There’s an old story that a demon lives around a farm right on the edge of town.

I found out it wasn’t just a story.

I wasn’t the type to fall for superstition like that so when some friends told me we would be having a get-together out there this weekend, I happily accepted the invitation. After all, sitting around a fire with friends and some cold drinks always leads to a good time. It’s nice to let loose every once in a while.

The host of this fine event is a shorter stockier man named Brian. I know Brian chose this spot because he’s somebody who’s fascinated with creepy locations. Back in high school, he would take me to abandoned factories, hospitals, old decrepit mansions, and anywhere else he could find that gave off an eerie vibe. It would be good to see him again after returning home from my internship.

The night arrived and I hopped in my old beat-up F-150 and gave my keys a hearty turn while mashing in the clutch, after three tries she finally roared to life. I was off.

Pulling into Turner's Farm I had to drive through a section of the rotting fence that had been torn out. Whether by the elements or other people I couldn’t say.

I kept diving through the pasture until I saw the old Turner house and the decrepit barn that sat just off to the left. I swear when my headlights hit one of the windows on the second floor I saw something dart across. It was gone when I looked back and I did my best to shake it off. I figured I was letting the stories Brian told get to me. I let out a little laugh. Still though, it made my hairs stand on end for a moment.

Searching for my companions I scanned over the house again then the barn and saw a faint glow coming from the other side.

Bingo.

Driving around the side of the old barn I came up on a pile of old pallets stacked on top of each other burning high into the night sky. When I came around everyone raised their drinks as a greeting and I waved back through my window. I turned my truck around and backed it up to the fire so I would have a spot to sit on my tailgate.

“I’m surprised that rust bucket still runs Douglass,” Brian said while walking up and wrapping his arms around me, “Good to see you again man.”

“You too Brian, ”I responded and gave him a hard pat on the back.

“By the way, I don’t appreciate the choice words you had about my truck, you definitely don’t have room to talk,” I told him while pointing to his beat-up Dodge.

“That’s no way to greet our guest of honor,” Tony said while walking up and placing a cold beer in my hand,” A treat for the brains of the group.”

Tony is around my height with curly black hair and is missing two fingers on his left hand from an accident on a dirt bike. He’s probably one of the funniest guys I know but unfortunately he’s dumb as a sack of bricks.

“Take notes Brian,” I said and gave Tony a firm handshake with my free hand.

“Hey don’t forget about us.”

I looked over to a brand-new Jeep Wrangler and saw two girls waving.

“Funny seeing you two here, I can’t believe both of you left your castle to come see me way out here in the sticks.”

“I guess we can make an exception to see the prodigal son’s return,” Amanda said in an exaggerated tone.

“Don’t tell him that he might get too full of himself,” Sam said as she lightly hit Amanda’s arm.

Amanda and Sam are sisters who me and Brian met while taking an ethics class during our freshman year in college. Amanda has long brown hair that she always has in a ponytail. Sam has short blonde hair and is a few inches taller than Amanda. She was the track star of our school and is pretty built. I’m pretty athletic myself but I honestly couldn’t tell you if I would win in a fight. I promise I’ll never tell her that though.

“Ladies, it’s good to see you again,” I said walking over to them with my hands up, “It’s a little early to be fighting over me don’t you think.”

“In your dreams Doug,” Sam said with a smile and Amanda rolled her eyes.

We sat and caught up for a good while. Talking about whatever came to mind and constantly harassing one another with embarrassing memories.

There is a certain point where Brian gets enough alcohol in his blood that he loves to tell stories. Well, he had reached it.

“You all wanna know why I decided to come here tonight.”

All conversation ceased as we looked over at Brian.

“Ohh mighty one please bestow your knowledge upon us,” Tony said in a sarcastic tone while bowing his head.

“Very well since you asked so sincerely. Have you heard the stories of this farm? All the sinister deeds that happened here.”

We all shook our heads. While we mostly took Brian's ramblings for nonsense one things for sure, he knows how to tell a good story.

“The Turners who lived here had a dark secret. This land we’re on right now was occupied well before the Turners settled on it. I was told that they began making sacrifices to the creature that lives around here for protection and a prosperous harvest. Why do you think they have such a nice house?”

He wasn’t lying. Even though it has been abandoned for decades you can tell it was a marvel back in the day. They definitely had deep pockets.

“It was all going well until one year they decided to stop the sacrifices,” he paused and looked around at all of us, ”The thing that lives here definitely wasn’t having any of that so after a while it started going after the family one by one. It tormented them every night. All the way up until no one was left. Rumor has it that the creature still roams the area around this house, always hungry. It could be out there looking at us right – now!”

He slammed his hand down on the side of his truck and everyone jumped. Myself included.

“Well, what do you think,” he said with a smile plastered across his face.

“Screw you Brian,” Amanda said, “If it’s out there I hope it eats you first so we can get away, you’d make a pretty big meal after all”

This got a laugh out of all of us. Well, except for Brian. After this we returned to idle conversations accompanied by the music coming from Tony’s speaker. We continued into the early hours of the morning with no sign of stopping. I was having a great time until we heard a loud crash from the backside of that old house.

We all shot to our feet and sent our gazes in the general direction of the noise. The only sound filling the night air was the speaker which Tony was now reaching for the power. He clicked it off and we were plunged into silence.

“What was that,” Tony asked while climbing down off his truck, “Do you think someone called the cops on us?”

“No way,” I responded, “No one lives around here and I haven’t seen any headlights from a passing car for a while now.”

“Let’s just sit and listen, if someone comes up I’ll get Amanda to talk our way out of it,” Tony said looking over at Amanda with a grin.

“Hey, why me?”

“I imagine someone would listen to a pretty girl rather than us riff-raff. Now everyone just be quiet for a moment.”

Sam and Brian were standing next to me and Sam was well within my personal bubble. I would be lying if I said my heart didn’t skip a beat. We sat in silence for what felt like forever until Tony spoke up.

“Maybe it was just some animal rooting around back there, I haven’t heard anything else.”

“Hold on, I think I hear something,” Sam said while gripping my arm.

“I hear it too,” I said, “It sounds like whistling.”

It was whistling. It wasn’t coming from someone's mouth though. It was the noise only something hurdling at high speed through the air makes.

The whistling got closer until I could make out a blur falling toward us. It was moving so fast that I didn’t have time to react as it flew right by me not even three feet away. A loud crash followed and I turned to meet its source. I wish I didn’t.

What looked to be a small pine tree that had been stripped of its branches and sharpened at one end was sticking right through the side of my truck with Brian attached. The makeshift spear went clean through his chest and pinned him to my truck. He was still alive somehow letting out nothing but wet gurgles as his life drained from him.

I froze and dropped to my knees as screams rang out from all around me. My best friend let out a few more pained breaths before succumbing to his wounds.

I don’t know how long I sat there in shock not being able to process my surroundings. I sat frozen like a statue until a hand slapped me hard across the face and I felt heat return to it. I looked up and it was Tony with a frantic look on his face.

“Get up Doug! We gotta move before whatever threw that comes this way!”

I looked around at everyone while climbing to my feet. Amanda was gunning it for her jeep while Sam who was next to me grabbed my hand.

“Come on Doug, we’re leaving.”

“Uhh… yeah, okay,” was all I could muster in my current state.

We made it to the jeep with Amanda in the driver's seat, Tony riding passenger, me and Sam in the back. Amanda slammed her keys into the ignition and with one turn the vehicle came to life. I looked through the back glass and what I saw put a scar on my soul.

Something on all fours was bounding through the open yard to the side of the old house. Its muscly frame reminded me of a Gorilla but that comparison doesn’t do it justice because it was about three times the size. I couldn’t make out the thing's head, but I sure could see the eyes. They were massive grey ovals that glowed brightly against its pitch-black fur. It had a long snout and it’s mouth was curled upwards in what almost looked like a grin filed with sharp jagged teeth. I also noticed one more key detail.

It was catching up.

“You need to step on it Amanda, that thing is about to reach us!” I yelled to a panicked car.

“I know! I know! I’m mashing the pedal as far down as I can but we’re not gaining speed because this guy's yard is like a freaking jungle!”

“Jesus christ, that thing killed Brian! It killed him,” Tony said as he put his hands to his head, “We gotta call the cops and tell them some mad scientist’s experiment got loose and is trying to kill us!”

“Calm down Tony! You have to get a grip,” Amanda said placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“Okay – okay,” he said through deep breaths.

The car began to shake with each step this monstrosity took it was so close. I knew we weren’t going to make it back to the highway.

“It’s gonna catch us!” Tony screamed while looking out the window.

“Hold on!” I yelled as the creature dove into the side of the jeep sending it on two wheels. By some miracle we landed back upright. After shaking the stars out of my vision I looked to the front seat and saw Amanda slouched over in her seat with blood running down her face and Tony frantically reaching at his leg. Sam had a gash on her arm and was reaching into the front shaking Amanda.

“Wake up Amanda! We need to keep going! Please wake up!”

“My leg’s stuck between the door I can’t move it,” Tony called out and I leaned up into the front seat.

The creature rammed the car right on Tony’s door and caved the door in. It pinned his lower leg down as the bottom half of the door was pretty much imprinted on it.

“Doug please get me out, it hurts so bad, ” he pleaded with tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

“You got it just give me a moment. I’m gonna try and push the door outward okay. You push on it with me if you can.”

Sam was still shaking her unconscious sister while I propped myself up to try and get the best leverage I could manage.

“Alright, one…two…three!”

I pressed as hard as I could and the shattered remnants of the window cracked and fell out as the door groaned. Tony let out a scream as he too put all his force trying to break free of the door. It wouldn’t release him from its grip.

“Stop, stop, I can’t Doug, it hurts too much,” he said defeated.

“Just hold on a moment I’m stepping outside to try and open it that way.”

I looked over at Sam who had her hands around her sister's face as she was finally gaining consciousness.

“What… happened?” Amanda let out in a confused tone.

“Amanda, thank god,” Sam said as she wrapped her sister in a hug.

I turned back and went for the door handle when a hand grabbed me.

“Wait, where’d it go?” Tony asked, “you can’t go out there with that thing still around.”

I had completely forgotten in my dazed state. Why had the creature not come back to finish us off? My heart began to pound as I scanned our surroundings. Then I looked back to the parked vehicles. I saw faintly this thing lift Brian’s lifeless corpse into the air and drop it into its gullet. Then the thing grabbed its spear.

I swear it looked me dead in the eyes and smiled.

Everyone else must have been looking where I was at this point because they all started shouting at Amanda to start the car. It had shut off from the first blow this thing dealt. Amanda was trying her best to get it running again. One turn of the ignition. Nothing. Two, some action. Three, it almost caught. Please dear god let four be our lucky number. By some miracle, it came to life against all odds.

“Drive!” we all shouted in sync.

We made it about fifteen yards before I saw the thing release it’s spear and the little hope I had leave me. With inhuman strength and accuracy, it pierced the front end of the vehicle and stopped us dead in our tracks.

“No, please,” Amanda said while turning the ignition.

We got lucky once. You don’t get lucky twice. I looked back and saw our assailant charging toward us. There was nothing we could do except take the blow and hope for the best. I scooted over in my seat as close as I could get to Sam on the opposite side because this thing was coming to ram us right where it hit last time. Everyone else did their best to get as far away as they could as well.

Then it hit and I felt the vehicle tip to its side and then darkness filled my vision.

I came to on top of Sam and saw she was knocked unconscious by the blow. I heard glass shatter followed by screaming. The creature's arm jutted through the windshield and gripped Tony pulling him through.

“Help me! Please,” was the last thing Tony said as I grabbed one of his legs in a futile attempt to pull him back into the car.

I heard the crunch as bones broke while they were pulled at an unnatural angle through the windshield followed by his screams until he passed out from either shock or blood loss or both.

Amanda who was somehow still awake was screaming at the top of her lungs. I probably would have been too if I wasn’t trembling with fear. All I could do was pray that I could wake up from this nightmare.

I heard the sound of flesh ripping and bones being crushed as the thing finished its meal. I could only hope that it was full. Wishful thinking it was. It lowered itself down and peered into the vehicle. Dawn was breaking so I could see more of the creature now and it’s a sight that will never leave me. It gave a smile filled with nothing but hatred and animosity as it reached its hand towards Amanda as she cried out for dear life. She looked over trying to claw herself into the backseat but didn’t make it in time.

Our eyes locked as the creature closed its grip around her torso. I saw blood begin to stream out from the corners of Amanda’s mouth as its grip tightened. She spat blood as she screamed, grabbing onto anything her hands could grasp as the things iron grip tightened.

That was until she reached the smashed-out windshield. I heard flesh tear as she was pulled through. Her back bent at such an awful angle then I heard a loud snap as she fell limp. Still screaming all the way up until the thing lowered her into its mouth.

I couldn’t take it. I just curled up into a ball beside Sam who still hadn’t woken up. I was kind of grateful in the moment for that so she didn’t have to see her sister go like that. I looked back up at the creature one last time as I saw the morning sun rise above the tree line.

Then I passed out.

I woke up to Sam shaking me.

“Doug please wake up. Please be alright,” was what she said through tears that were landing on my face.

“I’m here Sam.”

The events after were mostly a blur. Sam called the police and told them we needed help. We sat outside the overturned vehicle until the police arrived with an ambulance. Neither of us said a single word as we were patched up and rushed to the hospital.

While we were in the hospital we were questioned by police as to what happened. I told them everything not leaving out a single detail. I’ll never forget the pitiful looks they gave me.

I later learned that they ruled it as a bear attack. How they thought a bear could puncture a hole in a vehicle and flip another is beyond me. The days passed and I ended up skipping my friends' funerals not being able to cope with the loss. Me and Sam visited their graves today and I told them how sorry I was that I couldn’t do anything. Sleeping is nothing but a memory now as every time I close my eyes I’m met with that thing smiling back at me tearing my friends to shreds.

Now I'm sitting at home writing this out word for word as it happened that night. No one believed our story but I know what happened and I have to tell someone. This is also supposed to serve as a warning.

If anyone knows about Turner’s Farm stay away. Something that lives around there took my friends and it will take you too if you stay after dark.