text: [Themes: horror, horror]
  
  It's been almost a year since I moved into this house. It's not exactly in the middle of nowhere but it's out there some distance from town in an area made from an odd mixture of dairy farms and large suburban homes with land. I myself was searching for peace and quiet and thought I had found it in the surrounding pastures, woods, and nearly-empty roads. It was sometime in the summer that I jolted awake to some kind of noise outside. Coyotes were nothing unusual for the area, often making a racket at night with their unsettling half-crying-dog half-wolf-howl noises. Unfortunately, this was something different.
  
  Now that I was awake, I needed a drink of water. I plodded to the kitchen with some annoyance and had just put my used glass in the sink when I heard the sound again. This time it made the hair in my neck stand on end. It was long and low like the moo of a cow but crackled like a human scream.
  
  [Author's Note: an attempt at cryptid-related horror based on the feeling of driving up a gravel road at midnight while your headlights illuminate every eye in a herd of cattle as they lift their heads to watch you pass, the eerie half-twilight of a cool summer night, and the knowledge that no matter how you try to kill them the blackberry vines are just biding their time until they can break through the dirt and begin to creep slowly toward your home once again]
  
  > go look out the window.
  I didn't think the sound was close enough for me to see the source but I walked to the front window anyway and peered into the half-darkness. It was one of those short nights near the summer solstice where it never seemed to truly get dark. Even at— I squinted at the nearby wall clock— 3 am, the night was dimly lit from city lights on the horizon and by the nearly full moon. Despite the season, I could tell it was chilly outside. Thick patches of fog lay low over the fields as if the clouds themselves had fallen from the sky. Beyond my driveway, I could just make out the pastures across the neighborhood's dirt road. The grass ended abruptly with a hill whose fog was backlit by some kind of floodlight they keep on all night at the dairy farm that uses the pasture. To the left of my driveway was the home of a neighbor who owned the dairy, and to the left of his house the dirt road went twisting into the woods. Supposedly there was a house in there somewhere, pulled down by blackberry vines, on a property left to stagnate by someone who didn't want to deal with it.
  
  > go outside to investigate.
  I slipped on a jacket and shoes, unlocked my front door and stepped out onto the front porch. I was greeted with nearly the same scene as I saw out the window. It was difficult to see much of anything beyond the reach of my porch light but I figured I could go wander into the darkness without tripping on anything if I let my eyes adjust for a little bit. A breeze whipped through the trees and the rustling sound gave me the chills. It's been a while since I heard the sound I was out here to investigate in the first place though, so maybe it was nothing?
  
  > go back inside.
  Yeah, it's probably not a good idea to go wandering around in the dark without a flashlight. I opened the coat closet to look for my old nightstick of a flashlight. Not the brightest but nice and heavy in case I need to hit something... and it's also not put away where it's supposed to be. Great. I rummaged around in the closet a bit longer for good measure but eventually had to give up. I briefly considered calling it a night and going to bed but remembered the flashlight I keep on my nightstand for power outages. It's nothing in the way of weapons but it makes light at least.
  
  I briefly considered the foolishness of going outside in the middle of the night chasing a scary sound but it seemed too late to change my mind. I was too awake to actually sleep at this point and even though the sound was fading from my memory at this point I had to have a look around.
  
  > wonder if the neighbor decided to investigate as well.
  I walked up my driveway and made a left toward the neighbor's house. I thought he might be conducting his own late night investigation or at least be able to confirm that I wasn't the only one who heard whatever the sound was. I climbed the stairs to his porch and was surprised to see the front door wide open with no nearby lights turned on inside. "Hello?" I called into the house and shined my flashlight through the door but got no response.
  
  > look around inside the house.
  I slowly crept my way into the house, keeping an eye out for my neighbor and for anything scary. The front door opened into an entryway and a short hallway with a living room to the right and the kitchen straight ahead. It looked like there was a light on somewhere off to the side of the kitchen area so I headed that direction first. As I got closer I realized I could see blood splattered on the floor and counters from a source just out of sight. I peeked around the corner at the end of the hall and located my neighbor. "Mangled" would be a good word to describe the corpse. I could see ribs sticking out before I had to avert my gaze to stifle the nausea. Near his body was a rifle and an open gun safe in the pantry closet. He must have died retrieving the weapon. "Looks like I'm in deep now," I muttered as I picked up the bloodied gun. I hadn't been to a shooting range in years but I hoped I remembered how to use it.
  
  > guess you should see if there's anything else horrible at the farm.
  I made my way back across the little dirt road to the gate of the pasture. After fiddling with the mechanism for a moment I got it open with a creak. I strode across the foggy pasture toward the barn, dew collecting on my shoes. The floodlight illuminated the area well as I pulled one of the doors open a crack and stepped inside. There were probably about 50 or so cows in the barn and every one of them turned to look at me simultaneously, the light of my flashlight and the floodlight that leaked through the door shining back green from their eyes. They fearfully packed themselves into the corners as far away from me as possible. The cows were extremely agitated, stomping their feet around and grumbling with concern. I decided to close the barn back up before any of them decided they would prefer to be outside.
  
  > guess you better go check out those woods.
  I steeled myself as I walked up the road toward the forest. I was certain something awful awaited me but couldn't possibly imagine what. A monster, I suppose. I paused for a moment at the end of the road before the forest. Though nothing physical was stopping me from turning around and going home, I knew it wasn't an option. This felt like something I had to see through. I stepped past the tree line onto the wooded part of the dirt road.
  
  It had probably been a minute or two of walking before my flashlight illuminated a huge lump in the middle of the road. I approached cautiously before identifying it as a cow. It was lying limp on its side with its back facing me, almost as if it was sleeping, but I knew better. I walked around to the front to see the damage. My shoes splashed in a few sticky puddles. The cow was effectively disemboweled. The meat from the front of its torso was gone, ribs sticking out at me like clawing fingers and unidentifiable guts spilling into the dirt. I gagged and squeezed my eyes shut trying to will away the image in front of me as well as the memory of the farmer who still lie in his house, matching perfectly with his beast.
  
  Suddenly, a small noise from behind me. I practically leapt out of my skin with adrenaline and whipped around to point my gun at... a little orange cat. It meowed again; a sweet sound that would have made me melt if I weren't tracking some kind of vicious monster.
  
  > Well aren't you a sight for scared eyes.
  I relaxed somewhat, though not entirely. Listening closely for anything else that might jump out of the trees, I bent down and let the cat rub herself against my hand.
  
  "You ought to go home now," I told her. "You're way too easy of a target."
  
  The cat blinked solemnly at me before winding herself around my legs and jogging to the edge of the woods to meow again, much louder than before. I remained where I was, but stood up. The cat seemed impatient, she ran back to me and then to the edge of the woods again a couple times before I followed. This time, she ran a few feet into the woods and glanced back at me to make sure I was coming. I obliged, and she led me into the dark among the trees.
  
  It wasn't too long before I began to feel blackberry vines snagging at my pajamas as we progressed, though I didn't remember the blackberry-drowned house I'd heard about until we reached the clearing. I use the word "clearing" loosely, as there was actually precious little ground that wasn't covered in sharply decorated vines. I shined my flashlight into the clearing to get a better look at the house. My breath caught in my throat suddenly as the beam of the flashlight crossed something that moved. A low growl emanated from the creature and I immediately fumbled for the off switch to avoid attracting attention. I crouched among the blackberries, hardly breathing for fear of making noise, mentally begging my eyes to adjust quickly to the darkness. The cat crouched with me, peering through the thorns from her vantage point a little deeper inside the thick part of the bushes where she would be more difficult to reach. Smart.
  
  The creature seemed to remain on alert, standing in the clearing. As the seconds passed, I realized it miraculously didn't seem to be aware of my location. My eyes adjusted gradually to the darkness as I observed. It was humanoid, but definitely not human. The silhouette of it was almost like a bear, or at least in the way it stood on two legs with its long arms hanging at its side. It was hard to make out in the dim lighting but I thought I could see a pair of ears and horns like a steer. What the hell was this thing?
  
  My observations were cut short as the creature turned its gaze to my spot among the trees. It started to lurch toward me, hunched over and dragging its feet somewhat while its hands swayed near the ground. Oh god, it has hands. I readied myself to act as it approached.
  
  > shoot it!
  As the monster neared, I carefully aimed my rifle at it. It was likely several inches taller than me, and squinting in the dim light the only shot I could see myself making was to its chest. As it closed in on my hiding spot, I blasted the monster with deer shot. A direct hit. The hideous scream that started my whole night ripped from the creature's maw at a pants-pissing volume. It was infinitely worse up close. As the creature struggled to recover, I blasted it a second time for good measure before I turned around and sprinted back through the bushes from whence I came. The blackberry thorns ripped at my pajamas and coat and scratched up my ankles but I could hardly feel them. The cat was close behind and surpassed me in a moment, then surprised me by veering off the path we'd used before and headed away from the road. I decided to trust her and followed.
  
  We made a wide loop around the blackberry house and reached a gnarled treehouse. Blackberry vines spread out around the base of the tree but none seemed daring enough to climb it. The cat clawed her way up the tree like a squirrel and disappeared through the doorway above me. I hesitated at the apparent foolishness of taking shelter in a structure so close to the creepiest house in the county but I could hear something crashing through the undergrowth and approaching rapidly. Now panicked anew, I realized the gun I'd been carrying had no strap or means of holding it easily besides in my hand. I tried to balance the rifle across the tops of my arms as I climbed, raising my elbows up awkwardly to keep it from sliding as I found the next handhold. It was slow going and I wished for a better idea but the ladder was made of wood planks nailed directly to the tree that frustratingly prevented me from leaning into it enough to climb with one hand. I got about halfway up before I saw the beast's movement in the corner of my eye and realized I was out of time.
  
  In a last ditch effort to save myself, I planted one hand firmly on the ladder and grabbed the gun with the other, hurling it up and away from me with as much force as I could muster before scrambling the rest of the way up the ladder. As I pulled myself up over the threshold I heard a crack and a bang as the gun hit a tree and discharged. The monster burst out of the bushes, grunting and panting painfully as it stood up on two legs to get its bearings. I tried to get a better look at it but it dropped down to all fours again and galloped off in the direction of the gunshot.
  
  > Continue.
  I shuffled backward into the treehouse on my hands and knees, flashlight clacking gently on the wood floor. I forgot I'd looped its strap around my wrist so I couldn't drop it. The crashing and rustling from the monster was fading into the distance. I allowed myself to lean against the wall of the treehouse and take a long, deep breath. As the adrenaline faded, I felt my exhaustion setting in. The cat must have sensed it too because she padded over to me from the corner of the treehouse she had been crouching in and laid herself against my leg with a purr. I sat like that for a long while before I clicked my flashlight to glowstick mode and let the blue light softly illuminate the treehouse. It was a small space but it was covered with murals. The cracked, peeling paint showed tangled, twisting blackberry vines on three of the walls with the invasive plant giving way to patterns of swirling strokes of every color on the back wall. I'm not sure but I think I eventually fell asleep gazing at the painted rainbow.
  
  When the sun finally came up that morning, I awoke to see that the cat had gone while I slept. I blinked in confusion when I realized that the paint had gone, too. The treehouse was made of the same old, graying wood on the inside as the outside. Maybe the blue glowstick made the wood grain look different? It was at this point that I fully remembered why I was waking up in a treehouse and my eyes widened. Where was the monster? I peeked my head through the doorway into the forest. It was alive with birdsong and warm light. I've always scoffed at people who claim they can feel the vibes of a situation or a person but I felt with every ounce of my being that the danger had passed. I hung my trusty, now burned-out flashlight around my wrist once again and began my descent out of the treehouse. As I climbed down, I marveled at how the blackberry vines had grown in a spiral shape around the tree but none had yet come to climb the trunk.
  
  I grimly made plans to call the sheriff about last night's murder as I walked home but then canceled them when I saw there was already an ambulance and a police car in his driveway. The policeman saw me walk out of the woods and tried to wave me over but I walked straight past him and into my house. I thought I heard him say "not again" as I closed the front door.
  
  I sat down at my computer and called the realtor who sold me the house. I told her I missed city life. She didn't question it.
  
  [Good End, but you can still try for perfect]