Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-25973674-20150105234631

The Smile in The Dark

Josiah, Jackson, Chris, Adam and I were all friends at school. As it was the end of the year and we would be graduating, my friends and I planned a camping trip for schoolies. The five of us decided on a spot at Obi Obi Creek, a cheap camp site not far from home. We set up camp and sat around the camp fire, drinking and having fun late into the night. As I sat there listening into a conversation between Chris and Adam, I noticed something in the background. A pair of bright yellow eyes and a horrible, abnormal smile. The teeth were sharp, stained red with blood. It just stared at me.

Josiah tapped me on shoulder, "Hey mate, you alright?"

I came back into reality. "Yeah man, thought I saw something but never mind." I kept quiet for the mean time.

The next day went on as usual. We spent the day fishing and swimming and doing general camping stuff. All the while, all that went through my mind was those piercing yellow eyes and those blood stained teeth smiling, whatever it was lurking in the dark.

I told Chris I was going for a wander to collect fire wood. While I was out there, I came across a tree with claw marks down it. There's no bears in Australia. It had to be that creature.

That night I laid in my tent tossing and turning, I couldn't sleep, every time I closed my eyes the smile haunted my very dreams, I sat up, hands on my face trying to think about something else, I hear rustling around the camp, is someone awake? Is it the creature? Slowly unzipping my tent I pear and scope around, I noticed a figure over by Josiah's tent.

I jump out of the tent yelling "OI WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!" The figure turned around...the smile and eyes of the creature fixated upon me...... I remained frozen in hoping it would leave, it took a few steps forward I yelled "EVERY ONE WAKE UP!" Before the creature to another step tents flew open everyone piling out.

WHAT THE IN HELL IS THAT! The creature howled loud disappearing into the darkness...it wasn't hell, it was something out of hell.

Everyone looks at me "what was that?" I didn't know......everyone went back to sleep..I didn't.

The morning came, we got up to destruction of our camp, food eaten, chairs, tarp all ruined with claw marks, trees covered in claw markings, the stench of blood filled there, a carcass of what seemed a sheep left rotting in our camp....no head....no guts.

We should have left, but our groups stubbornness got the best of us, Adam and Josiah wanted to stay and set trap, to catch the creature, we spent the day building traps, setting baits to lure the creature in.

Nightfall came. It started to storm so we bunkered under what was left of the tarp we had set up when we arrived. Saying he needed to use the bathroom, Josiah disappeared into the night. All I could do was worry.

Five minutes later, we heard a blood-curdling scream over the storm. We jumped up and ran towards the sound only to find Josiah standing there, frozen.

All we could see was Josiah and beyond him that same awful smile. My heart dropped as I stood there watching, powerless to do anything. Lighting strikes lit up the sky. The smile turned into a hairy, dog-like creature that stood on its hind legs like a human. It had giant, sharp claws on its frontal paws. These, however, were nothing in comparison to the singular, raptor-like claws sticking out of each of its feet. Darkness had fallen completely now. The worst was about to happen. The creature let out a howl and a spine-tingling yell.

As the lighting struck, so did the creature. Leaping forward, its paws ripped into Josiah's torso, tearing flesh. Its claws dug into his shoulders. It bit down on his head, ripping it clean off his shoulders. As it broke his skull with its jaw, I could see it clearly wasn't finished with us. While it clawed at the corpse; tearing away hunks of flesh with each swing, we took our chance to run.

We ran straight for the car. We glanced back, just barely seeing. The lightning was all we had for light. The creature let off another howl and began to chase us through the storm. I looked back as it lunged forward, sinking it's claws into Adam's back. A cold, chilling shriek pierced the air. I stopped and turned back. Pieces of meat were hurdling through the air as it ripped through the body. While biting off his head, it stared at me; those yellow eyes piercing me. From behind its awful teeth, it let a final howl out into the night.

My remaining friends grabbed me and pulled me towards the car. The creature just stood there smiling in the dark, flashes of lighting revealing its full figure. We got into the car and drove away as fast as we could. The trip home was silent. None of us wanted to believe what we just saw.

The police were called the next day but they didn't believe us when we explained what happened. No one did. A search was conducted, however no traces of the bodies were found. They didn't find the creature either but they saw its claw marks leading away from the site. They claimed it was Dingoes.

We never went back to Obi Obi again after the experience. No one talked about it and we tried to forget it ever happened. Still to this day, that smile haunts me. What was it? Was the sheep a warning? Who would be next?. 