Thread by @gr3gory88

It's been storming all day, and into the night. Thunder and everything. I've stayed inside all day. Nothing has happened yet. Maybe nothing will happen.

Still, I'm nervous. I've been freaked out all day. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed. I don't know what's wrong with me. I should leave tomorrow.

I'm not even really sure what I'm saying. I just need to occupy myself with something. Writing this makes me feel less alone. It's like I'm talking to someone.

I can't do this anymore. I'm leaving tomorrow. First thing in the morning. I don't care about selling this house anymore. I just want to go home.

I just need to make it through the night. I'll be fine if I stay inside. The locks are new and nobody can get in. I'll be fine. I'm going to go get some wine and stay in the upstairs bedroom tonight. It'll be ok.

She's here. She was in the cellar.

Fuck. I practically ran right into her. She didn't even hear me because of the thunder outside.

Her back was to me and she was standing dead still in the middle of the room. Just...staring at the wall.

I couldn't move. I was petrified. All I could do was stand there like a fool and stare at the back of her head.

And then she turned around. And she...spoke to me.

She said she won't hurt me. She said she'd explain everything.

I'm sorry, this is all happening so fast. She's sitting in my living room now. I can't believe this is happening.

Sorry, I'm just trying to make sense of this. She said she'll tell me everything. I'll be back.

OK, so. I'll try to relay everything she said, but there was so much of it. I can barely keep track of it all. I'll start at the beginning.

First, she says she made the stick things for my protection. She says it's dangerous out here, and she was trying to protect me. When I asked what she was trying to protect me from, she was quiet for a long time.

When she finally replied, I could barely hear her. "There are things in the water."

I didn't really believe her, but I didn't have any rational explanation for the things I've seen. So instead I just listened. Here's what she told me.

A long time ago, something came from the sky and landed in the lake. It brought something with it. Something ancient and strange.

The people who lived here began to commune with it. They protected it from the outside world. Devoted their lives to it. And in return, the thing gave them a gift.

The people were blessed with abnormally long, healthy lives, and many children. But it all came with a price.

I had so many questions, but didn't know which ones to ask. So I just sat there in silence and took it all in. The woman continued.

In the beginning there was just the one. It spent most of its time deep in the lake, slumbering. But over time it made more. Instinctively I asked about the eggs I saw in the woods. The woman nodded.

"There are so many of them now," she said. "They come from the water to lay eggs, and the people take care of them. Hide them away until they hatch. But when they hatch, they need to feed."

At that point I was starting to put two and two together. I thought about all the twins I've seen in town. She must have sensed my understanding, because she spoke again. "I told you there was a price."

"The people in this town are blessed with many children, but they don't get to keep them all. When the eggs hatch, the people must bring one of their own to the woods. The creatures need to eat." She was quiet again then. "They start with your eyes."

I asked her how she knew all this, but I already knew the answer. "I know because it happened to me," she said. "When I was a girl, my father brought me into the wood with the others. Offered me up to the newborns."

She turned her head toward the window, like she was gazing into the distance. "They took my eyes."

I waited until she was ready to speak again. It was a long time before she did. She told me how she was led to one of the eggs, how she watched it break open. How something came out of it.

And before she knew it, something was on her, burrowing into her eyes. She wasn't sure what happened next. She only remembers the searing the pain, and then suddenly she was free.

She doesn't know if she managed to push the creature off or if someone helped her. But she got away, and ran into the woods. She ran until she couldn't breathe anymore.

She was too scared to go home, so she stayed in the woods. Eventually the forest became her home, and she's been there ever since.

I felt completely bewildered. None of this made any sense to me, but at the same time it did, somehow. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but I couldn't sort my thoughts.

I couldn't figure out what to say. Finally I asked, "Why are you telling me this now, after all this time" The woman didn't say anything at first. She took a long, labored breath.

"It's the same every year," she said. "They come out of the water in the fall. Lay their eggs. A few of them begin to hatch early. They feed on animals in the woods. They need strength to make it back to the water."

"But most of them hatch when it's darkest." She turned to me. Even without eyes, I felt like she was staring right at me. "Tonight is the new moon," she whispered. "Tonight is the ceremony."

My stomach began to sink as realization set in. Realization about what was happening out there in the woods. At that very moment.

"We have to do something to stop it!" I blurted out. I started getting out of my chair but she just shook her head.

She said there was nothing we could do. "It happens the same way every year. We can't stop it."

But I wasn't listening anymore. I don't know what came over me but I jumped up and ran out the door. Ran into the woods. I don't even know where I was going.

At some point the rain had stopped. It was dark and I couldn't see anything. But I could hear things all around me. Things moving through the trees. And I could see lights in the distance. Fire, or flashlights. I don't know. I had no idea where to go or what to do.

More than once something ran by me in the trees. I was using my phone as a flashlight and tried to take pictures of the trees, trying to see what was out there, but everything was happening so fast.

I don't know what these are.

This is the clearest shot I could get. They all moved so fast.

I ran for what seemed like an eternity. Ran in circles. I had no idea where I even was.

And then, somehow, I was back in that same clearing where the eggs had been. But they were gone now. Nothing but bits of shell left on the ground.

It was over. I was too late. It had already happened and they'd cleaned everything up. I was too late.

I stood alone in the clearing. The lights in the distance were disappearing. It was getting quieter. And just like that I was running again. Running toward the lake.

I don't even know why. I couldn't do anything. Branches scraped my face as I ran blindly through the trees.

I reached the water, but there was nothing there. I saw some faint ripples out on the black water, but besides that it was silent. It was over.

I was too late.

I'm back at the house now. The woman is gone. It's so quiet.

I don't know what to say right now. I'm going to leave in the morning.

I'm sorry. I just don't know what else to say. I'm sorry.