*This is my first ever contest story, and it's a Halloween one! It's also my second story ever submitted, and my first dark/ horror erotica story. Hope you all enjoy!
10/31/16
My life is a nightmare. I don't mean a nightmare in that my grades are a mess, or that I was rejected from the university basketball team, or that I was fired from my job and had to move out of my apartment. No, my life is a literal, physical nightmare that I'm forced to survive every day. I'm writing this while sitting on the floor of a crowded storage room in the church I'm currently holed up in, though I don't expect my sanctuary to hold out. I'm never safe for long. I've been on the run for the past year, finding brief moments of safety in churches and other religious buildings, but I'm always found. I'm tired of running. I'm making my last stand here, in the city where it all began.
I want, no, NEED to tell my story, so when (or if) someone finds my body, at least someone will know what happened to me. Even if nobody believes it. This shit is real, people. Believe it.
I guess the best place to start is the beginning. October 31st, 2015. Yeah, I know. You're thinking this is some typical Halloween "scary story" that wouldn't even frighten a little kid. That's where you're wrong. The day started off innocently enough all right, but shit got, to put it bluntly, FUBAR. And fast.
Anyway, let's get down to it: I was a popular college junior; Student Body President, Homecoming Queen, star basketball player. I guess you could say I was the "big woman on campus". I wasn't dating anyone at the time, though I could've had any guy I wanted. Being popular had its perks, but trying to balance a love life with classes, Student Council meetings, sorority volunteer work, and a sports schedule was almost impossible. I did have my eye on a smoking hot lacrosse player, though unfortunately, that was as far as it got. In a way, that lacrosse player was lucky; I lost the people closest to me first.
Back at the beginning of the school year, I had volunteered to chair the committee for my sorority's annual Halloween party/ haunted house. It was always a big hit, so I had big shoes to fill. By the time October rolled around, I had everything lined up: booze, a killer dj, and I think I cleaned out every store in town that sold Halloween stuff. I even had my costume ready: I was going to be a svelte, seductive steampunk zombie. Don't ask me how, but if anyone could pull off that look, I could. I even found some amazing earrings at an antique store. They were the perfect finishing touch for my costume: three sterling silver gears set with a variety of gems, dangling from tiny chains on each earring. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but I really should have questioned why they were so cheap. That was my first warning.
My second (and most violent) warning came about a week before Halloween. Some friends and I decided to take advantage of one final weekend of good weather and go camping by Palisades Falls. It used to be one of my favorite places, but now just thinking about it makes me physically ill. Anyway, I decided to hike around to the top of the falls after we set up camp. Being alone in the forest never bothered me, but I always carried bear spray and an emergency whistle, just in case.
As I moved through the trees, I couldn't help feeling uneasy. Everything was too quiet, and while I didn't have the sensation of being watched, I knew something was out there. Against my instincts, I kept hiking. I was almost at the top, and I didn't like quitting halfway through anything. It felt surreal though. No bird song, not even a hint of a breeze, despite it being quite windy when I'd left camp. Every time I stepped on a twig I expected a sharp crack, but even that sound was dulled. I recall thinking then that it sounded like someone was throwing a shovel-full of dirt into a grave.
I didn't feel any more comfortable when I reached the top of the falls. I stood at the edge for a moment and waved down to my friends before turning to hike back down. I'd taken maybe four or five steps when I realized something was standing at the edge of the treeline. My first thought was, "Oh fuck, it's a bear," and I was fumbling in my pack for my bear spray when the thing stepped out of the shadows.
"Those earrings are mine."
I froze, stupidly thinking, "Shit! A talking bear?!?!", before my brain caught up with what my eyes were seeing. The thing wasn't a bear but a woman, maybe 50ish, wearing a long fur cloak and old fashioned shoes with buckles. That was odd in and of itself, but the strangest thing about her was the fact that it looked like one of her breasts was the size of a watermelon and was squirming around under her cloak.
"Um, what did you say?", I asked her, hoping I'd just come across some strange yet harmless lady with a fetish for wearing antique clothes and living in the woods. That thought quickly fled my mind as she took another step and I realized the buckled shoes weren't on her feet, but rather on something else's. She grinned at me with an almost demonic look on her face and unhooked the clasp on her cloak. She slid the cloak off her shoulders, and it suddenly occurred to me that she wasn't the one walking. She was cradled in the arms of a creature I can't even begin to describe properly, but it was definitely not human. It had dark skin (I think it was skin) and appeared to have swirling Celtic tattoos inscribed everywhere. The tattoos were a fierce scarlet color, and I'd swear they were glowing. I couldn't see its head, as that was now hidden behind the woman, but what I could see was the longest tongue I've ever seen curling and flicking around the woman's nipple.