so if those were the lights, then how many do you think he saw...4 or 5? Yeah, 10 tops...man, I dunno about facing 1 of those lights, let alone 10!”

“Well Terry only saw one...so maybe it was hunters? I guess we just can’t know. Are we continuing on with this?”

“I think we have to.” James said as he resettled his gun over his shoulder and trudged forward.

“Hey James…what if we shoot bigfoot while we were out here.”

James paused for a moment and then started laughing, almost doubling over. I followed suit with his infectious cackling at my joke...it was so dumb, but it felt good to laugh, especially in that moment.

The sun sank as we made our way through the wilderness and started getting close to the lake. We knew we were getting close because the ground started to get soggy. Another couple hundred feet and were we are the water’s edge, with about 15 minutes of good light left. There were small trees everywhere...maybe 6 inches or so in diameter, and some larger trees that had started to rot out over time with the lake rising and falling over the years. There were bobbers, line, cups, and general trash here and there in various states of decay. No poles though...that thing is probably in the middle of the lake, I thought. Poor Terry was out a good $200 at least with that beauty.

“We cleared out a small area next to a large fallen tree. It gave us some cover from behind and with a few branches in front of us as a makeshift blind we were ready, sitting completely silent, waiting for the sun to set…

And wait we did...for 4 hours in the cold, soggy hell we were sitting in. We never spoke or moved more than a few inches. Every so often we’d hear the crackling of sticks in the distance. Probably squirrels, possums, armadillos, deer, or coyotes. Not much else would be around this time of night. We were close enough to the lake to hear the occasional duck or goose quacking around a bend. There were a few times I know James was wishing his shotgun was loaded with steel bird shot. I smiled at the thought of it.

It was about midnight when we decided that we were done waiting around. We looked at each other and spoke quietly.

“You think this is a dud?” James asked

I noded; “Let’s head back to the truck, maybe it’s the moon after all.”

We both stood up from the mud and as we did we James grabbed my jacket. I snapped my eyes to the back of his head and traced it to where he was looking. There was a peninsula of sorts that stuck out past us on our right...maybe 100 feet. There were trees and everything growing on it just like where we were. Through those trees I could make out a light moving slowly across the trees to our left. It was maybe 10 seconds from exiting the treeline and being visible to us. I remember thinking we should sit down again, but I couldn’t move...I’m guessing James felt the same way cause we just stood there as the light moved out of the treeline and across in front of us…

“Son of a bitch!” James said as the light changed angles to reveal it was just a boat.

“Let’s go..” James said, defeatedly.

We walked back about 250 feet into the woods...the whole way I was trying to think of something to say to make is easier on James...I could tell he wanted to find that thing and see it for himself. Me...I was good with getting warm and never hearing about it again. I started to say something to James, but as I looked up to say something to him I was blinded by a light, just inches from my face. I winced in pain...the kind of pain you get from turning on a computer monitor in a dark room when your eyes haven’t adjusted...but 10 times worse. I heard James make the same sound, a hissing sound like you’re sucking in air to scream, but you aren’t in any physical pain. I reached for James, but he wasn’t there.

“James!”

“JAMES! Where are you, man!”

“JAMES!!! I CAN’T SEE YOU! I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING!!”

That’s when I realized I couldn’t hear anything but a ringing like a firecracker had gone off next to my face. All I could think was this must be what it feels like to get flashbanged in all those tv shows and videogames?

I kept reaching out with both hands, finally I found a jacket.

“JAMES!” I yelled as I pulled him close. I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him with me, but he would budge. When I say he wouldn’t budge, I mean it was like he was suddenly replaced with concrete. I pulled on him so hard I swear there was no way he weighed enough to keep me from dragging him at the very least. It was at this point that I started to be able to hear and see again. First I could hear...that sound...the screeching sound like a car peeling out mixed with nails on a chalkboard...it was ear-piercing and loud...it made me wish I was still deafened!

Next I started to be able to see again, not fully, but bits and pieces...shapes mostly. That’s when I looked at James...and...and I can’t really describe what I saw…

The Spooklight was just hovering in front of his face. I had to block it’s light with one hand to see him. It was pulling light from his eyes...somehow. I looked at his face...at my best friend’s face…

He was screaming, but I couldn’t hear him over the sound. He had tears running down his face and it was obvious he was in pain. I didn’t know what to do…until my body started to move on it’s own.

*BANG!* A shot blared out over the screeching light as I looked down the barrel of my rifle at the light.

“LET HIM GO!” I screamed as I cocked the hammer back by quickly opening the lever to eject a casing and closing it to load another.

Before I could even finish this action the light was gone. I looked all around and then back to James. He slumped over onto me, barely able to stand.

“James! James! You ok?!”

“What just happened?” He asked

“You got attacked by the spooklight, man! We have to get out of here, NOW! Can you walk?”

He hobbled along with me for a few dozen steps before I realized our flashlights were out...we were walking blind through the forest. I ripped off his backpack and pulled out his lantern and a match and lit it. When I lit the lantern I could hear the sound again, from a ways behind us…

I turned and saw the light moving towards us and yelled to James:

“You going to stand there for shot this thing?”

I fired...I know I had to have hit it. It bobbed weirdly to the left when I shot like I just bounced it off course for a moment.

I fired again...and again...each time I know I hit it. Look, I’m no green beret sharpshooter, but I’ve hunted all my life. I know when I should be hitting something.

A *BOOM!* rang out from my side as James fired his buckshot, hitting it dead center and putting it out.

The God-awful screeching sound stopped.

“You think it’s dead?” James yelled, still getting over his hearing loss from earlier.

“I don’t care to find out, I just want to get out of here alive. Let’s go!”

“Yeah man, screw checking for a pulse, I’m going to church in the morning after this!” James joked...or maybe he was serious.

We situated ourselves, loaded back up and started walking out of the woods, thankful that we were done with this whole ordeal...but we were just getting started…

About a 100 feet from the truck we hear it again in the distance...getting louder.

“Shit, shit, shit! Do you think we can hide from it?”

“I don’t think it’s worth trying.” I yelled, as we started running again. We were just getting into the truck when it barrelled out of the treeline. I don’t know how you would tell if a ball of light is pissed off, but I could tell it was not happy...no, this thing was pissed. It moved so fast...one second it was at the tree line, and the next it was right behind the truck.

“Dude, let’s get the hell out of here, NOW!” I whispered.

“My thoughts exactly.” Said James as he unzipped his coveralls pocket and pulled out the keys.

I guess this thing has good hearing because the moment those keeys jingled, it was running all around the truck like it was trying to disorient the truck itself. It was still blinding and deafening though.

“Here!” James said, shoving his pistol onto my lap. Don’t let it get inside the cab!”

He started the truck, put it in drive and as he started to pull onto the road I realized I couldn’t see it anymore. It was completely gone. I looked around in a panic, hoping maybe it had given up, then, as we pulled back onto the road and got about 50 feet I noticed that I could see the road way to well for it being the middle of the night.

“James, it’s under the truck!”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

He was right...he was speeding up and trying to stay on the road while worrying about hitting a deer under normal situations while speeding is hard enough, let alone while some evil ball of light is trying to kill you…I was trying to think of something we could do to get rid of it, then it hit me…

“Head for town!”

“Town?! That’s like 15 miles away on the other side of the lake! Shouldn’t we head home?”

“No! We can’t lead this back home. You want to wake up with that thing sucking out your soul again?”

“Good point. Town it is.”

He took a right about a mile later and headed towards town. We were still in the middle of nowhere for another 5 minutes...if we could just make it a little longer we’d be ok, I just knew it. I still couldn’t figure out what it was doing though...it was just sitting there under the truck.

My questions were answered about a minute later when James started to panic.

“Hey man! What did that thing do!?”

“What’s going on?” I asked

“We are losing fuel...fast!” He said in a more panicked tone.

I turned back to look at the Spooklight again and...it was gone. No light shining anywhere.

“I think it’s gone.” I told him. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’re still screwed though...we are out of fuel. We aren’t going to make it to town. We maybe have about 2 miles left before we have to hoof it.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we should get out of the truck.” I objected. I didn’t know what the best option was but it couldn’t mess with us before, so why get out now?

“If it can take a bite out of the gas tank then it can get in the cab. We have to get somewhere safer.”

“Where is safer than the truck?!” I asked in a demanding tone. We both knew there wasn’t anything around except trees, a few hunting stands, and the lake. We didn’t have time to make much of a decision because a moment later we started hearing the sounds of the engine stuttering as it ran out of gas.

“Get your shotgun!” I told him

“It’s in the bed.” he whispered with a regretful sigh. “Same as your rifle.”

“So we got 2 knives, a pistol, and what...2 flashlights...well...clubs?”

“Pretty much. You see any sign of it again?”

I looked all around and saw nothing.

“I say we just wait right here till morning. At that point we can walk to town.”

“Hey, you got reception on your phone?” James said pointing to my chest pocket.

I took out my phone and checked the bright screen. 3 bars!

“Yeah, I’ll call for a tow!”

I went to quick dial a guy I knew who had a tow truck and as the call started to connect I watched the bars drop...2...1. The phone rang twice and then disconnected...0.

That’s when the light appeared over the front of the truck, nearly blinding us again. We both screamed in shock and I pointed the pistol at the light and fired off 2 shots through the windshield...nothing. Didn’t even phase it. The screeching sound was almost unbearable as it banged against the glass, cracking it after several hits.

“We can crawl through the back window to the guns!” James said, unlatching the back window.

“Are you serious? That’s a death sentence!”

“So is staying here. We have to get our guns!” He demanded.

I wasn’t sure if I was right or is he was, but I didn’t have time to think about it. He was already halfway out the back so I fired another shot at the light and followed suit. I fell to the bed of the truck and reached out for the guns. I felt my .30-30 and as I got up to my knees I saw him raise his shogun and fire through the window of the truck. The light moved off the hood and went out again.

“Get on top of the cab.” I whispered to James. He listened and stepped up onto the cab and looked all around the truck.

“It’s under us...I can’t see it” He said with a shrug.

I aimed the my rifle at the tailgate and waited for what felt like 5 minutes, but I think it was more like 5 seconds before I saw the light pop up from behind the tailgate. I fired at it...nothing.

“What is the deal with this thing, are our shots going through it?” I yelled while chambering another round.

It lurched forward into the truck bed with me, just a few feet away. For a ball of light it must have weighed a considerable amount because it caused the truck to sway when it landed, which knocked me off balance while I was lining up my shot

*BANG* I fired a shot hitting the side of the bed as I fell over on my side.

I looked up and saw James had caught himself and was bringing his shotgun up to fire when it lurched forward again almost on top of me.

*BANG!*

His shotgun rang my ears as it pierced the screeching. He had missed and almost hit me. His shot was low…

Or was it…

The light and the screeching flickered and it retreated back to the tailgate. As it moved backwards I noticed it for the first time...it wasn’t floating...it was WALKING!

“It’s more than a light! It’s got legs!” I screamed to James. I didn’t know if he could hear me or if he noticed it too...but I had to let him know.

“Aim below the light! James!! Aim below the li-”

I was cut off as something grabbed me from the darkness and in an instant I was face to face with the ball of light. It was in this moment that I thought it would steal my soul like it tried to do with James before...but I wasn’t so lucky. Instead...what I saw will haunt me for as long as I live...what I felt..will haunt me long after that.

I felt over a dozen hands gripping me from shoulder to ankle...big hands at that. I couldn’t move a single inch no matter how hard I tried. Next the light raised up over my head and dimmed ever so slightly as if it was lowering some kind of visor. I’m sure at this point I was in the way and James couldn’t make a shot, so I just hoped that he was getting behind it or something. I had hoped that...I remember hoping that, because my next thought was just wishing he would have shot me right then and there. This light, this...thing’s face that it allowed me to see was horrifying. It would be cruel to show a picture of it to anyone because it could drive them to madness.

It looked like to have a small face like that of a small child...small eyes and features, but everything was just...wrong. It had extra eyes on it’s cheeks and 3 mouths spread out all over it’s head. I suppose that’s how it made that terrible sound. It had no nose, not as if it was never there, but more like it was cut clean off leaving only a small jutting bone and it skin...or what was left of it’s skin was nearly falling off it’s face in places, and in others it was pristine. It opened its mouth to continue screeching and the smell of death washed over me. A light came out of it’s mouth and pierced me. I felt it’s eyes stare into mine and I felt like I was starting to burn up on the inside. Not like I was running a temperature, but more like someone had stuffed hot coals in my stomach and I was literally starting to burn up from the inside out...I couldn’t take my eyes off it..I wanted anything other than to have to look at it any longer. I wanted to die!

*BOOM!*

A shot rattled me and I was flung to the floor of the bed again as the creature cried out with a different screeching sound this time. It was James! I’m not sure how long it took him to get into position, but it felt like I was looking at that...monster for hours.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

He fired every shot left in his gun sending buckshot all over the creature each time. He must have heard me because he was no longer aiming at the light, but it’s body.

“Did I hit it?” He yelled

Can he still not see this thing?! I could see it plain as day...but if he still couldn’t see it then does that mean that whatever the creature did to him was different than what is just did to me?

“You hit it every time!” I exclaimed.

The light flickered and went out as the flashlights we had stowed away came back to life. I ran my light over the creature...I didn’t want to, but at this point I had to see all of it...once again I regret seeing any part of it. It’s body was full of holes now, but wasn’t bleeding. It’s skin was leathery and tough, and looked like it was patched together and sewn at the seams where each of the sets of arms were. The arms were all from different children. I knew this because some of the arms were black, others were toned and shorter, and some looked to be arms belonging to a girl rather than a boy. It had short, stocky legs that made me question how it was able to keep up with a car. It’s light was attached to a cord of flesh about the width of a finger. Somehow this thin cord or tail-like appendage was able to lift this big ass bulb. The bulb had a hole in it from a piece of buckshot.

“How does a light do everything that just happened to us?” James asked

“It’s more than a light. Can’t you see the rest of it?” I asked in disbelief. Surely he could see it now. It was dead.

“I just see a burnt out bulb of light.” His answer shocked me so badly I fell to one knee.

“It’s better that you can’t see it.” I said nearly puking. “It’s truly horrifying and I wish I had never seen it.”

I pulled out my phone and called the tow truck guy I knew. He picked up, said he’d be there in a jiffy. I relayed the information to James and we sat there for a minute or 2 in silence. I just had to process what happened.

“So what did you see when it grabbed you?” I asked James.

“When what grabbed me?” he said

“You know damn well what!” I yelled. “The Spooklight! What happened???”

“Dude, I have no idea what you are talking about right now. What’s a Spooklight?”

I couldn’t believe it...he had already forgotten. Does that mean that whatever it did to him erased his memories of tonight? Maybe that keeps him from seeing what the Spooklight really looks like as well...

“Hey, I’m feeling pretty tired, I think I’m gonna sit in the truck for a bit” He said, as he wandered back into the truck and closed the door. I walked over to the door and by the time I got there he was already in a deep sleep.

*SCREEEEECH*

I literally pissed myself when I heard it, shining my light back onto the corpse of the Spooklight. I knew it couldn’t be alive, could it? Then I heard it again…

*SCREEEEECH*

It was coming from the woods. I turned to face the direction it was coming from only to be met with the familiar grasp of those set of arms, but I couldn’t see this one’s face. It wouldn’t let me. Instead I just saw the bright bulb. I closed my eyes to try not to look into it, but after a few seconds I would start to feel that burning sensation and it was so powerful that I knew if I didn’t open my eyes I’d catch fire from the inside…

I opened my eyes and what I saw was just...light. It probed my mind and I’m not sure what it was looking for but I felt it taking...something from me. I couldn’t stop it...I couldn’t move. I yelled as loud as I could but the screeching was drowning me out. I knew it...I was going to forget everything...or worse...I’d die...and this...thing would rip off my arms or face and add it to its own. I’d give anything to stop that from happening...please don’t let that happen to me!

Next thing I know it’s gone and there are still lights, but no sound. Just the much quieter sound of an engine. The tow truck was here. I remember him asking if we were ok. I shook my head and he started hooking up the truck. After a few minutes we were all in the cab on our way to the James’ house. He dropped us off and I took James inside and made sure he was ok before heading home. Once I got home I realized I couldn’t let myself forget...or I just needed someone else to know. So I sat down and I’m writing this before I forget everything that...happened…

Before I forget...everything.

I think I’ll as my friend James if he wants to go camping in a few weeks. We’ve grown up in the area and the woods are pretty safe. People lose stuff there from time to time, but nothing too crazy...maybe he’ll bring along Terry. That guys a hoot....