The Strider Returns

## The Strider Returns by Doros70

(The Strider was created by Pruzel.)

"Curiosity killed the cat."

I heard that expression almost my entire life, yet I never understood what it truly meant. Of course, I don't mean that I didn't know that it's a proverb that warns us against unnecessary experimentation and exploration, it's just that I never grasped the concept very well for almost two decades... that is until recently.

My name is Brandon and I'm from, Texas. Now before you imagine me as a typical farmer living in the middle of nowhere, I want you to know that I'm a student who lives on his own in the outskirts of a town near a lush forest. I live so close to my college that I don't need to buy a car to get to my classes on time. Sometimes I go there either by bicycle or by walking, and it was always relaxing.

About a week ago by the time I'm writing this, I stayed at my classes longer than usual. It was late in the afternoon, and it started to get dark, so I decided to take a shortcut into the woods. While walking on a trail, I heard rapid footsteps and a faint bellowing from deep within the forest. Judging by the sounds, I thought it was a deer. I haven't really seen one except on TV, so I was eager to take a quick look.

That was the worst decision I've ever made.

I followed the sounds to a small clearing, but when I checked the area, I saw nothing. Disappointed and realizing that it was almost dark, I turned around, ready to go home. Just as I was about to leave, something big fell in front of me, just inches away from my face. I recoiled and looked down to see what it was. What I saw made the blood drain from my face. It was the decapitated head of a buck. Its antlers were torn off and had a lot of scratches and bite marks on its neck. At first, I thought it was the act of some rabid bear or cougar, but my thoughts were interrupted by raspy breathing, and the sound of flesh being torn apart.

I looked to the left and what I saw was worse than a frenzied predator. Some... beast stood just a few feet away from me. It had a small body and freakishly long, skinny legs that ended in sharp points. Its jet-black fur was so shaggy and thick that I could barely see its face. Some blood was dripping from its mouth. I looked down and what I saw made my stomach drop.

The body of the decapitated buck had its limbs missing, and there were missing chunks of its body. But the worst thing about the whole experience was not the dead deer or the appearance of the creature that ate it. It was the way the creature looked at me. Its drool was a disgusting combination of saliva and blood, making it look as if the deer it just ate hadn't satisfied it. I could tell that it was still hungry.

When it made the first step, I ran back to the trail as fast as I could. I never ran so fast in my life. I didn't stop until I saw my own house. The whole chase, I ran through the woods like a madman with rapid footsteps that only seemed to get closer by the minute.

When I saw my house in the middle of the field at the edge of the woods, I looked back to see if the beast was still following me. To my surprise, I didn't see anything. Just to be sure, I continued to run until I reached the porch of my house and let myself in before I could catch my breath. I locked all the doors and windows; I even closed the blinds until I felt it was safe to open them again.

That night, I assumed that the monster lost interest during the chase and moved on, and it actually got quieter as time went on. I was too nervous to go to bed, but I had classes the next morning, so I didn't have much of a choice except to follow my own schedule and get some rest.

In the middle of the night, I heard some strange sounds outside. I was a little bit groggy then, and the tension from a few hours ago had already loosened, so I thought I was dreaming. So, I ignored the sounds until I had to wake up.

When I was about to get my bike from the garage that morning, I saw something on the walls. They appeared to be slash marks, as if the walls had been cut with a knife... but the marks were too big, so it couldn't have belonged to a machete either. Shaking, I called the police because I didn't feel safe leaving my own house. They couldn't figure out who or what could've caused it, but they gave me the option of installing some security measures around the house. I declined because I couldn't really afford them. I barely manage to pay the bills on time, and I can't really afford anything else besides food on my kind of budget. So, I decided to do something different. I remembered that I had an old camera with a battery and tape that could last a whole night, but the quality was not as top-notch as I might make it sound.

I put the camera at the bottom of the porch, pressed the recording button, and went to sleep. I checked the camera the following morning, but it recorded eight hours of absolutely nothing. I was very disappointed because I could've sworn, I heard some raspy bellowing from outside.

I did the same thing the next night, but I got the same disappointing result. It continued like that for a whole week. I had enough time to ponder and try to figure out what the thing was...

I gave it multiple names: the Strider, the Stiltwalker, the Forest Strider, and the Texas Stiltwalker. It belongs to the species of Scarius de Craep Out of Meeus. It's a nocturnal predator and the points of its front legs are sharp enough to pierce through wood and muscle. From what I gathered, it's a fast runner, being able to keep up with other animals, and it leads a solitary life. It only feeds on large and medium-sized mammals, particularly deer. When a human or other being sees it, it will not stop hunting its target until they're dead. It is unknown what happens if the target is killed by someone or something else and is someplace out of reach or if they move far enough from its range. Once the prey is dead, it will tear off their limbs and eat their torso. It is unknown whether there's a whole species of this thing or if it's the only one of its kind.

Well... that's my own pseudo-scientific analysis of the monster that's been following me for about a week now. Every night, when I hear it roaring outside my house, I always pray that it would go away, but I'm secretly hoping that the camera will catch it. For a week, I've been unsuccessful... until last night!

Finally, my camera got something, but not in the way I expected... It was just black for three hours... but then, the image changed and remained like that for the rest of the tape. The audio is unfortunately lost, but at least I got an image of that monster.

But there is something off about the creature in the image... Its fur is somewhat more brown than black, the eyes are rounder and bigger, and it's a lot shorter than I remember... The one I saw in the woods had at least the height of an elephant.

This night, I decided to post the image online, but... things got from bad to worse. I decided to attach the image with this story because I couldn't sleep, and worst of all... the creature finally ran out of patience...

I wanted to make the post with a lot fewer details, but my plan was interrupted by some loud, inhuman noises coming from outside.

I don't know how long the walls of my house are going to hold, but they are my only shields and I still have time to finish the story because there's nothing else I can do... I want to call the cops, but my phone's battery is dead and it's going to take a while before I can turn it on again. There's no other house nearby, but if I try to open the window or call for help or try to make a run for it, it will definitely catch me.

If anyone finds this post, I hope you will take everything I typed down into consideration and, that you won't follow any other noise in the woods. Look where curiosity got me. Just take my advice and stay away from those woods, nothing good can come out of it... You must not

As I was typing, I thought that I heard a different roar. And then more noises were overlapping each other. Soon enough, the walls, windows, and doors are being pushed against and there was no sign of it stopping. I decided to take a look through the window and immediately lost all hope....

There is a whole group of them outside, staring at me through the window.