Grant awoke the next morning to hear talking. He unzipped his tent to see some other officers were already up and getting ready, talking about miscellaneous things. After Grant felt awake, he began waking up the remaining officers and they started packing up their stuff. Once they were all packed up, Grant radioed in to the other groups to let them know that Grant and Theo's groups were resuming their continuation of the search. Only a few of the other officers radioed back, showing that not everyone was awake yet, as it was very early. The rain had stopped, and they had bright blue skies, giving them plenty of light. They began to walk further into the woods, hearing the sound of doves and other birds chirping away. It brought that comfortable feeling back. Grant resumed teaching the rookies how to search for people. At one point, Theo and a few others walked ahead of Grant and Tommy. They stopped and bent down to investigate something on a tree. Grant picked up a rock and looked over at Tommy.

“Watch this,” Grant said quietly with a smile,

Grant threw the rock and it landed a few feet in front of Theo and the others. Theo and the other two that were with him jumped. The reaction caused Grant and Tommy to begin laughing. Theo turned around and laughed along with them, realizing he was just messing with them.

“What the hell man? Don’t we have a job to do?” Theo asked with a smile.

“Hey, I’m just trying to ease the tension. If we don’t laugh, we’ll all go crazy,” Grant said.

He walked over to see what he was looking at. There were two big scratch marks on the tree.

“What could’ve caused this?” Theo asked.

Grant touched the marks.

“I don’t know, but my guess would be a bear,” Grant said.

“A bear? I haven’t seen a bear in years,” Tommy said.

“Yeah they’re out here, they just avoid this area because we aren’t too far from the hiking paths,” Grant said.

They moved on from the tree and moved further into the woods. After the first few hours, Grant was hoping to pick up a trail, but they didn't. There was nothing. Tommy began theorizing that maybe they had overlooked it.

"Tommy. There are four people lost in these woods, in this area mind you. How is it that none of us have found even the slightest trace?" Grant asked with an agitated tone.

Grant continued, with the rest of the group following. Tommy was slightly worried as he had never seen Grant act like this before, sure stresses would take over him at home, but Grant was usually stoic on the job. Grant kept walking, looking at the ground and checking for footsteps. Twigs snapping under the weight of their boots, the sound of animals in the woods, birds, and such brought some much-needed background noise to the otherwise silent group of search and rescue officers. Grant was focusing, avoiding distractions, and not wasting any time. As the day went on, they noticed the sky began to turn gray once again, as the rain began falling. It started lightly, but picked up fairly quickly, just as it had done the day before. They stopped to put on their jackets to deflect the rain.

"What the hell is with the weather?" Tommy asks.

"Yeah, pretty strange how two days in a row it rains at the exact same time," Grant replies.

Night approached. Grant began looking around for a place to set up camp. He couldn't find an area with any seclusion. He took the group a little further, and as they rounded a corner, Grant's flashlight caught a glimpse of a structure in the distance. They got a little closer and saw that it was an old house.

"Since when was there a house out here?" Tommy asked.

"I have no idea, but this place looks old," Grant replied.

Tommy suggested they check it out and stay there for the night if the place checked out. Grant agreed. They found it hard to approach the house at first. That dark house in the middle of the woods, looming over them behind a hail of raindrops. It was ominous, and they feared the worst, but they had to approach it. They approached the front door, and Grant told a few of the guys to try and get it open while he walked around the property. Grant went around back and saw a back door. He tried to open it, but it was jammed shut. He looked through the glass, shining his light in but he couldn't see anything inside. It looked like there was something pushed up against the door. Grant walked back around the front where he saw Tommy and Theo trying to open the front door. Grant tried to help, but the door was locked. He looked through the front windows, but he couldn't see much. It was too dark to see anything from outside, and the windows had what appeared to be four inches of dust caked onto them. Grant didn't feel right about smashing one of the windows or kicking the door in. They had one more place to check before leaving, and that was the hatchway entrance Grant saw when he was out back. Grant led them to it. The first thing he noticed was how rusty the doors were. The second thing he noticed was the scratches on the door. Grant didn't pay much attention to it and he grabbed the handle and pulled but the door didn't move. Tommy bent down to look, and he told Grant to keep pulling. With each pull, Grant felt the door get looser. Tommy grabbed the other side and helped pull. Finally, the door broke free and opened up.

"These damn things are so old they must've rust welded themselves shut," Grant said.

Grant took the lead and walked down into the dark basement, and the group followed behind. The sound of thousands of raindrops hitting the trees faded away until becoming muffled once they entered the basement. The group had to navigate the dark messy basement. If they didn't have flashlights, they wouldn't be able to make it through the basement. There were shelves knocked over, and tons of boxes piled up. Some of the boxes were ripped open or had fallen over on the ground revealing old dirty clothes, boxes of food that had been torn open by mice or some other animal, and other everyday miscellaneous items. The group finally made their way to the stairs, after tripping over multiple things on their way there. They climbed up the stairs, and Grant grabbed the doorknob. He turned it and was surprised when the door opened. Grant entered the old dirty house. It was just as dirty as the basement. Pieces of wood and parts of the ceiling had fallen and built up on the floor, Furniture had begun to fall apart, chairs were thrown about, parts of the walls were missing allowing them to see into other rooms and the place was covered in what seemed like eight inches of dust. The front door was locked but there was also a bunch of old furniture up against it. Old chairs, a table, an old couch. There was a doorway that had a wooden beam that had fallen from the ceiling blocking it. So Grant grabbed it to move it. Tommy helped. As soon as they moved it, the weight of the beam slammed against the other side of the doorway and dust fell off of it. The two began to cough as they waved away the dust that had showered down onto them. The next room was the kitchen which was a complete mess. The table in the room was covered with items. Dirty plates, cups, papers, utensils, and a milk carton. None of them even attempted to go near it. The smell would’ve killed them. The back door was covered by a big cabinet, as well as a few chairs and an old drawer. The group went upstairs, and each step creaked, scaring the group, thinking that any second, the stairs would give out, forcing them to fall through it. Grant stopped and tested each stair. He would keep his foot on one step and take his other foot and slam it a few times against the stair above to see if the stair was strong enough to support them. The group went up the stairs. The three bedrooms were all good-sized. They were messy. Grant told the group that He, Tommy, Austin, and Jordan would stay in one room. The others would split to fill the other rooms. They entered the room. There was a window in the room that was broken. They had to clean the rooms a bit. Each member took a corner of the room and cleaned out the corner. Throwing items into the middle of the room. They laid their sleeping bags on the ground and crawled in. Grant was having trouble falling asleep. He thought he could hear sounds coming from outside. It was hard to hear over the rain, but it sounded like tapping. It was slow, but it sounded like every few seconds, someone was tapping something against the wall. Tommy heard it too as he was awake. It weighed too heavily on their minds, their curiosity got the best of them. They had to see what was making that noise. They both got up and quietly made their way downstairs and outside into the rain. They ran to the side of the house. They could look up and see the window to the room they were in. Along the side of the house on the ground were footprints. They couldn’t see them well as they were being washed away by the rain. They looked at the house and they saw holes in the house. There were four sets of holes going up the side of the house. As well as mud in between all of these small holes. The rain made it hard to see much of anything else, so they went back inside. They tried not to pay attention to it and quietly made their way back through the house and into their sleeping bags. Grant's mind raced, but the slow tapping had ceased, and all that was left was the light rhythmic tapping of the rain that had gotten heavier pounding against the house. The sound of rain was the only reason he was able to drift off to sleep.

Grant quickly opened his eyes, not knowing if he actually fell asleep, or if he was just starting to. He thought he heard something. He looked around the room and the room was darker than before. It was still raining outside. He realized that the moonlight from outside was no longer pouring into the room, and the sound of the rain was louder, and not muffled like before. He looked up at the window. It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust, but when they did, he almost screamed. He saw a head leaning in through the window, peering at him. His heart sank and sat at the bottom of his stomach like a heavy boulder. Chills filled his body.

"Holy shit!" Grant yelled as he got out of his sleeping bag. The guys in his room woke up immediately, but whatever was looking at him through the window was gone. Tommy was the only one who saw a slight glimpse of something. The guys down the hallway all woke up and came barging in. Grant and Tommy looked out the window, but there was nothing in sight. Grant shut and locked the window, while Tommy grabbed an old dirty blanket that was laying around and they pinned it up on the wall over the window. Grant didn't want to freak all of the guys out, so he just told everyone to go back to sleep and to sleep with one eye open. It didn’t take long before they heard sounds coming from outside again. It sounded like someone was walking on the roof. It was loud, heavy footsteps. Everyone heard it because the bedroom door opened and all the guys walked in. Everyone was awake now. They heard a loud muffled scream come from above them, and then they heard banging coming from up above. Everyone quickly grabbed their things and ran downstairs. Instead of going back through the basement, tripping over everything, they decided to go out the back door. Everyone helped Grant move the things out of the way, with the old cabinet being the heaviest thing. They had trouble trying to move it. They heard the sound of a window being smashed followed by footsteps coming from above them. They moved faster and moved the cabinet just enough for them to get the door open. The door opened up, and they all ran off into the woods. The run through the woods was a stressful one. They were tired and freaked out. Once he thought the group was far enough Grant stopped, and the guys stopped behind him. Everyone was bent over, taking big breaths of air. Everyone had a scared and desperate look. Grant looks to his left, and then to his right. He then grabs his radio and calls in to the other groups. But none of them responded. Grant looked at his watch. 1:33. "Yeah, those guys are asleep," Grant said.

Grant tells the group to set up. As they were setting up their camp, Tommy walked over to Grant.

"Hey, what did you see earlier, when you yelled?" Tommy asked.

Grant and Tommy walked a few feet away from the rest of the guys.

"I saw the head of something looking in at me," Grant said.

"Do you think it was the same thing that we just ran from?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know," Grant said. "But I'll tell you one thing. I think I know what those holes in the side of the house were," Grant continued. “And the thing I really didn't like was the window was open. Whatever it was, opened the fucking window from outside,” Grant said.

He didn't say anymore, he went back to setting up his tent. Tommy couldn't find any words on the situation. They all set up their camp, and Grant laid back to get some sleep. Usually, he was one of the last ones to go to sleep, but because of how frustrated and tired he was, he was the first one to sleep. He was laying down in his tent before some of the guys in the group had finished setting theirs up. He closed his eyes. He awoke, at first feeling rested and ready to get searching but that feeling soon faded when he realized it was still dark out. He looked down at his watch. 3:55. "Son of a bitch, " he said to himself. He felt the urge to go to the bathroom so he put his boots on. But as he grabbed the zipper on the tent, he began to hear a noise. It sounded like footsteps. A thought crossed his mind. He wanted to go out to see if maybe it was one of the missing family members. He felt himself slowly unzipping the tent, but he stopped himself when he heard another noise. It was a loud inhumane screech, or roar or scream, or whatever it was. He quickly pulled the zipper back down the two or three inches he had unzipped. He heard his radio and he grabbed it. Someone whispered his name, it was Tommy.

"I know, I fucking heard it too," Grant replied quietly into his radio.

They both were hearing the footsteps around them. Heavy and fast footsteps.

"I'm gonna try and take a look," Grant said.

"No. What are you, stupid?" Tommy asked.

Grant ignored Tommy. He grabbed the zipper, closed his eyes, and shook his head, knowing this was a bad idea. He took a deep breath and pulled the zipper up. He pulled it up about maybe five or six inches. He laid down and peeked out. At first, he didn't see anything, but he began hearing the loud and fast footsteps again. He quickly pulled the zipper down, as he heard the footsteps stop right outside of his tent. Grant just sat there silently. He heard loud but low raspy breathing outside of his tent. He then heard something, like something being scraped across the cloth of the tent. He saw the zipper moving like something was trying to get a hold of it. Grant felt his heart rate increase, and he got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He sat in fear, almost freezing up. But he was able to raise his radio to his mouth. He clicked the button.

"Tommy, make a fucking noise," Grant whispered.

The zipper on his tent began to slowly rise, as Grant grabbed his knife, gripping it tight.

"HEY!" Tommy yelled.

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The zipper stopped, and he heard footsteps sprint in the direction of Tommy's tent. They heard another roar or screech. Grant unzipped his tent and ran out, yelling and trying to get the things attention. He ran in a random direction off into the woods, as he heard the footsteps begin following him. As they got close to him, he felt his heart sink. But felt slight relief when he heard Tommy yelling. Whatever was chasing Grant turned around. By the time Grant looked back, there was nothing there. He immediately ran back in the direction of Tommy, yelling his name. He ran through the woods, trying to keep himself calm, so he wouldn't lose his sense of direction. Finally, a voice came through on his radio. It was Tommy.

"Tommy, where are you?" Grant asked.

"Head in the opposite direction of the camp for a few minutes, you'll see a giant log laying in the middle of the woods, go there," Tommy said.

Grant ran back towards the camp. As he got there, he saw a few other officers outside of their tents including Theo. Grant told everyone to get back inside their tents, and not make a single noise.

"What's going on?" Theo asks.

"I have no idea, but I have to go find Tommy. Stay in your tents," Grant says.

He goes in the opposite direction of their camp and walks through the woods, freaked out. He tried to avoid using his flashlight, as he didn't want to draw any attention to himself. Finally, Grant saw a huge log. He told Tommy he was at the log, and asked where he was. He saw Tommy stand up from behind the log, so he ran over, and together they hid below the log.

"Grant, what the hell was that?" Tommy asked.

"I have no clue but I'll tell you one thing. We won't be able to outrun it. That thing moved so fast, I couldn't even get a look at it," Grant said.

"Yeah me neither," Tommy says. "I don't even know how I lost it," he continues.

"You didn't lose it…it left you alone for some reason. Whatever it was, left us both alone,” Grant says.

"Is this the thing we saw at the house?" Tommy asked.

"That would be my first guess," Grant said.

They sat there quietly for a moment. Before finally coming up with a plan.

"Our best bet is to just get back to camp, and stay in our tents," Grant says.

They stood up, but not before checking to see if the coast was clear. They stepped over the log and began moving in the direction of their camp. Their bodies were filled with adrenaline when they heard the footsteps again. Instead of leading it back to camp, and risking everyone's life, Grant decided to run in the opposite direction, and Tommy followed. They didn't want to use their flashlights too much and give away their position. Because they were running through the dark without flashlights, every low-hanging branch and log on the ground tripped them up. The footsteps behind them pumped their bodies filled with more adrenaline. Finally, the two of them got some distance between them and whatever was chasing them. Grant spotted four little cabins and they ran over to them. The cabins were all run down, but they needed cover so they ran into one. The door opened with a loud creak. Grant shut it behind them, and they hid inside. The two of them used their flashlights to navigate the cabin. It was bigger than they expected. There was even a second floor. The inside was a mess, similar to the house they were in earlier. Parts of the walls were decayed, the furniture was all flipped over, the tables were broken, and the floors were filthy. There was dirt all over the floor, along with other items that were in the cabin. Books that were once on shelves and dishes that were once in cabinets were now spread all across the floor. They went up the stairs, making sure to be extremely cautious. The wood seemed like it was ready to give out. Each time they took a step, they feared falling through the stairs. The upstairs wasn't any better than the downstairs. There were three bedrooms upstairs. Grant and Tommy went down the right hallway first to investigate the first two bedrooms. One of them was a decent-sized room, with a bed in the corner. The blankets were hanging almost all the way off and the bed was angled weirdly. Like someone was pulled out of the bed forcefully. The other bedroom was a small room that had nothing but a dirty sleeping bag in the corner of the room. There was no other furniture in the room. The final room was down the other end of the hallway. Grant and Tommy approached the room and entered. This room was laid out as a room for a couple. There was a big bed in the room, a closet, and a desk in the corner with an open notebook on it. Grant shined his light on the notebook to read it, while Tommy checked the closet.

We have been here for a few days. Elizabeth and I intended to stay up here for a week, but I think we need to leave now. The other campers have already left, we are alone here. We keep hearing noises, and the kids hear them too. While we were out in the woods the other day, we felt the presence of being stalked. I couldn't see anything, but I definitely would hear branches snapping and I just had a feeling something was out there with us. Our fear rises every day, and we are thinking about leaving either tonight or tomorrow morning. I just need my family safe," Grant read.

"Oh so this must've just been a campground where you rented these cabins," Grant said.

"I hope they all got out of here," Tommy said.

"I do too, but why would they leave this notebook here?" Grant said.

Before Tommy could say anything, they heard a screech come from outside and it sounded close. Grant ran over to the window and looked out. He could see the other cabins and he saw the silhouette of the creature walking through, looking around.

"Shit," Grant whispered.

The creature ran out of sight behind another cabin.

"We gotta get out of here," Tommy said.

"I know. Let's go out the back door, and head straight into the woods, then circle back around to create as much distance between us and it," Grant said.

Tommy agreed with the plan, but when Grant looked out the window to check, his heart dropped when he saw the outline of the creature looking up at their cabin. They quickly ran to the back door, but they couldn't get to it. The walls had collapsed due to years of decay and forced the door shut, jamming it. They heard the front door forcefully open, and the two of them ducked down. Grant and Tommy leaned against the wall. Grant motioned for Tommy to lean against the right side of the wall, while Grant leaned against the left. They could see whichever side the creature decided to go. They waited, holding their breath trying not to make any noise. Grant saw it turn toward his direction and quietly, he and Tommy moved the other way. They moved slowly but quietly, and eventually, they made it to the front door, which had half closed behind the creature. Tommy went to open it, but Grant stopped him, remembering how creaky the door was when they entered earlier.

"What?" Tommy asked quietly.

"It'll make too much noise, we gotta hide upstairs," Grant said.

With no time to argue, they quietly made their way up the stairs, hoping they didn't make any noise. Their entire world felt like it died when Grant placed his foot down and heard a creak in the silent house. They could almost hear the creature spin around and shuffle in the direction of the stairs. Grant looked around and saw a storage cabinet on the landing of the staircase. They climbed the remaining few steps quickly and Grant bent down and slid it open. Tommy climbed in and Grant could hear the heavy footsteps fast approaching behind him. Grant climbed into the cabinet and slid the door shut, but leaving about an inch open so he could see. It was a tight fit, but that didn’t bother them, because they were hidden. The creature got to the stairs and began ascending. Each slow heavy footstep made Grant's throat feel tighter and tighter. Time ceased to exist, and after what felt like eternity but was only really about ten seconds, the creature came into view. Its long shadowy figure stepped in front of the cabinet and looked around. The raspy breathing filled their ears. You could almost hear the beats of their hearts as the creature stood in front of them. Finally, it went upstairs and turned out of view. But just when they were gonna slide the cabinet open, they heard the heavy footsteps again, so they stopped. Thank god they did, because the creature turned the corner only seconds later and began descending down the stairs. The creature finally passed them, and they watched as it disappeared out of view. They saw its long pointy tail dragging along behind it, making a thud sound as it dragged off of one step and hit the next. Grant peeked his head out and saw that the creature was standing at the bottom of the stairs. Making it impossible to move.

“What do we do?” Tommy very quietly whispered.

“Give me a second,” Grant responded in a similar almost inaudible whisper.

He laid back, looking out at the stairs through the small one inch gap of the door. The creature was out of view, but it was to his left, as the bottom of the stairs. He could still hear the raspy breathing. Grant noticed something. On the ground, he saw a small piece of wood. It looked like it had either fallen from the roof or the wall. He crawled out of the cabinet, with Tommy attempting to protest against it in a whisper that fell on deaf ears. Grant leaned halfway out of the cabinet and reached for the piece of wood. He could see the creature standing at the bottom of the stairs. He reached, with it being just an inch out of his grasp. He crawled out a little bit more, allowing him to grab the piece of wood. Only his legs were inside of the cabinet now. He crawled backwards, but as he was doing this he accidentally scraped the piece of wood against the floor. He quickly pulled himself back in and slid the door shut. The creature spun around and quickly walked up the stairs. It bent down directly in front of Grant. He could see the side of its face come into view in between the one inch gap. It was investigating the spot where Grant had slid the wood across the floor. Grant stared at it, the raspy breathing, the drool falling from its mouth. It almost seemed like things were going in slow motion due to the fear. Finally, it turned its head and began walking upstairs again.

“Ready?” Grant whispered to Tommy.

Tommy nodded. So as the creature was halfway up the stairs, Grant slid the door open and threw the piece of wood as hard as he could. He immediately slid the door shut and he heard the piece of wood hit the wall and then the floor. An ear piercing shriek came from upstairs, as the heavy footsteps ran down the stairs. He saw the creature pass by him. As soon as it passed by, he and Tommy exited the cabinet and quickly moved upstairs. Once upstairs, the two ran into the big bedroom at the far end of the hall on the left.

"Why didn't we just make a run for it out the front door?" Tommy asked.

"Because that door would've creaked. That thing is fast, and it was right next to us. We wouldn't have made it more than five feet," Grant said.

They heard the creature coming up the stairs. With no time to even think, Grant immediately ran for the big closet. There was only enough room for one person. So Grant entered the closet, while Tommy crawled underneath the bed. The bed had an old dirty sheet hanging down, so he was hidden. After only a few seconds, the creature entered the room. Grant saw its shadow block the moonlight that shined in from the window as the creature passed by him. The creature walked over to the bed, and Grant feared that it would lift the bed, but it didn't. The creature turned around, and looked like it was heading for the door, but turned and slowly walked over towards the closet. Grant ducked down. He looked through the slots at the bottom and saw as its legs approached the closet. It had skinny legs, with sharp nails. It almost looked like the creature's feet were high heels, and it was standing on its toes. But it looked like it could flatten out its foot to be able to run on all fours like an animal. He stared at the creature, holding his breath. He saw the bedsheets lift out of the corner of his eye, and he saw Tommy looking out. He hoped Tommy wouldn't do anything stupid. Grant sat in fear, waiting to see if the creature would open the door. He felt his heart race, and his throat felt tight. He almost felt himself start to hyperventilate but he stopped himself. The creature stood outside of the closet door, breathing that very raspy and growly breath with drool dripping. He wondered what it was doing. Did it know Grant was in there and was he tormenting him before killing him? Did it have a great sense of smell and was it smelling for him? Was it listening? It was hard to tell. Then he felt the weight of the world rise off of him when he saw the creature's legs turn and walk out of the bedroom. He waited a few seconds and opened the closet door, and Tommy emerged from under the bed. They ran over to the window and opened it. There was an awning below the window and they climbed out onto it. They jumped down and ran off into the woods. After a few minutes of running, they slowed down to a walk. Grant had a bad feeling and he stopped moving and held his hand out in front of Tommy. Tommy looked at him with a slightly puzzled look. Grant could feel that something was wrong. He felt a sense of fear in his body. He looked around before finally spotting something. It looked like a dark shadow. It was the silhouette of something. It was leaning out from behind a tree, with one hand holding onto the tree. From the looks of the silhouette, it was that same creature. Grant grabbed his flashlight. He was fueled with adrenaline and anger. He wanted to see what this thing was, but he also figured that maybe the light would scare it away. Even though it wasn't attacking them, he still felt an intense feeling of fear. He aimed the flashlight at the silhouette and turned it on. As soon as the light hit it, it screamed and ran. Grant and Tommy took that opportunity to run back to the camp. They both ran into Grant's tent and zipped it up. They began gasping for air. Tommy was lightheaded, and Grant's lungs were empty. They were both in good shape, so it wasn't running that necessarily made them lose their breath, it was the fear that made them lose their breath.

“How did that thing catch up to us without us even hearing anything," Tommy said.

"These woods are its home. This thing chooses when it wants us to hear it," Grant said.

They sat there quietly for a few more minutes before Tommy unzipped the tent to go back to his. Grant went with him and together they moved Tommy's tent closer to Grant's. It made them feel safer. Grant went back into his tent and grabbed his notebook to write down his thoughts for the day.

Journal Entry #2

Another day of nothing. I have been doing this for a while now, and I have never been on a case like this. We haven't even found the slightest sign of this family yet. We spent all day walking around hoping for something, but we couldn't even find a single footprint. But I can't give up. I can't imagine the fear this family is experiencing. Especially after what just happened. We decided to call it a night and were going to set up for the night. We found an old house and we searched it. It was an ancient house. But other than it being dirty there were no signs of anyone living there. We decided to sleep there for the night. We figured it would've been better than sleeping in a tent in the woods. I broke everyone off into small groups and had them pile into each room. I was having trouble falling asleep, so I was awake to hear a noise coming from outside. Luckily Tommy was awake as well, and he heard it too. It was a napping noise. Every few seconds we would hear a tap on the walls. Tommy and I ran outside. On the side of the house underneath our window, we saw four sets of holes going up the side of the house. They went up as far as we could see. But the rain was making things hard to see. Since we couldn't see anything else, or hear anything, we ran back inside and tried to ignore it and go back to sleep. I awoke not too long after. I know that I heard something, but I just didn't exactly know what it was. I noticed that the slight moonlight that was shining in the room before was gone. It was darker. I looked at the window and felt my heart sink. Something was leaning in through the window, staring at me. I saw its head. I yelled and looked to see if the guys woke up, they did but when I looked back at the window, the damn thing was gone. Everyone came rushing in, asking what happened. I didn't want to freak everyone out, so I just told everyone not to worry and go back to sleep. Tommy and I covered the window with an old blanket. We all tried to go back to sleep but I heard sounds again. We all did. It was the sound of someone on the roof, walking around. There were loud heavy footsteps followed by banging. It was time to leave. Everyone packed up their things quickly, and we ran downstairs. We decided to go out the back door. Everyone had to help to move all of the stuff out of the way quickly. The crash that came from above gave us the motivation to move more quickly. Finally, we got everything out of the way and ran off into the woods. Once we ran far enough away, I stopped everyone and we set up camp. I was dead tired, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep. I awoke in the middle of the night and I had to take a piss. I stopped myself, as I heard loud footsteps. I tried to look, but I almost got myself killed. Tommy saved me by making a noise, giving me a chance to run. I returned the favor by drawing this thing away from Tommy's tent. He then got its attention again as it was chasing me. It was unbelievably fast, but we got away. Because it let us get away. As we were on our way back, we heard it chasing us again. We ran as fast as we could, and eventually, we made some distance. We found some old cabins and hid inside. This thing made its way to these cabins. It entered ours and we had to hide upstairs. I was in a closet, and Tommy was under a bed. The thing walked right up to my closet. The feeling of fear I felt was intense. My heart was beating so fast, I'm surprised this thing didn't hear it. But luckily, it left the room. Once it left the room, we went out a window and ran off into the woods. We thought we lost it, but on our way back to camp, I saw something looking at us from behind a tree. It was this creature. I tried to get a good look with my flashlight, but this thing was too fast. I couldn't even get a rough idea of what it could be. I now know what the holes in the side of the house were. This fucking thing must've climbed up the side of the house. I don't know what it was, but all I know is, this family is in real danger and we need to find them fast.