As I began driving home from a long day all I could think about was taking off my shoes and socks and stepping into a hot shower. I desperately needed to wash the day off and maybe a drink or two. My favorite death metal song began playing from the car stereo, I turned the volume up and relaxed to the familiar beat and chorus. That’s when I get a call from Skylar, my sibling, rolling my eyes I answer the phone with a completely fake, “Hey! What’s up?”

They respond, “Not too much, just haven’t talked for a while and wanted to reach out. How’s the new job going?”

“I mean it’s pretty good. Could be better, I’m tired of having to be watched while doing the simplest of tasks but at least it’s not what I was doing. You actually caught me at a somewhat bad time. I was jamming out to my favorite song, can I call you back?” I say.

“Oh yeah of course! I’ll call you later, love you buddy” they say and before I can respond my headlights illuminated what at first looks like smoke on the side of the road quickly materializes into a solid form of a humanoid figure walking towards my car from the brush to the center of the road. A tall figure with bright white arms, legs, and face, but with a dark brown fur coat of some kind covering it’s torso and upper thighs. As I got closer I saw its arms were slightly too long for its body, its fingers pointed and elongated so thin it looked like it was pure bone. The skin was loose and hanging off its frame. But the worst part was it’s eyes and mouth. It had a mouth half way between that of a human and a dog. With its mouth agape something was wrong like it’s jaw was connected fully on one side. It’s eyes were dark, hollow pits that even with my high beams on did not reflect any kind of light at all. Pits of black sludge with no emotions whatsoever. I had to swerve to not hit it. Nearly grounding myself in a ditch on the left side of the road.

“Holy fucking shit Christ whore!” I screamed hearing tearing metal on the passenger side of my car.

“What’s going on?!” My sibling says in sudden alarm.

“I-I just saw something in the road and I..” I trail off as I look in the mirror to see the figure somewhat illuminated by my receding tail lights slowly walking my direction. I crush the gas pedal trying to put as much distance between me and that thing as I can. I don’t even look down to see my speedometer climbing like a rocket. “I don’t know what the fuck it is but I think I hit part of it or something” I describe the figure to them with tears streaming down my face. “What the fuck do I do?! I live out here by myself?!” I say in a panic.

“How far are you from home? I doubt that thing can follow you home. When you get there, park your car and lock your doors. You have the cameras set up right? They say trying to comfort me. “When you get there lock up and turn the lights off. Have your shotgun ready and hide if you see or hear anything.”

Wiping away several fresh tears. “Yeah I’ll do that. Thank you. And can you stay on the line with me until I get home? I’m too terrified to be left alone right now”. They stay on the phone with me while I drive home.

When I get home I end the call assuring them I’ll keep texting them all night and if I don’t respond for them to call the cops. As I get out of the car I check the passenger side and see dark brown spots splattered around a massive gash torn in the side of my passenger doors. “W-what the fuck?” I look around frantically, not seeing or hearing anything. I lock the car and run inside. Slamming and deadbolting the door I frantically run around the house making sure it’s empty as it should be making sure all the doors and windows are locked and secured. I ran up to my upstairs grabbing the shotgun in my closet. I then go and hide in the second story bathroom’s bathtub. The only room with no window. I text my sibling, “House is secure and locked up tight” I then look through my cameras on my phone not seeing anything on any of the cameras. I slowly take a large deep breath and sigh of relief my panic goes down. “Maybe it was just an animal and I missed that.” I say with fragile reassurance. I then turn my camera’s motion sensitivity to max before I start watching some YouTube on my phone. An hour passes when I start to get out of the tub, a notification lights up my phone. “Aww they’re checking up to make sure I’m safe” I say looking down with a smile. As I check my phone my smile drops and my heart leaps to my throat. It’s a motion notification from my camera app. I open the notification with a shaking finger. When I do I see a long humanoid figure at the end of my driveway slowly walking towards my house. My driveway is a few hundred feet long and this thing was moving slowly but gaining distance faster then I could even jog. With new terror I slowly sink back into the empty tub I send a quick message to my sibling saying, “it’s back” before switching back to the camera app. When I do I see the thing had stopped near my car looking at the scar it made. It then slowly and inhumanly moved its head to look directly at the camera closest to it. The one I was watching through it raised an arm and slowly waved with jerky movement. It stood there staring at me making my blood turn to black ice. It then began walking around my car and I could hear it outside moving gravel with each step, not once looking away from the camera, even as its body faced away it still looked directly at the lens. It’s head moves like a bird does when you spin it around in a circle. The way it kept its head so still was impossible. On its third revolution around my car it whipped its hand out to the car’s driver’s front tire and a loud bang came from outside making me jump and I let out a small yelp. That thing smiled showing off its jagged teeth as if it could hear my reaction. I realized that it popped the tire with its fingers alone. It continued with its circling of my car another four times, never once moving its head away from looking at the camera. I began to realize the sound of the gravel wasn’t the only thing I was hearing. The crunching and clicking was its neck vertebrae being ground against one another. It’s head should not be attached to its body and bits of flesh started falling off its neck. It then slapped its hand out again and a loud pop came from the rear passenger tire. This time I held in my gasp. It then stopped its movement with its body facing toward the house. It then took one step at a time towards my house stopping until it reached behind itself towards the car. I hear screeching metal as its hand moves across the hood of my car. Once it was done it finally looked down, away from the camera. It walked under the frame of the camera right up to the front door. I frantically switch the view to the front door and all I see is a silhouette and it’s head is brushing against the ceiling of my porch. Easily eight feet tall this camera has audio and I can hear it breathing slowly and shallowly. It just stood there and looked at the camera with its raspy breath. It didn’t move for what felt like eternity. When I get a lower power message from my phone. I panic with indecision of if I should leave my safety to get a charger in order to keep watching this thing. I decide I need to sneak out and grab a charger. Not removing my eyes from the screen I delicately get out of the tub and open the door to the bedroom. The thing still hasn’t moved, I reach my bedside table removing the plug from the outlet and I hear a loud knock from the door. Cursing myself for looking away from the screen I see it hasn’t moved closer but from the edge of the porch it has begun knocking on the door. I snatch the charger and fly back into the bathroom locking the door behind me as if that would stop it. I plug in my phone and continue watching this thing as it knocks incessantly at my door. I don’t dare speak or move again from my hiding space. Every few seconds a loud knock will boom through my house. Hours I’m stuck in stiff horror waiting for this thing to break in and rip me apart. My sibling repeatedly asking for updates and I can’t respond with anything besides “I’m here”. Finally the early scraps of light peak through the darkness. The thing stops and turns around walking slowly into the brush. I stay in that tub until the sun is fully up and I don’t see anything else on cameras. I finally run out of the bathroom and with shotgun in hand I look to see what is says on the hood of my car. Wondering why the cops never came I call my sibling to demand why they didn’t help me. They answer in a hushed tone.

“I heard knocking last night. I’m sorry Taylor. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even call for myself.” They say as I walk outside and see what’s written on my car’s hood scratched deep into the paint and metal. “Skylar tonight”.