It was at that moment that we heard a throaty, sinister laugh to our left. Mitch quickly flashed his light to the area, and there, standing no more than two feet tall was the most hideous, grotesque thing that I would ever see in my life. It was greenish brown in color with scaly skin. It had huge red eyes and an equally huge mouth crowded with very long fang-like teeth. It had exactly two tentacle-like strands protruding from its head. It stood there with a left clawed hand resting on a tree while the right-clawed hand motioned for us to come forward. It snickered and laughed. Suddenly, we heard another sinister laugh coming from another direction. There, at the opening of the outhouse stood another creature, also motioning us to go forward, all the while laughing that sick laugh.
Mitch screamed. I couldn't. I was frozen in place and I couldn't move. He tightened his grip on my hand and pulled me. We ran back the way we came, Mitch screaming at the top of his lungs and me just flying through the woods as if in a trance.
Aunt Lucia suddenly appeared midway in those woods, holding a kerosene lamp. She screamed at us to go straight inside the house and not move. We nearly broke the door down as we made our way inside. I started to cry and Mitch was still screaming. Aunt Lucia came in shortly after and yelled at us for having gone out there. Her anger distressed me even more. Meanwhile, my Aunt Marlene was frantically closing the windows. At that time, windows were really shutters made out of aluminum and they had to be cranked open or closed with a lever. As aunt Marlene closed the windows and drew the curtains, Aunt Lucia splashed holy water all throughout the house. She told us that we would have to be very still, not make any sounds and everything would be all right. The only light we had was that of two kerosene lamps.
The Torment
That night was the longest and most terrifying night of my life. All night long, we heard that throaty, sinister laugh and snickering right outside the house in numbers. We heard scratching along the metal shutters and a non-stop pounding on the front door. My aunts prayed all night long.
The next morning, Aunt Marlene took me away to another relative's home and that is where I stayed for two weeks. I never went back to Aunt Lucia's, and no one ever explained anything to me.
A few years ago, all over the news was a story about a strange creature being seen in tropical islands. This creature was linked to a mass destruction of animals whose blood was sucked dry. They called it the Chupacabras. My blood ran cold when I saw a drawing of the creature. I know what I saw, and the similarities were not coincidental. These things are real and they are smart and calculating. The woods are a perfect hiding place, and I am convinced that they have been here for a very, very long time.
