A Hike in the Woods

Part One
I went to go hiking near my house in a medium-sized wooded area in Northern Wyoming. I decided to walk a few miles to get exercise and then I'd come home. Upon driving up to the woods where I would take my hike, I noticed that four other cars were parked on the edge of the thick gravel beside the trail leading into the semi-darkness of the wilderness. After putting a water bottle and a couple energy bars into my pocket, I began my hike into the forest. Right when I showed up, there was a bridge that I had to walk over first. Below was a small river about 50 feet below me. I walked across the bridge and started to walk through the trail.

After walking for 15 minutes, I had a weird thought that someone was behind me. When I looked behind me, I was surprised to see a man in a black hoodie staring at me from about 10 feet away. He was dressed in all black. As soon as he saw me, he turned away and ran into the trees before I could get a good look at his face.

I figured that he was just some dumbass joking around with me. After yelling for him to quit it, I continued walking hoping he would leave me alone. However, I saw him again from 15 feet off of the trail staring at me. Because he was so far away, I couldn't see his face. He was standing there motionless looking at me. It appeared that he was trying to scare me.

I called out to him and said "I don't know if you think that this is some kind of joke but I'm not laughing so get lost". The guy didn't move and he just stood still.

I tried again and said to him "I'm not kidding. You're not funny. Now knock it off". He then walked away so I continued walking.

A couple minutes later, he came out of nowhere, shoved me down, and ran back into the woods.

There was no way that I would let him shove me down and get away with it so I started chasing after him to scare him away. I ran off of the trail and into the woods. He was slowly getting away from me at a steady pace. After running for a couple minutes, I started to grow tired. I stopped to catch my breath and decided just to let him go. After catching my breath, I decided to head back towards the trail.

However, I saw him again. He was standing in the middle of 2 large trees staring at me so I started chasing after him again. This time, I was going much faster and I had a greater intention to catch him. After running for a few more minutes, I started to grow tired again. I was still running after him but much slower since I was nearly out of breath. I gave up a second time and I feel to my knees to catch my breath. Once again, I decided to go back and hope that he would finally leave me alone.

However, after running for 5 minutes away from the trail, I wasn't sure how to get back to it. I tried running in the opposite direction to see if I would make it back. After a few short breaks, I realized that I was running the wrong way so I tried going left. I ran for several minutes in that direction and I reaized that I went the wrong way again.

I looked around to see if I could find anything which looked familiar, but I couldn't see anything. I then saw the same man staring at me again standing on top of a hill. I was furious at this point and I started chasing him again. I was pretty sure that this was the fastest I've ever ran before in my life. I wanted to catch up to him and beat the living shit out of him for shoving me down and getting me lost here.

I then stopped running though because I realized that I needed to get back before I got myself more lost. Maybe he was trying to lead me further into the woods for some sort of a sick prank. I had to focus on getting back to the trail. I turned back and started walking back to the trail.

Ater a minute or so, I felt a twig hit me on the back. I turned around and I saw him standing directly behind me. Since he was directly behind me, I figured that he wouldn't be able to get away from me again so I began chasing him again.

We ran at about the same speed. I wasn't any further than a few feet behind him. He was slowly starting to outrun me. I tried my very best to keep up with him. I was using all of my power to run as fast as possible. Nothing was more important to me then catching up to him. I started to catch up to him for a brief second but he looked back for a split second and picked up his pace so he started to outrun me yet again. I started to grow tired, but I wouldn't stop. I was running so fast at this point that I thought my heart would give out. I started catching up to him again. I was just about to grab him but all of a sudden, I tripped over a rock and I fell flat on my face. The fall knocked the wind out of me.

I was in a lot of pain and I was out of breath. I struggled to breathe in since I was already tired out from all that running I did. To catch my breath again, I leaned up against a tree. I got up to my feet and I felt slightly dizzy. After taking a few drinks of water to catch my breath again, I eventually felt better. I was very pissed at that guy and I wanted to beat the shit out of him more than everything else.

I forgot what direction I came from though. After looking around for a bit, I picked a random direction which I thought was the right way and I was going to keep on going that way until I made it back to any trail. 15 minutes of walking later, I finally found a trail and I was happy to see it. When I set foot on it, I decided to go left and continue walking. After I turned a corner though, it led me to a dead end. I turned around and assumed that the next directon I took would get me out of here. I walked past the turn and I walked past the place I entered the trail at. I walked in that direction and was met with yet another dead end.

I was very upset at this point because this small section of the trail that I found was pretty much useless since it didn't connect to any other trails and it was just a dead end. I cursed at my luck and I cursed at the man in black who got me stuck here. After picking up a thin, long stick from the woods, I decided to mark up each dead end to remember the different ways this trail lead to. I took the small stick and I etched a "1" into the first dead end I found, a "2" in the other dead end I found, and a "3" in the area I entered this trail at. I was pacing back and forth trying to figure out what to do next. When I reached one dead end though, the "1" I put in was gone and it was replaced with "There is no escape". I froze because I realized that the man in black must have written this seconds ago. After looking up, I saw him running away. I swore at him and threw the twig at him and it landed in the middle of the woods. I wasn't going to chase him though because I knew that he was probably trying to get me even more lost.

However, I knew that staying here wouldn't help me find the exit. The trail looked very old since there were plants and tree roots growing into it. I was certain that no one set foot in here for at least several years. I had to pick a way to go and hope that it would be the right way.

I then thought of an idea. The man wrote the phrase where I wrote the "1" into the dirt. Clearly, he was trying to get me to follow him that way. That must have meant that he didn't want me to go the other way. I had to follow the other dead end where I wrote "2" into the dirt. I went back to that spot and I ran that way as fast as I could. I was very proud of myself for figuring that out. Running in that direction, I tried to make as little noise as possible because maybe he didn't notice that I came this way.

After going that way for several minutes, I found another trail. At first, it didn't seem familiar at all to me. After about 10 minutes though, it started to feel more familiar to me. I ran in a random direction and I realized that I was getting close to the exit. The trees were looking more familiar to me. I expected that the guy would try to make one final attempt to stop me but he was nowhere to be found. Upon approaching the old, creaking bridge I walked across to get here, I ran across it. When I was in the middle of it though, I saw the man standing in the way of the exit blocking my path. There was no way that I would let him stop me now considering how close I got to escaping.

Unless he moved out of the way, I was going to fight him. However, I wasn't just about to let him walk away with a few bruises and cuts. I was going to beat him within an inch of his life if I had to. I darted at him and he darted at me. I jumped at him with all my might ready to fight him. Immediately, we grabbed each other. We paused for a split second and I punched him on the side of his face. He pushed me back a bit and I tripped and fell down. He pinned me down and began choking me. I tried scratching him and punching him but he wouldn't stop. I started growing dizzy and I knew that I was going to die if I didn't get him to stop. Looking to my left, I saw a big rock resting on the bridge. I reached out to grab it only to find that it was just out of my reach. I tried as hard as I could to grab it.

I eventually got it and I hit him on the side of his head with it. He fell down right beside me. I took a deep breath and I got up and hit him a second time with the rock. I then proceeded to hit him several times with it. Some of his blood started spilling out of his head and I took a deep breath and stopped. I got up and I stared at him. He was crawling around in great pain. This time, I got a better look at what he looked like. He was wearing a black hoodie and a black pair of pants. He had several scars on his hands and lower legs. Because he was wearing a hoodie and long pants, I was unsure whether his entire body was full of those scars. It was clear that he must have cut himself a lot. I prepared to hit him again with the rock. I lifted it up and I swung it down towards his bloody head with all my might.

However, before I could finish him off, 2 people grabbed me from behind. I tried kicking them to get them to drop me but it wasn't working at all. I was unable to do anything. They were dragging me back into the woods. They then turned me around and I saw at least twenty of the people in black walking towards me. I was shocked. I thought that the guy I beat up was the only one who was chasing me, but there were dozens of them who were following me along the path all day. One of them pulled a syringe out of his pocket and he was walking towards me. I tried kicking at him to get him away. A few more of them held my feet and body down so I couldn't move at all. They pinned me to the ground. The man with the syringe was right above me. There was dark, black liquid inside it. I tried screaming for help as a last resort. The man then ejected the liquid into my arm. I tried screaming again. It made me grow dizzy very fast. Soon after, I was starting to see nothing but blur. I tried my hardest to stay awake. However, my attempts didn't work and I eventually grew weaker and weaker until I passed out.

END OF PART 1