C.R. Langille's Blog, page 12

Ghost Hunt!

On October 14th I went on a ghost hunt with a bunch of fellow Utah Horror Writers (Utah Regional Chapter of the Horror Writers Association) led by the Pod Goblins (a local Utah paranormal investigation group) at the Benson Grist Mill: http://bensonmill.org/. It was an event that the Utah Horror Writers set up, hopefully the first of many. 

The Pod Goblins started the evening off by educating us on the different kinds of equipment they use, and the best methods they found for using them. They then shared past experiences with the mill, telling us about noises, shadowy shapes, apparitions and EVP. After that, they let us loose to go on our own adventures. 

My wife and I explored all the different buildings and didn't find much until we hit the smaller mill. While we were sitting in that building, we experienced something knocking on the window behind us with three distinct knocks. Granted, the wind was blowing so I was a bit skeptical at first. However, I turned on my voice recorder and asked it to knock again, and it did. I've included the audio below in a YouTube video (the knocking occurs at about second 14). It ended up knocking a few more times after that, always after we asked it and always with three distinct knocks. I figure if it were the wind, then it would be more erratic. Other than the knocking, we didn't experience anything else. Some of the other members on the hunt had other experiences to include strange sounds, spikes on the K2 meter, and some decent photos. All in all, it was a great time and I can't wait to go on another hunt!

American Horror Story: Hotel--WTF?

American Horror Story: Hotel finally made it to Netflix so I decided to give it a whirl. I had low expectations because AHS has been a hit/miss type of show for me. I really enjoyed the first season as well as Coven; however, the other seasons just didn’t really do it for me. Hotel didn’t live up to my tastes, and here’s why.

First off, the season seemed to be more about shock and gore than anything else. I understand that the horror genre is wide and includes a lot of sub-genres, shock and gore being one of those genres; however, without an intriguing story behind it, gore for gore’s sake, and shock for shock’s sake will always fall short in my opinion. Shock and gore have their place, but they need to be used with a purpose. Perhaps they start explaining why a waxy-melty-man with a metal drill-bit dildo is sodomizing folks in the hotel later in the season, but at this point, I just don’t give a shit.

Secondly, the pilot episode felt very disjointed. It didn’t flow well and jumped around so much that I didn’t have time to develop an interest in any character. Combine both those aspects and I’m just not inclined to spend any more time with the season. I’m too busy with work and family that I have to be choosy with what I watch. This season didn’t make the cut.
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However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom, there were some redeeming aspects. The hotel setting itself was intriguing and I loved the art deco style of everything. It gave a unique flair to the world they built. There were also a couple of very interesting characters, mainly Kathy Bates and Denis O’Hare. Their characters felt like they were the deepest and most developed of the episode. I have higher hopes for the current season, Roanoke, but only time will tell. 
There's still time to sign up for the In-Between newsletter and have a chance to win a signed copy of my book, Consequence. The In-Between will be a monthly newsletter full of exclusive behind the scenes looks at characters, settings, and lore of my Dark Tyrant Series, as well as special offers and early heads-up on upcoming projects. Email * Subscribe to Newsletter

Back Cover Blurbs: Hard as Hell to Write

So you've written a book, revised the living shit out of it, done the whole Beta Reader deal, and you're about to send it off to the publisher. But wait! What about the back cover blurb? Shouldn't be too hard right? It's only a couple hundred words explaining the meat and potatoes of your story. Must be meme Monday or something... I've done a back cover blurb before for, Consequence but must have blocked the stress of it from my mind. Because, OH MY EFFIN' LORD!!! Back cover blurb must be perfect. Back cover blurb must get what it wants. There is no Zuul, there is only back cover blurb!

You might be asking, hey, why is it so stressful? Well let me answer that question for you. You have to shorten your novel into a small chunk and convey the main idea of the story. Oh, and it will probably be the first thing any reader really reads of the book, so it has to be good enough to hook them. No pressure.

I went through about five iterations before finding one that didn't make me want to slam my head into my keyboard. I'm sure I could have kept going too, cutting, revising, rewording...but at some point you just have to say, nope! I'm done. 

Anyway, here's the version that made it to the publisher. Enjoy the back cover blurb for Canyon Shadows: A Novel in the Dark Tyrant Series. From the author that brought you, Consequence comes the next book in the dark urban fantasy/horror line of The Dark Tyrant Series. Set just before the events, in Consequence, find out what caused the supernatural storm.
 
Imprisoned since the creation of the world, an ancient cosmic being waits deep in the mountain near Canyon Shadows, Utah. He waits deep in the mountain for the proper host in order to break free from his chains. That host draws near.

Sheriff Dan Blackwood is hiding a dark secret and an even darker past. However, his secret could be the only thing that stands between the mountain and the world’s destruction
.
Garrett Porter is an antiques dealer suffering from the recent loss of his wife and daughter. He travels to Canyon Shadows on the trail of a unique artifact but finds more than expected in the sleepy town.

Troy Grimes searches for answers regarding his father’s recent, yet mysterious suicide. His investigation brings him closer and closer to Canyon Shadows and his sanity begins to crack as he nears the mountain; however, he’s starting to like it.

Templars, Anasazi, as well as Christian and Native American legends, come together in this fast-paced novel of good, evil, and everything in-between. 
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Elk Hunt 2016: Cows, Deer, and Bears!

Another elk hunt has come and gone. This time, things were different (to include a bear encounter…details below). For starters, I stayed in my tent (Cabelas Ultimate Alaknak II) along with the wood burning stove. My dad had taken some time to figure out some different methods of burning the wood and had gone out and bought some hardwood for us to use. Another difference this time around was instead of going it alone or with a small group, I went out with a larger group of friends. In total, there were six of us out there, and I found that hunting with others made the experience a lot more enjoyable. If anything, sitting around the campfire at night and bullshitting was worth it. Finally, this was the first time I had hunted elk with a bow.

Let me disclose right off the bat that I didn’t successfully harvest anything this year (again). However, I have four degrees of hunting success, and I achieved two of them. The first degree of success is just getting out there and hunting. Enjoying nature, being distraction free, and hiking around the wilderness is ALWAYS a win in my book. The second degree of success is seeing the game I’m hunting. I saw elk on two different occasions this time around but wasn’t able to get a shot off…which brings me to my third degree of success: shooting at an animal (notice I say shooting at, not shooting). I feel you’re pretty lucky if you can get close enough to shoot at something. Of course the fourth and final degree of success is harvesting game. It’s been awhile since I’ve hit that fourth degree, but I try to look at the bright side of things and not get discouraged (hence the four degrees of success).
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The first order of business was to set up camp. I think we had it all put together in about an hour which is pretty good in my opinion. I mean check it out, Camp Langille was pretty posh. We had the tent, front vestibule, and then my dad’s 12’x12’ canopy which was a lifesaver. It rained the first four or five days of and on…sometimes coming down in a deafening deluge. 
​The second order of business was to get down to hunting. My dad and I took off to where we had set our trail cameras. It was mid-hunting season, so it was game on, and we stalked out to the camera locations. It always feels a little like opening Christmas presents when it comes to checking trail cameras. There’s a lot of anticipation, and then you’re either filled with joy and awe, or disappointment. This time, there was no disappointment. We had activity on both cameras to include this little raghorn.  The next morning I stalked out there again and decided to set up for the cow elk (I had tags for both bull and cow, and I wasn’t in a picky sort of mood). The plan worked perfectly. I was in position, ready to go, and they showed up! The only hitch was that I was pointed in the wrong direction. Early in the morning, I heard something moving through the trees, so I got ready. Shortly after, something started to move behind me, so I turned my head to see what it was. Lo and behold, the cow elk…two of them. However, they spotted the movement when I had turned to look. They were still about 50 yards out facing me through some semi-thick cover. Once they spotted me, they turned tail and ran. No shot, game over.
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The next close encounter I had was a couple of days later in elk paradise (more on this location below). I was with two other hunters, and we were stalking through the forest. One of the other hunters let out a cow call and got a response from something nearby. He put the stalk on to move closer. Meanwhile, behind us less than 30 yards something started moving. We could hear it stepping, and I am pretty sure I heard antlers knocking on tree limbs. Every time my friend would hit his cow call, it would move. It paced back and forth in the tree line for about ten minutes before disappearing. I guess it caught on and realized that, in the words of Admiral Ackbar: Those were the two times during the hunt that I came somewhat close to slaying a wyrm with the black arrow and thus saving the residents of Laketown…er…I mean harvesting an elk. The trip was still great, though. I was able to expand my knowledge of great hunting spots. We even found an elk paradise. Every ten steps in this small quarter-mile area yielded elk sign (read this as elk shit). We could hear them moving around at night and in the morning, they just didn’t want to come out and say hello (rude if you ask me).

However, the most exciting thing was the bear encounter! That’s right…bear encounter. We’re not talking looking at a bear from behind a fence or driving through a bear sanctuary; we’re talking Yogi Bear from Jellystone rifling through our goodies kind of bear. One evening everyone was out hunting, and my dad had decided to rest and relax back at camp. At one point he looked over and saw a large black shape digging through one of my friend’s coolers. He did what we were told to do, which was make a lot of noise and make yourself bigger to scare it off. This bear must have run out of fucks because he didn’t have any to give. At one point my dad even fired a shot over the bear to the try and scare it away—still, no fucks were given. That bear stole some food and ate it all the while staring at my dad, kind of a universal language of, come at me bro and see what happens. It wasn’t until two others had finished their hunt and came back that the bear ran off. It took three adults yelling at it to get it to move away.
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All in all, it was a great trip, and I can’t wait until next year. I feel like I learn more about the area each time I get out there and that my chances of success increase slightly each time. I’ve already got plans to scout out a couple of new areas for next season. 

The Art of Successful Book Signing

You’ve written book…awesome! Not many people can slog their way through the maze of words and creativity to finish such a project. You’ve even gotten it published! Great work and congratulations on that aspect, it was the next big step. Perhaps you’ve had friends or schooling/training on how to write and all that jazz, which is wonderful. I wrote a post about education you can check out here. However, one thing that I found lacking from all the schmoozing and schooling, was marketing and how to handle signings. I’m still trying to crack the nut on marketing and I’ll write up a post on it later once I figure it out. However, I think I have some insight on book signings or convention presence.

I recently had a book signing at a Barnes & Noble which was a first for me. I’ve attended other signings and book events and I think I had an epiphany at this one. Going into it, I knew it was going to be tough. In a short amount of time, I had to try and move X amount of books. In this case, it was 15 books in four hours. Why did I feel the need to move ALL the books? Well because since I’m working with a small press, and the books were marked as returnable, Barnes & Noble had the option to return any unsold books back to the publisher which would, in turn, end up costing the publisher money. So before I even left the house I had it in my mind that I was going to move as many books as possible, which brings me to my first guideline to success: confidence.

You need to be confident in your product. If you don’t believe in what you’ve written, it will show in how you interact with customers. Your book is good. You wrote it well. People will like it. You need to have your elevator pitch down pat so when people ask what the book is about you have a clear and concise answer for them. It’s important that you answer is short and to the point too, narrow your story down to a couple of sentences and use it. This also will show that you are confident in what you’ve done. When people asked me what my book was about, I said the following: It’s about a guy who’s hunting in the Utah wilderness with his friends when the demonic apocalypse happens and he’s trying to get back home to his family. Sure there’s a lot more happening, but that’s the main theme of the story.

The second guideline or rule I made for myself was to only sit when I was actually signing a book. I stood the entire time and was active. I think it made me more visible to people and kept me from getting distracted with my phone which goes right into my next guideline: don’t play on your phone when people are around. You need to be approachable and engaged and tinkering with your phone accomplishes none of those goals. Along the lines of being approachable, I decided to not cross my arms in front of my chest if I could help it. It's an aggressive and off-putting stance so I did everything else I could. Sometimes I would catch myself and have to actively unfold my arms.

The next guideline I made was to actively engage everyone who came near my table. I said hello, how are you doing, or tried to make small talk on anything I could think of. One person was wearing a Star Wars shirt so I asked them what their favorite Star Wars movie was and we talked about that for a minute. Another dude had an awesome beard so I complimented him on it. People like to talk about what they are into and like to be complimented, so it was a way to engage them in conversation and get them talking in the hopes that they would then want to ask me about my book. However, you have to be sincere. People will be able to see through an act, so be genuine and only engage in topics that you’re interested in.

I’m not an extroverted person by any means and I had to push outside my comfort zone to make this happen; however, I sold every book Barnes & Noble had ordered. The staff was very impressed with how aggressive and successful I was, stating that a lot of first-time authors only sell a couple copies because they’ll sit there at their table and wait for people to come to them. If you want to be successful, you need to almost slap people in the face with your book. A lot of times they don’t want to come to you because they are also shy or introverted, so it takes that extra nudge to start the conversation. However, the majority of my sales that day were because I got them talking and had a chance to pitch my novel. It was exhausting and by the end of the day I just wanted to curl up in a ball in a dark room, but it worked and I made a good enough impression that they wanted me to come back and do a launch party for my second book (coming in December). Now the real test will be to see if this works again because I have another book signing at a different Barnes & Noble next Saturday. #writerproblems

Monthly Newsletter

I've decided to start a monthly newsletter. I'm going to call it the InBetween, which if you've read my book, you'll know that the InBetween is serious business (it's basically the dark dimension that creeps between all other dimensions and worlds). I plan on promoting my writing, giving access to secret pages on my website which will feature access to stories, sneak peaks, background information on character, places, and mythos tied to my stories, and more! Plus, as an added bonus, folks who subscribe between now and September 15th will be automatically entered to win a signed copy of my book, Consequence: A Novel of the Dark Tyrant Series. ​ Sign up for the InBetween Newsletter Here! Email * Subscribe to Newsletter

Scouting for Elk 2016

Caught a nice little trout in this exact spot. It's that time of year again, elk scouting time. This last weekend I went up to my usual spot to put in some sweat equity and place a couple of trail cameras. I went up with my dad and a few other friends, and I have to say (if I haven't said it before) that patch of wilderness is hands down my favorite spot in Utah. 

My dad and I hiked out to a couple of spots that I thought had potential, spots that I came across last year during my hunt. A couple of other buddies went out to another location to check out some trail cams that they had placed a few weeks ago. While my dad and I didn't see any elk, we saw a lot of sign to include fresh (that morning) droppings. We placed the cameras in two spots where it looked like elk trails were converging. 

There were a ton of empty camp trailers up there. I probably came across a dozen or so. I'm not sure if people were taking them up there and leaving them to save a spot (which is bullshit) or what. I hope that it isn't an indication of the amount of archery hunters there will be.

I was able to try out my tent and wood burning camp stove. Both worked out fantastically, although I still have to mess around with the stove to figure out the optimum way to keep it burning. The tent was nice and toasty when it was running, and let me tell you, it got pretty chilly at night up there. Hopefully, these spots will pay off come hunting season. 

In other news, I've tried using a bow drill to create fire every time I go camping/hunting since I had that survival skills class and I haven't been able to recreate it. That just tells me that I need to keep practicing. I've come close a couple of times, but close isn't going to get a fire lit.  Fire started using easier methods.

Book Release: What's Left of Me

Time for a little cross promotion! Here's a new release by the talented Jennifer Loring. Enjoy! ✰✰ What’s Left of Me by Jennifer Loring ✰✰

Series: Book Two in the Firebird Trilogy

Tagline: “There is always one more secret…”

Release Date: July 26, 2016

Hosted by: Sizzling PR

Publisher: Limitless Publishing

#JenniferLoring #WhatsLeftOfMe #Firebird #SizzlingPR #Free #TeamLimitless

#Download today or #Read for #Free with #KindleUnlimted

Amazon US – http://amzn.to/2asADWf

Amazon UK – http://amzn.to/2arvxXo

#Synopsis: Recovering from years of living the superstar hockey life wasn’t easy, but now Aleksandr

Volynsky finally has everything…

He’s married to the love of his life, expecting a daughter, and has a new job as an assistant coach with

his old team, the Buffalo Gladiators. His happiness is short lived, however, when a sexual assault

allegation surfaces, and Alex is forced to cooperate with an investigation for a crime he didn’t commit.

Stephanie Hartwell is juggling her dream job with marriage and motherhood, but she’s not convinced

she’s doing any of it well…

Stephanie’s stress level goes from bad to worse when she’s diagnosed with a serious illness. Battling

declining health and the critics who question her commitment to Alex in light of the allegation, she

makes a decision that could change their relationship forever.

Alex is afraid he’s about to lose everything—especially when he sees Stephanie’s friend kiss her…

Devastated that his life is spiraling out of control again, Alex turns to his friend, Natasha, a Russian pop

star. Convinced that Stephanie and her friend Brandon are having an affair, Alex resumes his self-

destructive behavior.

What Alex doesn’t know is Stephanie has been conducting a secret investigation of her own. She learns

the truth behind the sexual assault—a truth no one, especially Alex, expects.

With everything now out in the open, can Stephanie and Alex commit to a fresh start for the sake of

their daughter, or will the ghosts of their pasts finally tear apart everything they have left?

Ermahgerd, Mah Wife is Amerzing!

As writers, or artists, or hell, just as people, being around folks who love and accept who we are and what we do is a vital component. I believe I mentioned in an earlier post about higher education that one of the benefits of it was being around a posse of people who are all striving towards to the same goals. Now don't confuse what I'm saying here, I'm NOT saying to surround yourself with "Yes" people, or in other words, people who will tell you what you want to hear. That doesn't help anything and can actually make things worse. I'm saying you want to surround yourself with people who support your goals and will help you reach them.

One of those people in my life, is my wife. From the beginning, she's supported my goals as a writer, as a hunter, and as a person. Just last night, she sent me a pic of a dude holding a smoke bomb, one of those regular small ones from the fireworks store. She said, hey, before you go out hunting next time, take some of these with you, you could use them as a survival signal.

The comment by itself is sweet and caring, but there is a deeper message going on. One, other than the outside message of, "hey, I love you and I would like you to have every possible tool in your toolkit to make it back home alive," she's supporting my fascination of survival and survival ideology. She supported me going for an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction when the smarter idea might have been to pursue a different degree for the "real world." (I'm being a little sarcastic here with my choice of words, I totally believe that my higher education has already paid dividends for my skill and my writing career and I think you should pursue whatever education and training you want.) She gives me the time I need to complete my writing projects, and supports my other endeavors. She does so realistically and keeps me grounded in reality, but gives me the time and motivation to pursue things. In short, she's awesome. Find awesome people and make them a part of your life. You won't regret it. Now assemble your team of awesome.

Coming soon:
- Updates on my recent foray into the Wilderness Athlete 28 Day Challenge
- Scouting for elk 2016
- Barnes & Noble book signings 

“Pokémon Ghost”

“Pokémon Ghost”
by C.R. Langille
 
What I’m about to tell you is true…only the facts have been changed to protect the innocent or something like that. But really, just bear with me on this one. If you knew me, you’d know that I wasn’t prone to telling tall tales or other bullshits; however, I’m sure this whopper-jaw is going to push those limits.

By now I’m certain you’ve at least heard of the new virtual crack that is Pokémon Go. I wasn’t going to get into because I didn’t need another reason to stay up late or stay glued to my phone. Yeah, but who was I kidding? Stupid, stupid, addicting game. You know what I’m talking about. Don’t play coy with me, I’ve seen you wandering around the field next to the school, eyes glued to the screen. How do I know? I was there too.
I’d caught word from (OMITTED) that the programmers had hidden away the legendary Pokémon in remote places so that only the truly committed would find them. After hearing that, I spent most of my time away from the busy places roaming around the farms and abandoned buildings at the edge of my town (look, I’m not going to tell you where I live, because then you’d just want to hop in your car or hitch a ride or some shit to come on down here to see for yourself. That would be a BAD idea. Really bad, like riding a unicycle while juggling rattlesnakes kind of bad. So don’t ask me, because I won’t tell you).

Taking the cue from (OMITTED), I decided perhaps she was on to something, so instead of walking around my neighborhood and through the outdoor shops, I hopped on my scooter (don’t judge) and busted it out to an area dubbed by the locals as, the Creaks (and no, that isn’t a misspelling for creeks, I know what I’m doing here). The Creaks used to be an old cannery back in the late 60’s, but due to economic blah ditty blah and money-whatsits, it went under. Add in nearly five decades of neglect, dozens of mind-bending storms and the general bull shittery of teenagers who love to destroy things, and it was a miracle that the building was still standing. According to local legend, the building was supposed to be haunted. But who really believes in that scuttlebutt?

The Creaks sat on a barren piece of landscape that was home to a few dead oak trees that stood as sentinels next to a dried up stream. The building itself was made of faded, red bricks and broken windows, rising from the dried grass like a tombstone. I checked my phone, and sure enough, (OMITTED) was right! The map showed the silhouette of what looked like it could be a Mewtwo! An in the flesh (well digital flesh) Mewtwo! It was only a couple hundred meters away with the teasing rustle of leaves bouncing right over where the building sat.

I ran to the door, excited as my avatar got closer and closer to the Pokémon. However, as I neared the threshold of the cannery, I stopped. The air was cooler here, stale and smelled of something off that had been sitting in the sun too long, like a package of hot dogs or pickled herring (don’t know what I’m talking about? Well you’re lucky). There was something else too, and it took me a moment to figure out what it was.
The building was breathing.

Not a literal, in-out, in-out action used to circulate oxygen through the body, but it moved in a slight rhythm, creaking and groaning as if it were a large tree swaying in the wind. The Creaks…it made sense.
The sun was out, but so were the clouds, shading the light and covering everything with a gray hue. It also made the interior of the building darker than it should have been. The Pokémon app said the Mewtwo was further in the cannery. My hopes of being able to stand outside and get to it were dashed against the digital rocks. This wasn’t going to be easy, but what did I expect? If I was correct, it was going to be right smack dab in the middle of abandoned building.

It would be best to knock it out as quick as possible, a snatch and grab operation like in the movies. I took a deep breath, bounced on my toes a couple times, and then walked into the cannery with a purpose. I was doing my best to navigate by looking at my phone to zero in on the Mewtwo, and using my periphery to avoid tripping on something. I wasn’t very successful with that and ended up catching my foot on something and crashed into the ground. My phone skidded across the floor and for a moment I was lost in utter darkness. Pain radiated up my arm where I had hit the ground, but for the life of me, all I could think about was the wet feeling on my cheek.

I must have landed in a puddle or something, but the smell told me it was more than that. I couldn’t quite place it, but deep down I knew it couldn’t just be water.

I got to my knees and was about to stand up when something shuffled in the corner. It wasn’t too loud but it got my attention.

“Who’s there?”

I waited for a response, but none came.

“Hello?”

It moved again, closer this time. I scrambled forward for my phone. It wasn’t too far away, the LCD screen’s glow outlined as it laid face-down on the floor.

Whatever was in the room was coming at me, fast. It scraped across the wall, then moved to the floor. It was big, and dragging something behind it.

I let out a grunt and jumped for my phone, rolling across the floor like a bad-ass ninja. Or at least, that’s what I was going for. What really happened, was I jumped for the phone, rammed my shoulder into something, and flopped onto my back. However, I did grab my phone as I had intended.

I rolled to my side and pointed the phone’s light toward the noise. There was nothing there but overturned chairs and empty desks. The room was so cluttered that I was amazed I hadn’t tripped earlier.

I flipped the phone around and activated the flashlight app, which bathed the room in a brighter light. I couldn’t find the source of the noise, and all was quiet again. Chalking it up to an overactive imagination or a Wienerschnitzel Chili Dog-induced hallucination (those are real by the way) I went back to trying to find the Mewtwo.

I had to keep the phone light on to navigate as well as the Pokémon Go app, which meant my phone’s battery life was dying faster than a newb playing on a PvP World of Warcraft server. According to the app, the Mewtwo was close.

I moved through the doorway into the next room when a loud clatter occurred behind me. I spun around and found a scene that almost made me Squirtle my pants. The desks and chairs were arranged in a horseshoe pattern just beyond the door, effectively blocking my way. Moments before they were scattered, but now…
Movement flashed across my screen as I lowered my phone and for half a second I forgot the crazy paranormal business that had just happened thinking that I was about to catch me a Mewtwo. Victory was about to be mine and then I could get the hell out of the Creaks.

I brought the phone back up expecting to see the Mewtwo animating on my screen. What I didn’t expect to see, was a creepy little Ring wannabe girl in the corner.

The girl sat in one of the chairs with her back to me. She had short brown hair that was plastered on top of her head like a wet mop. Her skin was blue, almost translucent, her veins contrasted against it like purple roadways. She was looking at her feet, head slumped as if she were praying; however, as I held the phone toward her, she stood. When she did, the chairs and desks slid away from her in all directions as if pushed by an unseen force.

I took a step back and accidentally kicked the door, sending it careening into the wall behind me. She turned and looked up, smiling a rictus grin that stretched across her face like a mask. With her head cocked to the side, she took a step forward, bones snapping and cracking as if she hadn’t moved in years.
I took another step back, lowering the phone subconsciously. As I did, she disappeared from view. I brought the phone back up, and there she was, but closer now, giggling.

I moved the phone away.

Gone.

I moved it back into view and she was closer, on all fours like a tiger about to pounce.

That’s when my phone’s battery gave up the good fight and died. The room went pitch black.

I was frozen in place, unable to move. Unable to even breathe. Something pattered toward me and I caught the faintest giggle echoing off the walls.

I turned and ran as fast as I could, smashing my way through obstacles like a runaway semi coming off a mountain. She gave chase, laughing all the way. I could picture her in my mind, running for me with her arms outstretched, her smile growing larger as she got closer and closer, knowing that if she caught up to me, I would never be found again.

Call it luck or whatever you want, but daylight poured through a broken window up ahead, lighting the way and giving me a bit of hope. I started running faster believe it or not. That was until my hoodie snagged on something.

It had to be her, grabbing me and trying to pull me back. I wrenched forward with everything I had, tearing the fabric but getting away. With a mighty yell, I jumped through the window, shielding my face with my arms.
Let me tell you this much…Hollywood is a bunch of bullshit. Jumping through that window hurt like hell, and landing on a tree root hurt even worse. I still can’t walk without a limp on a rainy day.

I didn’t look back as I ran, afraid of seeing her in the window. I just high-tailed it back to my scooter and got the hell out of Dodge.

I never went back to the Creaks, hell, I even had a hard time going anywhere alone after that. I still run my Pokémon Go app as well, but not for what you think. I keep it on as a warning because sometimes I get an indication of Pokémon nearby, but the silhouette isn’t quite right. That’s when I can hear her giggling. I keep my app running as a warning because she’s getting closer and one day she’ll catch me.​ If you enjoyed that little tale, check out my other stories here. Have fun hunting for Pokémon!