Bailey Gaus

A group of teenagers leave a school dance early.
They find a place to hang out, but soon discover they aren’t alone.

Disclaimer: underage drinking
Read time: 10-14 minutes

The music was loud and I was getting tired of being so close to everyone. “Why don’t we go sit down and take a break? Maybe drink water or something?” Jess said as she pushed her long hair away from her neck, fanning herself with her hands.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said as I grabbed Nathan’s arm, leading him away from the dance circle we’d been in for the last 30 minutes or so.

It was the last dance of the school year, and we were all seniors, which meant this was going to be our last school dance. None of us were really sentimental, but it was strange to think that we wouldn’t be coming back to one of these. We decided we’d all go together, knowing it would be boring, but decided as a group that we’d dip out whenever we’d had our fill.

We sat down on the bleachers and watched the other classmates dance. Jess pulled her phone out of her bra and opened her camera to check her hair. “Ugh. Let’s go to the bathroom so I can put my hair up.”

“I’m totally okay with just leaving. Do you want to go now, Nathan?” I asked.

He looked away from the dance floor and over to me. “Yeah, let’s leave. I know a cool place we could check out. I also stole some vodka from my dad’s house that I’d be willing to share. Unless you’re too good for that.” He winked.

“Oh, please.” I slapped his arm and laughed.

Jess and I headed to the bathroom first and then drank from the water fountain. Nathan was still sitting where we were before when we walked back into the gymnasium. He had his car keys in his hand and put an arm around my waist and whispered in my ear, “I think I forgot to tell you how pretty you look tonight.” I smiled and pushed him away.

A giant wall of cold air blew on us as we opened the gym doors and walked to Nathan’s car in the parking lot. Nathan’s car lights blinked as he unlocked the car with the key fob. I sat in the passenger seat, and Jess sat in the back.

“So, where are you taking us?” Jess pulled herself up between the two front seats.

Nathan turned to look at her and said, “Can you sit back and put on a seat belt? I don’t want to get pulled over tonight. Especially if we’re going to be drinking.” He started the car and drove down the main street in town. The town population was somewhere around 5,000, and there were only three stoplights in the whole town.

Eventually, we were on a country road that I was familiar with. “I’ve been out here before. Isn’t there a firehouse or something out here?” I asked.

“Firehouse? Like a house that caught fire?” Jess asked.

Nathan laughed. “No, it’s a giant metal building where the local firefighters practice rescuing dummies from fires. They do other training exercises too. My dad’s best friend is the fire chief, and we sat out there and watched them one day. It’s pretty cool to watch; they set the whole thing on fire.”

“Ohhhh, gotcha. Well, I’m up for anything as long as you’re still sharing the vodka.” Jess said as a light blinked from the back. Probably taking a selfie.

We pulled onto a dirt road that led right up to a giant metal building that resembled a two-story house. Nathan parked his car behind the building so you couldn’t see it from the road. I grabbed my phone and used the flashlight as I stepped out of the car.

I shut the car door and looked around. The two-story building was right next to us, and it looked to be made of mostly steel and some corrugated metal. There weren’t glass windows, just open squares where they would be. I could hear crickets chirping all around us and what sounded like the faint hoot of an owl, and it was surrounded by cornfields.

“It’s beautiful out here at night. And the sky is clear, so we should be able to stargaze once we’re on top of the building.” Nathan smiled and grabbed my hand.

“Ugh, you guys make me want to puke!” Jess said as she slammed her door and walked towards the building. Nathan opened the trunk and grabbed a blanket and a bottle of vodka.

“Oh, shut up, Jess.” I laughed and walked behind Nathan. The building itself was made of steel, with black marks up the side. I followed Nathan up the staircase on the outside of the building that went all the way up to the roof. The roof was flat and smelled of soot and propane.

“Hey Jess, be careful touching stuff. Otherwise, you’re going to be covered in soot.” I wiped my finger along the railing that went all the way around the roof, turning my fingertip completely black, holding it up to show her.

“Well, that’s why I brought this.” Nathan laid the blanket on the roof and opened the bottle of vodka as he sat down. “Give me that.” Jess said as she grabbed it from his hands and took a big swig before handing it to me. “Ladies first.” She winked at Nathan.

I coughed from the alcohol burn and wiped my mouth after taking a drink. “You guys fight like siblings. Let’s just shut up and enjoy the moment for once.” I pointed up at the sky.

“Fine.” Jess huffed and sat down next to me on the blanket.

I laid back into Nathan’s lap as we sat quietly and looked up at the stars. “Do you think we’ll all still be friends after graduation?” I asked.

Jess looked at me and said, “I hope so. But I hope we’re not all stuck in this small town. We have to get out of this shit town.”

“I know.” I said. I looked back up at the stars and closed my eyes as I leaned in closer to Nathan’s embrace.

“Hey, did you guys hear that?” Jess stood up and walked around to the side of the building that faced the road, turning on the flashlight on her phone.

Nathan cleared his throat and said, “It was probably just a deer or something.”

“Sure, because you know everything.” Jess rolled her eyes. “Seriously, I think I see something, but I can’t tell what it is. Get over here and look since you know everything.”

Nathan huffed as he stood up, and I followed closely behind because I was starting to get a bit freaked out.

“Give me your light.” Nathan said as he took the phone from Jess. He moved the light around the cornfield across the street. After a few seconds, we all saw glowing yellow eyes. The odd thing was where the eyes were. They matched the height of the corn in the field, and it was just about harvest season. So if it was a coyote, it would be closer to the ground, not near the top of the corn.

And then we heard a loud, guttural scream that lasted for about 10 seconds. It made the hair stand up on my arms and neck, and as soon as the scream ended, the crickets stopped chirping, leaving our ears ringing with silence.

“I don’t know what the hell that was, but we need to sit back down so whatever it is, it can’t see us.” Nathan said.

I felt my chest tighten. “Can you lower your voice?” I whispered.

Nathan whispered, “I think it could’ve been a coyote or fox. I’ve seen them out here before.”

“That was definitely not a coyote or a fox. I know the sounds they make.” Jess scoffed. “That was something I’ve never heard before. And whatever that thing is, it obviously saw us.”

“I don’t think that’s a coyote, Nathan. It’s too tall. The eyes are at the top of the corn.” I said breathlessly.

Jess was shaking and went to stand up, but Nathan pulled her arm down. “Don’t. It could be a person.”

“Nathan, people’s eyes don’t glow like that when light touches them. Only animal eyes reflect light back. But what kind of animal would be that tall?” I asked.

“Maybe a bear? Standing up? But those aren’t common in this area. A deer? But I don’t think it would be as tall as the corn.” Nathan shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Guys, it’s not there anymore.” Jess said. We all looked back over at the field as she moved the flashlight around, but none of us could find the glowing eyes.

I could hear the faint sound of what sounded like leaves rustling but couldn’t tell from what direction. I turned on the flashlight on my phone again and pointed it to the side of the building when I noticed some of the corn stalks moving. “Guys, look! Some of the corn is moving around.”

Nathan stood up and walked back to the blanket and picked it up, wrapping the vodka bottle in it. “It’s getting late, and I’m kind of getting freaked out, so maybe we should head out.”

I turned and looked at Jess, who was still watching the corn move in the field. “It’s walking towards us.” I looked over and watched with her. We were still not able to see any glowing eyes, only the corn being pushed to either side of whatever was walking through it.

And that’s when I saw the fingers. I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me from the alcohol, but then I saw them again as it moved closer. Long, thin, and black fingers slowly wrapped around corn and pushed it away as it made its way through the field.

Then another screech that left my head pounding. It happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that it made Jess and me jump. We both stood up and ran to the back of the building towards the stairs. Nathan was already standing behind the car and had been putting the blanket and vodka back in the trunk when he heard the second screech.

He slammed the trunk door shut and opened both of the doors on the driver’s side as he passed them, waving at us to hurry up. He quickly slid into the driver’s seat, slammed his door, and started the car. “Hurry up!” He yelled.

Jess and I ran down the two flights of stairs, our high heels loudly smacking against the steel, making it echo through the rest of the hollow building. I made it to the bottom of the stairs and looked back up at Jess, who was almost all the way down when we heard another screech come from whatever the hell that thing was. I waited for Jess to make it to the bottom and grabbed her hand as we ran toward the car. I jumped into the back of the car and slid to the side as Jess jumped in and slammed the door behind her.

Nathan threw it in reverse, almost backing into the building. “Nathan, you’re clear. Go now!” Jess yelled. He put it into drive and pushed his foot down to the floor, throwing Jess and me back into the seat. Nathan was almost to the road when we all saw the creature crouching in the middle of the road.

It looked like some type of humanoid, but the limbs were twice as long as a human’s. The eyes shone a bright yellow against the headlights of the car, and it looked to be maybe 7 feet tall. Nathan pulled onto the road, heading the opposite direction from where it was standing.

I turned around to look out the back windshield and watched as it tried to catch up to the car but couldn’t. The head looked like that of a human, but it was slightly longer, and completely bald. It had pointed ears on the top of its head that looked similar to a deer, and it wasn’t wearing clothes. It didn’t appear to have any hair, and its skin looked to be a pale white and slightly pink color.

Its eyes were large black circles that looked yellow in the light, and its mouth opened wide enough to reveal long needle-like teeth that were yellowed with a long, black tongue that hung from the side of its mouth. Those slender fingers reached out and tried to grab the back of the car as it ran, but it couldn’t keep up. Nathan and Jess were yelling back and forth, but I wasn’t listening. I watched this creature in horror and awe and felt like I couldn’t look away, completely fascinated and terrified at what I was seeing.

That was five years ago, and we never went out there again. I try so hard to forget about that night, but just when I think I’ve forgotten it, I have nightmares of that face watching me from the corner of my room at night. Waking up in a cold sweat after dreaming I’m being chased by it.

Nathan and I broke up shortly after we graduated and didn’t stay in touch, but I’m still close with Jess. She refuses to talk about it with me and won’t let me talk about the nightmares I have, which honestly makes me feel so isolated, but I get it. There were rumors of other people in our town seeing the creature, but as far as I know, we were the first ones to see it, making it the first sighting.