Creepyposers

Creepyposers, Chapter 1

Timberside State Park...

It seemed like any other crisp Autumn night in the woodlands where all that could be heard was a cricket's shrill chirp and an owl's hoot. The air, however, seemed to carry a certain unnatural chill. It was almost as though a sinister presence was dwelling in the darkness, waiting to unveil its ugly head at any moment. It seemed quiet at first until the crunching of leaves and twigs could be heard while a flicker of light danced through the darkness, said light belonging to a flashlight held by a young woman.

Why she was here was anyone's guess but she had an objective that needed to be completed. Denice carefully traipsed through the darkened forest with cautious steps, her only source of light to guide her through this perilous journey being a mere flashlight. Her eyes darted from left to right, anticipating whatever it is that could be waiting for her in the dark. She carefully looked from side to side, cautiously surveying the wooded area for anything that was particularly eye-catching. Denice stopped in her tracks when her flashlight shone onto something rather odd.

It looked to be a singular piece of paper taped to one of the many leafless trees, just sitting there waiting for someone to take it. The woman approached the tree to further inspect this strange note, prying it off the trunk before giving it a read. On closer analysis, the paper depicted a rudimentary sketch of a tall humanoid figure in a dark suit whose face was devoid of any features with the word 'NO' written on both sides of the figure. Concern started to set in Denice as she viewed the page, despite it being just a drawing, she couldn't but feel intimidated by this illustration.

"Just seven more left..." She sighed to herself, folding the piece of paper and tucking it away in her pocket. "Just seven more left and you'll be done with this."

And with that, Denice pressed onwards into the night. She couldn't put her finger on it but upon collecting that page, something terrible had been unleashed. An unforeseeable evil that was slowly making its way toward her. In her search, the woman noticed that the trees were gradually becoming sparse, forming somewhat of an opening for her. Following this trail, the woman reached the treeline and found herself standing before something she wasn't expecting. Sitting abandoned in the middle of the forest was a one-story building, one that lacked a single window while its brick exterior was shrouded by vines and moss.

Denice debated on whether or not to go in there, wondering if she would feel safer in this desolate structure as opposed to traversing the wilderness all alone. Swallowing her fear, she walked up to the nearest entrance that had no door and stepped through the threshold. The light of her flashlight revealed tiled walls and floors, caked with grime and soot. The air even had an unpleasant rank stench to it, making the woman wince with disgust as she held onto her nose. She carefully wandered the darkened corridor, taking a left turn into a farther corridor with two adjacent rooms, one on the right that was closest to her and another to her left that was further down.

Right when the woman was about to make her way down the hallway, however...

"rruuarrruauurgh..."

A low pained groan reverberated off the walls, loud enough for the woman to fully hear. The young woman's eyes widened with fear and her body nearly went stiff when that dreadful growl filled her ears. Denice's hands started shaking to a point where she could barely hold onto her flashlight while every instinct in her mind was telling her to simply turn around and walk away. But it seemed as though common sense was thrown to the wind and against everything her conscious was screaming at her, she continued on. However, she turned off her flashlight so as to not give away her position yet.

She peered into the room on her right, trying to make out anything in the darkness. She ultimately switched her light back on, only to reveal an empty room. The moaning was starting to become louder, meaning that whatever was making that noise was in the room further down the hall. Denice tried to reason with herself, debating if it would even be a good idea to inspect that room. For all she knew, it could have been another poor fool on this death march.