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It was late November, 2018, when me and two of my friends decided to go walking in the woods around my house. My father had recently bought 6,000 acres of woodland, deep in the countryside just outside of Hampshire. It was a rather spacious area, but i had no idea the secrets the woods held.

Me and two friends, who's names I've changed for privacy, walked into the woods, deciding to take torches with us although it was only 5 P.M, but the trees were barley a few feet apart. We had to turn the torches on after walking about a mile into the woods, as we walked we began to notice that the ground was getting rockier, the rocks slowly turning into a broken down wall, then I noticed something, old rusted iron, embedded into the ground. Shining the torch around i noticed how high the wall had gotten. If i had to guess I'd say about 15 feet high. That's when one of my friends, Mark, said "Guys, i think we found an old castle or something" another friend, Amy, piped up and said "Mark don't be dumb, there are loads of ruins like this dotted around Hampshire." Their conversation faded as I wondered in, through what must've been a gatehouse, the wooden ceiling rotted away with moss and mushrooms holding the walls up. "Dani!" Mark shouted "Where'd you go?" I poked my head around the mouldy door frame and shouted "In here, and Amy! I think He's right!"

All three of us wondered through the small gateway, and shone our torches around, about 30 feet away from what we thought to be the courtyard, was a border wall, just shorter than the gatehouse, made from what looked to be the same stones and woodworm eaten, mouldy wood were some buildings, or rather, the remnants of buildings. We wandered around for about half an hour before I found an odd looking, old iron trapdoor, set in the old stone floor of one of the more complete buildings, I shouted out to Mark and Amy, "Guys I think i'm onto something here!" They both came running, "Well would you look at that" Amy exclaimed, "Should we open it?" Asked Mark "Well duh" said Amy, all while I was investigating the trapdoor, "Well come on then!" Mark said, becoming agitated, nudging me with his foot. "Open it!" he exclaimed "Jesus Mark, Okay, just let me..." I hit the Trapdoor where it was locked on the inside with the but of my torch, Hearing something click Mark pushed me out of the way and began pulling on the handle "Jesus Mark, calm down" Amy said, watching him become more and more frantic with each pull.

Amy put a hand on his shoulder, and pulled him away, softly, "Here" She said, "Let me help" Amy began to pull on the door, me standing to the side thinking. "Wait" I said "Why would it be locked from the insi-" Mark interrupted me, "Dani, stop overthinking things" I walked slowly towards the two when Amy said "Got it!" as the door swung slowly open a wafting smell of dank and musty air hit us in the face "Eugh" Mark said "That smells horrible" as Amy peered over the edge she said "Stop complaining Mark, It's no worse than your bedroom!" As Mark reacted to that comment, Amy was lowering herself down, legs first. "Hey Amy, is it even safe down there?" I queried, "From what I can see, yes" She responded I peered over the edge, shining my torch into the blackness below i helped Amy down.

The clack of Amy's shoes echoed through what appeared to be a large tunnel, as I lowered her torch down to her Mark looked around the woods, an eerie look across his face "Everything okay, Mark?" I asked, "Yeah" He said looking down at his watch. "Hey Dani?" He asked. "Yeah?" I sorta yelled back "What time does your watch read?" I looked down at my watch and gasped "9:03? Didn't we leave at 5P.M?" Amy looked up wide eyed "My phone says 9:03 too" "Weird" I reply before starting to lower myself down the hole "Mark, you coming?" I Yell up to him "Yeah" He shouts back down. Once all of us were down in the tunnel, i shone my torch around and looked at the moth-eaten banners on the walls, "Jesus, some of this stuff looks like it dates back to the Crusades!" Amy exclaimed.

Walking further into the darkness the air got hotter and stuffier, it seemed like we were going deeper into the earth, gradually the stone walled tunnel began to get rougher and rougher until it was rough rock, lit only by our torches, we walked further into the tunnel before it opened into a cavern with a pillar of rock, holding up the ceiling, "Wow!" Amy exclaimed "It sure is..." Mark paused "Something" although it felt humid enough for moss to coat the walls of the cavern, it was surprisingly bare walled. "Guys! get a load of this!" Mark shouted as he pointed his torch into a foot wide hole. As we all crowded around the hole Mark's torch hit something in the hole, reflecting light back at us for a second. "What the hell!" I shouted "Yeah i saw something weird too" Amy looked at me quizzically. "I Didn't see anything" Mark said "No, Mark get away from there!" There was a clicking sound, slowly getting louder "Mark you bloody idiot! Listen to Dani!" Amy shouted there was a louder click and then a crack that echoed around the cavern. "Mark! What was that!" staring at mark I slowly came to the realisation that his neck had snapped, my suspicions were confirmed when Mark's body slumped to the ground, his neck twisting at an unnatural angle as his body hit the ground "Oh shit!" I shouted "Amy! Behind the pillar! quick!"

As Amy and I ran behind the pillar something unfurled it's self from the hole. It was something horrifying, towering over me and Amy it was pale white and skeletal, standing at about 8 foot tall it's arms abnormally long, nearly reaching down to it's knees and ending in hands with fingers longer than my forearms, nails sharpening to points. Looking at the thing's stomach it had arrows stuck into it's upper chest and a sword embedded in it's abdomen, the handle looked mangled, as if the thing had tried to pull it out it's self. The thing's head, was nearly faceless, slits for the eyes with the whites being nearly a putrid yellow, bloodshot with wide black pupils, the nose was just two holes, like the one the thing crawled out of, going back into it's head. The mouth, I couldn't see it at first but when it looked at Mark's body, it smiled, revealing sets of sharp, jagged yellow teeth the mouth stretching so far that it looked like it's head should've split in half. We looked on in horror as it grabbed mark by the ankle, pulling him away, dragging him along the floor, his jacket pulling up and ripping around his head.

After the thing had stalked it's way down another passageway me and Amy exchanged looks of fear, she began to run back to the stone walled section of the passage i pulled her back and held her for a minute, just beginning to forget where we were before i heard a noise that will stick with me for as long as i walk this earth, it was a mix between the mating call of a fox and a woman screaming in agony. This made me and Amy jump up and nearly out of our skin. The only things we could see were the shadows of one, no two, of those godforsaken creatures projected onto the wall by Mark's fallen torch. Amy and I looked on in horror as one of the creatures screeched at the other, then it turned towards us.

A screech later and me and Amy were of running, back down the way we came. We were nearly there when Amy screamed. She had fallen. I Looked back, and stopped. Only to see a creature pounce on Amy, and bite a chunk out of her shoulder. I ran again only to crash into something. Staring back at me was the pale, white, sunken chest of one of those things. I was stuck.

I sank to the floor in defeat, the creature looked at me, as if understanding. That's when i felt it. The kind of hunger that you can't get rid of by eating. But I ate the only thing left in sight. Amy. I wish i could do more but the supple flesh drew me in further and further. Take it as a warning, use me as a cautionary tale, if i could speak to you i would, but all I can do is screech and scrape away in the dark, a faceless husk. My warning to you, If you ever find the ruins of a castle, deep in the English woods, Run..."