Heart Eater

When I tell you this story, you won’t believe it. I know you won’t. But it happened. My name is Cas Evergreen. I live in a small town called Summerville. Or as us kids call it, Horrorville. We have managed to scare away all other people due to our terrifying history. I am part of that history.

It happened 4 years ago. The summer of 2016. Back then I had this best friend. His name was Salan. Sal for short. I won’t give away his last name for his parents. But we were best friends for 4 years before the incident. He was my only friend. The one person in my life at the time I trusted. And if I had cared for him more, maybe he would be the one telling this story.

Sal moved into town when we were still in middle school. We became friends because Sal was being bullied for being ginger and I decided to step in. We were unlikely friends but we were closer than brothers.

The school year had just ended and we both needed a break. So we decided to go camping in the woods behind my neighborhood. I don’t go in those woods anymore. We went pretty far off the trail which was my mistake. Sal was way more into nature than I am, so he was extremely excited to be outside of the house for once.

By the time the sun was starting to come down we had settled down deep in the forest and started a fire.

“How about we tell ghost stories?” Sal had suggested.

“No way. You get scared way too easily.” I told him.

“Come on. I can take it. Come on, it'll be fun.”

“I know a lot of scary stories. So don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I’m going to tell you one of the stories I told Sal. This was a story that was true and confused everyone, before the events that I’m telling you about. And even then, nothing makes sense.

“Back when I was a kid. Long before you were here. A little girl went missing in these very woods. After many days of searching, the police found an overturned van with the dead bodies of two men inside. They speculate that these men were the ones who took the girl. But, the girl was never found.”

“What happened to her? Is she dead?”

“No one knows for sure. The police announced her dead when no one could find her. But it’s what the police never told everyone that sent the theories as to what happened. Rumors were spreading around town like wildfire through the town. I heard this from some kids at school who said they heard their parents talking about it.”

“Tell me! What happened!” Sal had pressed.

“The rumors were all about the state of the men. Their bodies. They were mutilated. Like they had been attacked by something. Something big. But what confused the police most of all was what was missing.”

Sal was on the edge of his seat, his interest clearly peaked. “During the autopsy, they noticed that every organ was present except for one. Their HEARTS!” I yelled, poking his chest for dramatic effect. He yelped and fell out of his chair as I laughed. “You are so easily scared,” I said, helping him up.

“Yeah. But the story. Is it true?” he asked.

“Well. The girl did go missing. And those were the rumors I heard. But I doubt it’s real. It’s just a spooky story everyone tells once a year. I’m honestly surprised this is the first you’re hearing of it.”

“Well. You know me. I don’t pay attention to anything much.”

“You always have your nose stuck in a book, don’t you? You are such a nerd.” I laughed.

“Shut up.” Sal laughed.

And we laughed. How stupid and careless we were. We were so loud. Having no idea what was out there that could’ve heard us.

Later on into the night, we went to sleep in our tent. Everything was fine until Sal shook me awake. "What?" I asked sitting up.

"Shh. I hear something." He whispered.

"Come on Sal. It's probably just a deer or something. You're overreacting because of the stories that you wanted to hear." I said.

"No, Cas I'm serious. There's something outside the ten-"

A large growl echoed off the trees outside. Sal grabbed my arm and bit his lip to stop himself from screaming. He looked at me and I finally realized how genuinely terrified he was. I scanned the walls of the tent and saw a large shadow.

"It's ok. Just stay quiet and we'll be fine. Don't worry…" I trailed off as another growl sounded through the tent walls. But it wasn't the bear. It didn't sound like a bear. It didn't sound like anything I had ever heard before. Another shadow came toward the bear. It was small and gangly but looked like it had a long mane and long fur. The bear and the creature started to fight. They disappeared from view, probably going deeper into the forest. The sounds of fighting and the terrifying noises faded off into the forest until there was nothing we could hear.

"What the hell was that?" Sal asked, his voice quivering with every word.

I stood up and grabbed a flashlight. I headed out of the tent and pointed the flashlight and a trail of blood and broken bushes. The path led deep into the woods. I started to follow but Sal grabbed my arm.

"What are you doing?" He whispered.

"I'm going to see what that thing was," I said.

"Are you crazy!? You could get killed! Can we just go home please?" He whispered with panic in his voice.

"No. I'm going to see what that was with or without you. Go home if you want. I'm not." I pulled my arm from his grasp and started walking down the path.

God, I wish I had just listened to him. Just this one time.

A few seconds later, after some contemplating I suppose, Sal caught up with me and clung to my arm again. Why hadn't he taken my advice? He should've left, and so should I have. But no. We kept following the path.

Then we heard a large huge roar coming from deep into the forest. The roar echoed off the trees making us both stop dead in our tracks.

Sal's grip on my arm tightened and he grew closer. "Can we go home now?" He whispered.

"No. Come on. I'm not leaving until I see this." I said, continuing. I should’ve left right then and there. But of course. I would never have expected to see what I saw that night.

A while later I started to hear noises again so I turned off my flashlight and slowed my walk. I stopped when the noises sounded close and waited for my eyes to focus. I'm the darkness. The fumes of death filled my nose. Something told me the bear didn't win the fight. After a few seconds, I realized what the sounds were. They sounded like… eating. Like the sounds of someone ripping off and eating meat. At first, I thought I was crazy. Then my vision came into focus.

On the ground was the dead ripped-up carcass off the bear. Blood was pooled around its body and its chest had been ripped open. In front of it, sifting through its body ripping apart parts of the bear to eat, was a little girl with long brown hair and a bloodied blue dress. Just like the girl that went missing all those years ago. But of course. That was impossible. That girl was dead. But sure enough. She looked to be about the same age she would be if she were alive. 12 years old.

Sal's nails dug into my arm. I wasn't hallucinating. He saw it too. This was real. It wasn't a nightmare. I wish it had been. I should've turned and run but I couldn't. I was paralyzed with fear and my eyes were stuck on her. I couldn't tear them away.

My eyes trailed to her hands and followed them as she started to dig through the bear's chest with her bloody hands. I watched as she dug deep down into its chest and dragged out, with veins still attached, it's heard. The heart wasn't beating anymore of course. Although I'm not sure if that makes up for what she did next.

I watched as she tore away the veins from the heart and pulled it up to her face. She opened her mouth… and bit down into it. Blood splattered all over her clothes and her face.

I wanted to scream but I was paralyzed. Unfortunately, Sal was not so paralyzed. He let out a large cry of terror. And of course, the little girl heard it. She growled as she slowly turned to us. I was suddenly unparalyzed again. I grabbed Sal's hand and ran back to where we came. He was crying from how scared he was. I held onto him as tight as I could as I ran. I saw our campsite off in the distance. I thought we were going to make it out ok.

But Sal screamed. His hand slipped from mine. I stopped and looked back to see her on his back ripping my best friend to shreds. It was sickening to watch the blood poor and his flesh pull apart. I was going to throw my flashlight at her in hopes of saving him. But I had lost it in the struggle to get out of there. So like a coward, I turned and ran.

I left my only friend all alone to die. Everything would've been fine if I had just listened to him. But no. I ran like a coward as Sal screamed in pain and terror from behind me. My heart sank as the screams died down. I assumed the worst but I kept going. I choked back tears as I ran as fast as I could. I ran and ran and ran like a coward. I made it back to the trail and had a flicker of hope when I made the mistake of looking behind me. Just for a second.

She was right there. She bit into my leg bringing me down to the ground. I flailed in terror and managed to grab a stick in the struggle. I knocked her off of me and got up, only able to run because of the adrenaline from the fear. Finally, I could see the road. It was right in my grasp. I looked behind me and saw her pursuing us close behind. She was getting dangerously close to my leg again.

I looked ahead of me and saw a street light. I took a chance and jumped. I landed scraping my knees and arms on the concrete. I scrambled away from the forest with a large stick in hand. The little girl stopped at the edge of the forest. Her beady eyes stared at me from the darkness. She tried to step into the light but she shrieked when it got to her eyes. She backed away and ran back into the forest.

I took a deep breath and processed what had just happened. My adrenaline died and I clenched my bloody leg. Tears fell down my face as I thought about Sal. I dragged myself to my feet and limped all the way to the police station. I entered the door with tears streaming down my face. I explained what happened and they went out to look for Sal. Our parents were called. It's all a blur after that.

The police told me it was just a wild animal and I was just in shock. They said it was dark and I could've scared myself. But I know what I saw. I know what attacked us. I know what killed Sal. And it wasn't an animal. I vowed to myself that I would never go into those woods again.

After the funeral, Sal was buried in the outskirts of the town. His parents moved away and never came back, not even to visit their son's grave. Even now I head over there every day after school. I never really leave anymore. It's my fault he died. So I feel obligated to stay with him. Like I didn't do before.

Sometimes, if I stay at the right time. I can see that girl at the edge of the forest. The same blue dress. And those beady eyes. I've decided to give her a name. That suits what she does. What she has become. The one who killed the only friend I had.

The Heart Eater.

I'm sorry Sal.