Quietly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled himself for combat as the sounds of movement came to him. And then something leapt into the night from his left as he went forward, a strange, almost silent scream ripped from the creature as it missed its target. It looked like a man, a man at least six feet tall and with a big fur-covered coat over its torso. What appeared to be a dagger, was actually a large knife that was as big as a sword. It was made of black iron and looked to be as thick as a tree trunk. It was definitely overkill for the creature. But again it seemed that its target was a girl, and judging by the noises, that girl was probably Quiggly. There was a moment of silence. Quiggly could only assume that the creature was not going to try to get to him again tonight. However, just as he was about to lower his guard, he noticed the creature's red eyes looking directly at him. Something in the eyes told Quiggly that this was a creature, maybe even a spirit of some kind. But that was the only thing that he could tell. He knew nothing about this particular creature, or what it wanted from him. But, he also knew that it was not to be trifled with and that it was not simply going to let him walk up to it and rip it to pieces like some kind of crazed madman. He had to be prepared and ready to fight for his life if the need arose. The eyes glowed red and held his gaze for just a moment before the dark shadow jumped forward and swept down. Quiggly turned away from the approaching creature as it moved through the darkness towards him. He had a split second to look up and realize that it was the size of a bear. Its powerful strides carrying the three-thousand pound creature in leaps so great that they were reminiscent of a human being running. But it moved like a charging bull or rhino, massive and with heavy muscle power and speed. The creature appeared to be using its huge legs as supports rather than the strong, powerful strides of a predator that could soar through the air. Instead, it was almost like running on stilts as it crossed the land, gaining incredible momentum for every giant leap, which was nearly the size of a football field. It was almost as if the creature was running on some kind of giant treadmill rather than on its legs. It was no wonder that he missed when he attacked, he should have been looking in another direction. He watched the creature move across the ground, seemingly in the distance, until a branch snapped as it moved away. Then Quiggly turned towards the source of the noise. That's when it hit him. That's when he knew exactly what this was, what it was for, and what it wanted from him. He was not dreaming, his sight wasn't blurred, he was not hallucinating. He was looking at a Sasquatch. His mind went into overdrive as he frantically realized the implications of what he saw, and a deep and primal fear rushed through him as his mind flashed back to his childhood stories of the monster that lived deep in the forest. His eyes began to water and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He wasn't entirely sure, but it looked like the creature was looking at him from across the forest, almost in disbelief. It was as if the creature thought that he had made a horrible mistake, or that his mind was playing tricks on him. And then it happened. The forest seemed to explode in a cacophony of sound and movement. There was movement on both sides of him. Animals moving in terror, charging away from the beast. Trees shaking in their tracks. A large dark shape disappearing into the night and moving at great speed. He could hear leaves crunching and crunching as branches were suddenly disturbed by something large. It was as if the darkness itself was being stirred by a giant. Quiggly stood there and couldn't decide what to do, what direction to move in. The creature seemed to be gone. He was looking for a place where he could take cover. That's when he saw the dark cloud and the light above it. It was glowing as it slowly moved through the forest, but the light seemed to be drawing something to it. Quiggly watched the cloud as it slowly moved its way forward. It was moving in his direction. It seemed almost as if it was watching him as it moved in his direction. And then he felt it. Someone, something, some monster had reached out from the cloud and had touched him. He had felt it before, but never had he felt it so strongly, like a lightning bolt of energy shooting through him. But the most terrifying thing was that he couldn't see it, or where it was coming from, or what it was, just that it was the cause of his pain and suffering. It was trying to do something to him. He knew that it was there and he knew that it was making him hurt. It was here, the thing that all of his stories had been about. It was inside him, inside his mind, and it was trying to make him do something and to make him hurt in an effort to force him to do it. It was some kind of trap and it was closing in fast. The clouds of light and the movement of the dark presence were almost tangible. It was as if it were coming out of thin air. And then he felt it. Quiggly screamed in agony and felt as if he was being burned from within, as if something were trying to consume him from the inside. He felt a huge amount of strength leave his body. The cloud continued to approach him. It was almost at his feet now, just a few feet away from him. He could hear it moving. He was sure that it was coming right for him, but he could not see it. It was right behind him. He could feel the thing about to grab him. He could feel himself going into the light, and he was sure that the light was coming to consume him. It was as if someone was coming into him. And then he was gone. There was a moment of silence, and then the sound of leaves rustling. Quiggly, his mind reeling, managed to look around and see that the light was gone. Where the light had been was a dark, heavy cloud of smoke. It was the only light that he saw, but it was there and it was real. But at least he could see it now. In the light he saw something moving in the distance, something that wasn't really moving, but just floating. Whatever it was seemed to be the source of the dark, heavy cloud of smoke and light. It wasn't the light that the creatures that lived in the forest did, it was the real thing. Quiggly looked to his left and then his right, trying to make out what was making that noise. There was something there, a creature that must be a kind of spirit, floating in the air. It was the darkest thing that he had ever seen. The thing had no feet, and it moved across the forest as if it were floating. It was huge and yet somehow also like a dark spirit in the clouds. Quiggly could hear it moving towards him, but he couldn't see it because of the light that surrounded it. It had a face, which was dark and blank. There was no movement, no life to it. It was just a floating black mass. Suddenly, the sounds of the forest stopped and the light died away. The heavy cloud was gone. Quiggly looked around and all that was there was the night. The air was almost completely still and no movement could be heard, not even from a breeze. It was as if the entire forest had become paralyzed, as if it were held in a state of animation. Whatever this was that he had seen, it had appeared and disappeared right in front of him, no more than twenty feet away from him. It had changed its body into something that mimicked the real world and the forest, but it was like some kind of dark mirror image. Everything had seemed to die. As if someone had stopped time. Quiggly was left standing there, frozen in time and space, with no idea what had just happened. Was this some kind of elaborate prank, a hoax to get him to leave the house? Was this the work of a demon? Was it a man? Was it a demonic man? Or was it something else entirely? He had no idea, but he did know that he needed to get back to the house. Whatever was waiting there, wherever it was waiting for him, he needed to see it. He would know it, he knew that there was something that he was looking for. He was not sure how, but there was something there, and he knew that he would know what it was, and that it would make sense once he saw it. But he was sure that this would not be good. He was not sure how he felt about that, but it did feel important. He was about to go back to the road, but he paused. Looking around, he could see no movement, and it was still eerily quiet. Whatever had taken over the forest, it had left everything behind in its wake, but it hadn't gone very far. Whatever it was that had touched him was close by. He knew that he could feel it, and he knew that whatever it was, it was waiting for him. Quiggly went back to the road and looked both ways to