A Grunt Gets A Taste of The Unknown

Hi, my name is Jason and I live in a small mountain town in Colorado. Well I am 18 and in the military, I am not easily unnerved and I am a pretty heavily built guy and love playing paintball with my friends. But anyway, I live in a relatively big house (3 levels) and own a ? mile of a small mountain, which you can hike up to the top in fifteen minutes or less. Now the mountain is densely covered in forest on the sides and on the top is a large field with two rock formations on each side.

I always play paintball at the top and would go hunting once and a while up there also. Now I do not venture up there at night or even set foot more than 10 feet away from my house up the mountain at night. I decided to go for a hike one day and since there were bears in the area, I brought my fathers AR-15 assault rifle with me (no, I am not a hick, I just know my guns and I am a grunt in the Army).

After reaching the top I wanted to go father, so I found an old trail and went into some deep woods. Time flew by and I realized that it was getting late. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 5:00. I quickly turned around and started heading back. Now the military has taught me a lot about sensing the air around you and stopping every few yards and listening. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the field clearing about ? mile away. As I approached fighting through the thick brushes and trees I noticed something moving across the short grass. It looked like an Elk, yet something was amiss. As I closed in I saw something hanging from its mouth; I slowly crept up to it until I could see clearly through the dim light. My eyes shot wide as I saw that it was missing its lower jaw completely as if torn off clean. Its tongue was hanging and blood was dripping freshly from its gaping maw. Nothing, not a bear, Mountain lion, or any animal in that area could have done that. No claw marks whatsoever anywhere.

As I slowly and quietly moved my way around it I heard what sounded like a muffled whelp. I turned around with my rifle ready. I saw the Elk stopped dead in its track. The only sound was the wind between the blades of grass and a soft click of my gun as the safety went off. The elk's feet suddenly get swept out from under it and then I heard a most un-earthly scream I had ever heard. It was a scream of pain, yet over it, was the tearing of flesh and a small growl. I quickly scrambled to my feet and began running down the mountain. As my feet were carrying me away I saw an old rock crevice in the distance, one which I usually hid in to have the jump on my friends in paintball. I quickly ducked in, lay still and watched.

The crevice overlooked the entire mountain top; I was not high, yet high enough so I could see the area. As I type this part, goose bumps are welling up upon my neck as I am remembering what I am trying to forget.

I saw, what seemed to be a silhouette of a man tip-toeing across the field with his back arch in such a way as if he looked like a hunchback. "Halt and identify yourself!" I said?The figure halted and turned my way, the sun had almost finished setting and my eyes had adjusted to the light. The figure turned and faced me, I was sighted down at its head and it slowly raised its head. I was horrified and muffled a, "holy shit" under my breath. The figure yelled a scream, which would wake the dead. A horrific cackling scream of psychotic tone. It began jogging towards me and I opened fire.

CCRRAACCKK! I unloaded on the approaching figure. Yet it kept coming! I was scared witless as I saw the bullets fly right through. The creature was within 15 yards and then it suddenly lunged and disappeared into the air. I could clearly remember what happened after that, but I went home and as I approached my door something laid its hand on my shoulder, I immediately flew around and was about the pull the trigger, but it was my friend Russell. He said that he had been waiting for me and was about to leave, but he heard a scream and gunshots from the mountain