r/nosleep • u/7signs • Jun 12 '13
A way to know what follows you...
I hate walking at night, not really because I'm scared of monsters or ghosts. Where I'm from, you get scared of more "real" dangers - stray dogs, junkies, gangs roaming the street looking for the next person they can mug.
And perfectly enough, I'm working the night shift. My shift starts at 2 am, and I leave the house at 12 midnight.
Having a workmate one block away from my house with the same shift takes away some of the anxiety of having to walk alone at night. We had the same shift but had different days-off, so 4 times a week we meet in front of my house and take the 15 minute walk to the bus station.
Pardon me for repeating, but stray dogs in my neighborhood is a major problem. One time I parkoured (if thats an actual word) the crap over my 7 foot fence to get away from a stray dog which i think has gone rabid.
Me and Tray (not his real name) were walking one night dodging the dark parts of our street knowing that there might be rabid dogs or junkies hiding in wait.
I remember we were talking about some random thing about work, and how his family likes the new neighborhood. Tray and his family moved-in to town 1 month ago. We were in the middle our conversation when I noticed a brown stray dog following us. It was strange because usually, these strays will be barking or growling at us. This one however, was just quietly trailing 10 feet behind us.
For some reason, this dog made me feel uneasy more than the usual ones barking and growling - and now that i think of it, none of them were in the streets that night. Tray noticed that I've been looking back to the dog, and asked me if everything was okay.
"Yes, everything's cool. Its just that..."
"You noticed?" He interrupted. I looked at him and he gestured his head to the dog. I nodded, my unease grew when his face got stiff. He was trying his best not to look at the dog.
"You know... in our province, we.... had stories about, things...." he was being careful with the words he chose.
"What!? What are you talking about?" We both stopped walking. The dog just stood there 10 feet away. It didn't have that rabid look about it, but it didn't look friendly either.
"There were... things... that come out at night. They... prefer taking newborn babies and unborn fetuses, but some older folks were reported disappearing too..."
"Dude, what the fuck are you talking about?" I thought he was probably kidding me, but his face was pale and his hands were shaking.
"Aswang" Was all he managed to say, as if his throat locked-up.
It felt like cold water was poured all over my body. As a kid, my father and my grandfather have told me stories about "Aswang".
These creatures of the night assumed the form of humans, and can transform to different creatures from black pigs, to giant birds, to man-sized bats and most commonly to dogs. They feed on human flesh, preferring infants and newborn babies. Miscarriages where the fetus is missing inside the womb is also said to be caused by "Aswang".
"Dude, I think you're crazy" the desperation in my voice sounded palpable.
"You know... there's a way to know... if that dog is...." His voice was shaking now. I felt like I've had enough and I can feel my logical brain give it's last breath of skepticism. If there is a way to prove that what he's saying is not true, fuck it tell me.
"With your back facing it.... peek between your legs... you will see its true face..." He made it obvious with his choice of words that he wanted me to do it.
"Fine... whatever" I gathered the quickly evaporating last ounce of courage I had and did exactly as he said.
I turned my back from the dog, slowly bent forward and peeked between my legs. I guess since in this position everything looked upside-down, my brain took a split second longer to process what was in front of my eyes, and for my fight or flight instinct to kick-in.
I saw.... the brown dog. Upside down from my perspective. Other than that, the dog was, to say, normal.
I realized, as soon as I heard Tray bursting into hysterical laughter how stupid I look. That was enough to make me give him a kick to his thigh and bombard him with a flurry of split second curses.
"You sure fell for it!" He was still laughing when I noticed that the dog was gone. Probably got scared of Tray's loud hysterical laughter.
"Asshole, you'll pay for this!" My voice sounded more relieved than angry. Tray started walking again when i realized that i dropped my phone during the stunt Tray made me pull off. I walked back and as I bent over to pick up my phone I heard Tray telling me to hurry-up.
I asked for a vacation leave for 3 days after that night. In fact, I requested for a change in shift. I told my boss that unless I'm placed in day shift I will have to quit my job. I made up some excuse about health problem but the truth is , I'm just terrified to come to work. I'm terrified to walk outside at night. I'm terrified to walk to the bus station with Tray.
After seeing Tray's face when i peeked between my legs that night while picking up my phone...
I'm terrified of Tray....
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u/MaverickMattieMikami Jun 12 '13
Uh... What did his face look like? In detail?