Now this is a dig into the distant past. I didn't want to share this one because people would think I'm crazier than I really am.
Many moons ago when I was a teenager I had my worst encounter. I was working a summer job at a convenience store. I had the graveyard shift. It wasn't too bad. I had a friend that was a sheriff and he would come in to the store and visit for a couple of hours. There were gas pumps in the front and back of the store. It was my responsibility to make sure the parking lot and gas pump area was kept clean. I would wait until around 2am to start sweeping due to low traffic. There were nights I would get a little creeped out but usually it was pretty nice. At this time there was construction getting ready next door and they had completely leveled the area next to the store. Not a bush or shrub to be found in an area that was about the size of a football field. Between the parking lot and that construction area was a large trash bin (I'm bringing this up for a reason). The landscape was flat and there were no tall trees or brush to obstruct your view. During nights of the full moon you can see for miles.
I had been working for about a month and never really had any problems. The patrons were pretty cool. Most of them were Navajo. I really didn't have anything to worry about.
Or so I thought.
One night I had just finished with the sweeping. I kept a close eye on the door to make sure no one would sneak in and try to rob the register or steal something. I walked in the door and headed back to the storeroom to return the broom when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw something black huddled in the northern corner of the store. It was crouched down like it was hiding. I froze. It stood up and I realized it was a young Navajo man. There was something strange about him. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I don't know what it was about him but I instinctively knew something was off. I asked him what he was doing and he just said, "can I use your phone?" He started walking towards me with his head down. By this time I had returned to the register area. The closer he got the more I felt I needed to get away from him. By the time he got to the counter I was backed up at the opposite end. I did not want to get close to him. It was irrational but I couldn't help myself. He raised his head and asked me again if he could use the phone. There were tears his eyes and I could tell he had been crying for awhile. I reached under the counter and handed him the phone and quickly backed up. I felt like a rabbit being scrutinized by a mountain lion. I don't know who he called and I don't really want to know. He said in Navajo, "I did it. I did it and I can't go back." He kept saying it over and over again. His voice was getting hoarse and he was sobbing. Then he just stopped like someone had shut off the sound on a radio or television. He just stood there with the phone in his hand. I had this crazy sense of fear coming over me. It was almost like it was coming from him and hitting me in waves. I had this feeling that he was working himself up to do something. Then he set the phone down and wandered to the back of the store. I didn't know what to do. He kept looking at me while he was going through the aisles.
My sheriff buddy showed up. That kid slipped out the back door like an eel. It was almost inhuman the way he moved. He turned to look at me and I nearly fainted. I swear to all that's holy that his eyes were larger. Almost too big for his head. It was the strangest thing I've ever had the misfortune to see. I told my sheriff friend what happened and he went outside with his flashlight and scoured the vicinity. The kid was gone. He stayed with me until my shift was over.
The next night I parked my car next to the back walk that is on the north side of the property. At about 3am I finished cleaning the parking lot and gas pump areas. I came inside and put everything up. When I came out of the storage area I saw a large dog walking through the north gas pump area close to the trash bins. The last thing I wanted was a stray dog getting in the bins and causing a mess. I ran to the door and yelled at the dog. I was trying to scare it off. That when I noticed it didn't have a tail and it was walking funny. Like someone using a dog pelt as camoflauge. It scared the fuck out of me. I shut the door and locked it and started to back away. Then like a regular dog it started running towards the large trash bin. I shrugged off what I saw as nerves and took off after it. The construction crew had filled the trash bin that day and I really didn't want to have to clean up the mess. I saw the dog run behind the trash bin. I followed right behind, turned the corner and nothing. No dog. Nothing. Not even tracks. In the sand. Nothing. I ran back to the store like Satan himself was after me. I kept the store locked for the rest of the night and only unlocked it to let patrons in. After my shift I walked to my car to leave. I noticed something all over the hood and windshield. When I got close enough to get a clear view, I saw dog prints. My car was in full view the entire night. I didn't see a thing.
The following night was my night off. I had a rehearsal that evening so I spent most of it on stage. When I got home I was exhausted. I showered and went to bed. It was warm that night so I left the window over my bed open. There was a nice steady breeze and the curtains were fluttering back and forth. I heard dogs in the distance start to howl and yap. Like when a siren goes by. Then our dogs started in. I kept hearing a noise like a horse galloping down the road. It would fade in and out but slowly the sound grew louder. Then I heard something hit the wall outside my bedroom. It was more of a sliding scratchy sound. Like a large animal rubbing up against the wall. I kept hearing it over and over again. I switched on my lamp and quickly got dressed. When I entered the hallway I could hear something running back and forth across the roof. It woke my mom and dad up and my dad came out of his room. He didn't even ask. He just said to stay in the house and it would leave eventually. This went on for about 20 minutes. Finally it quit and the dogs died down. It was over. My dad and I talked about it for awhile and then I went to bed. I shut the lamp off and realized i had left the window open. I turned to shut it and saw two glowing red eyes staring at me through the slits in the curtains as they blew open from the breeze. The eyes were about 7 feet off the ground. I froze. I was petrified. I would have to say it was the most frightened I have ever been. I was too scared to move. I just sat there as the wind kept blowing the curtains and showing those eyes. For some reason it turned it's head and looked towards the river. I started yelling for my dad and it was gone. Just like that. I didn't even see it move. It just vanished.
The next day we looked for tracks but the ground was too hard to find anything definitive. My mom called a relative that knew how to deal with stuff like this. Whatever he did, it worked. The visitations stopped. What I saw through the window looked similar to this:
I only saw the upper torso but the markings were similar.
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