He Had No Shoes

Let me start out with, I was never one to believe in all the paranormal stuff you hear about, like Ghosts, Aliens or even Bigfoot but after living what I’m about to tell you. I believe the World is far stranger than we know, and I considered myself to be an average intelligence person.

I have a good job at an accounting firm in Columbus Georgia, and over the last ten years have moved up to Jr. Partner, so I make good money.

Being single I’m able to spend my income on things I want and with my bonce from becoming Jr.

Partner. I spent in a small cabin. It was located south of Cusset, off of Friendship Rd. I had to hike the last mile down Little Hichitee Creek to reach it.

It was a little off the beaten path, but that was why I like going there. I had been there a few times and would all ways take in more can goods than I would use so had stockpiled nice cash of food. It was a peaceful place, and I would have lived there all the time, it but was too far from my job.

I went there at the end of February of last year. There is a small barn just off Friendship Rd. behind a locked gate that I locked my car in. I had taken 10 days off and was looking forward to the quiet of the woods. It was near dark by the time I was ready to start my hick to the cabin.

It was not a big deal to me I had made the mile walk in the dark a few times but this time I had a full pack on my back, was carrying one and had my 30 Aug 6 over one shoulder and flashlight in my other hand. It was still cool out so, I was not worried about running across any snakes. The creek was running fast because it had been raining the last week and more was to come.

I left two 5 gals. Cans of gas in the trunk of the car for the small generator the cabin had and would come back to get them the next day. It was fully dark out by the time I reached the cabin, and the temperature was dropping. It would get down into the ’40s with a good chance of more rain before dawn. I was ready having brought along a few good books.

In the next couple of day, the weather took a turn for the worst, but I still had to make a run to my car for the gas. The high was only 42 and even thou there was a fireplace I still liked my heater. About haft way, I smelled smoke which was not normal this far away from other homes.

A few minutes later I saw where it was coming from, across the creek. There was what some would call a small campsite set up but to me had the look of what a homeless person would have made. From the trees a man stepped out caring an armload of wood, he dumped the load next to the fire. He had on a dirty coat with one pocket ripped haft way off.

He looked as if he had not had a bath for days if not weeks. His gray hair was long and his beard full, covering most his face. One odd thing that I noticed was he had no shoes on. It was just too cold out to be running around like that. He noticed me and wave an arm so, I waved back but keep ongoing. At least he was on the other side of the creek I thought to myself. On my way back to the cabin I didn’t see him, he was in the small tent or off into the woods again.

I hoped he did not see me heading back, so he didn’t know I was staying out there. I had not had good inner action with the homeless back in Columbus. A lot of them were addicts of some kind or another and cared only were the next fix was coming from. Don’t get me wrong, I cared for people that are down and out. I try to help when I can, but few of them change.

I did not have a TV in the cabin but do have a good radio, so it was on most of the time when I was there. Later that day as I was making my dinner the Weatherman said, that for the next 3 nights the moon would be full but a large storm had begun to move in and the only thing we would be able to see was, more rain but it should get a little warmer.

I really did not mind this as I had a good book I want to start reading this week anyway. Really it was too cold out to get much fishing done, yes the Catfish would have been biting but I did not want to stand out in the rain. After dinner, I settled down to my book, in front of the fireplace and I could hear thunder headed my way as the storm got closer.

This time of year dark comes early, and with the storm coming out of the West by 7 it was as dark as it could get. The sound of the thunder grown slowly as did the flash of lighting. The wind picked up, and I wondered about the old man that I had seen with no shoes. He would be in for a rough night, and I even thought about going to see if he was all right.

With the continuous sound of the rain and the warmth of the fireplace, it was not long before I fell asleep. I’m not sure how long I was sleep but was awoke with a rumble and a flash that was close. The power was out, and the only light was from the embers that were still glowing in the fireplace, so it had to of been a couple of hours.

The storm had grown, and the wind was really rocking the trees. I decided not to worry about the power being out and would just go to bed. I don’t think the storm would stop me from going back to sleep, I have all ways sleep well when it rained, and most of the lighting was north and moving off. My bedroom was on the backside of the cabin on the second floor overlooking the creek. It had a sliding door and a small porch.

Before climbing into bed, I looked out over the creek. The rain was not too heavy, but with each flash of lightning, I could see the wind whipping the trees around. It looked a little rough out there, and I would have hated to be out in it. This made me think of the man with no shoes again.

I was about to turn away from the window when lightning flashed, and I thought I saw something move out of the creek and into the trees. I stood there but when the light flashed again it was gone. I was not really sure that I had seen anything. If it was something, it would have been at least the size of a man. It could have been a black bear, but here they were a little rare.

I continued to watch for a few minutes but with each lighting flash seen nothing but the trees swaying in the wind. I decided that it was just my imagination and it must have been the trick of wind movement and the lightning flash. I climbed into bed, and it was only a few minutes before I was asleep dreaming. I have all ways sleep well when it was storming out, but that night I keep dreaming of man-size shapeless shadows jumping out at me.

When I woke up, at first I thought it was still night, but then I noticed it was mid-morning. The clouds were heavy, and it was still raining. I looked out at the creek to where I had thought I had seen the shape move out of the water, but I was unable to see any signs that it had happened. I never really thought I would but, I had to look.

It was cool in the cabin, so I started a fire, and once it was going good and had warmed up, I went to the cheek on the generator. What I found kind of freaked me out. The generator was in its own little room off the back porch, but the fuel tank was outside with a line to the generator. I went out into the rain to cheek why it was not getting fuel. The reason that it had failed was the line had been pulled loose.

There was no way that the wind could have pulled it off, and there was nothing lying around that could have knocked it off. That would mean that someone or something had to of done it. By the time I had the line fixed, and the generator was up and running I was soaked so after getting the heater going I stripped down to my boxers and warmed my self in front of the fireplace.

All-day I thought about the fuel line, and I could not think of any way that it could have been done other than someone doing it and why would they? I thought of the man with no shoes but why would he have been out in the storm, he would have been in his tent. I didn’t know if he had even known that the cabin was there.

I tried to read as it rained all day, but my thought kept bringing me back to the fuel line and the shadow that I had seen on the bank of the creek. Could they be related in some way along with the old man with no shoes? I looked out at the storm, the wind was not too hard but the rain was still falling good and the radio had said it would continue for the next day or two.

I was not really happy that it was going to be, I had hoped to get my telescope out and view the full Moon that night. All three nights that it showed full, the storm would hide it. It was one of the reasons that I had made the trip at that time of the mouth. The other was to do some Catfishing.

All in all, I was not in a really good mood about being stuck in the cabin, but I was not going to go back home, I still had over a week to go.

About an hour before dark the wind began to pick up again and I could hear thunder slowly moving my way. The radio said that it would be about the same as last night but should begin to clear by morning and become spotty. That made me feel good maybe I’d be able to get in a little fishing. Catfish like to bite as the water rises.

Around 11 I put my book down, the lighting had gotten heavy as did the wind but I was tired so, I decided to go to bed. I stocked the fire just in case the generator went out again or was taken out again. I still did not feel right about how that could happen. I shut off the lights and was about to go up to my bed when I decided to check that the doors where locked.

As I was checking the back door lighting flashed, and for just a moment I could see out over the creek and again I thought I’d seen something big and dark move.

It was it like when you see moment out of the corner eye, and then it’s gone. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and my knees get weak. It happened so fast I was not sure what direction it was moving. I’ll not lie it scared me, I had been coming out to the cabin for a few years and had never seen anything that scared me as that did. I went and got my 30 Aug 6, returned to the back door when I could see if whatever it was would go for the generator again. I left the light off to see outside better when the lightning flashed. The trees were moving with the wind and did not help with there shadows jumping around.

I racked my brain as to what it could have been. Yes, there were bears around there, but I had never seen one and never heard of one as big as what I thought I had seen. It would have been a good ten-foot-tall had it not been bent over I thought. Well, whatever it was I was ready for it, or so I thought. I had no idea of how long I sat there but know it was well over an hour, and my back begin to ache. I began to think it was all in my head, I may not have seen anything but the feeling was hard to dismiss.

I decided the heck with it and went to my bedroom and after looking out over the creek for a few minutes put my rifle against the wall at the head of the bed and laid down. Sleep did not come easy that night and when it did it was full of dark monsters out to get me.

When I woke it was mid-morning, and there was some sunshine showing throw the clouds. It was still raining lightly and had the look of stopping at any time. I sat for a few minutes on the edge of the bed thinking about what I had now thought I had seen twice and I could not shack the feeling that it was something real not just my imagination.

This bugged me most the day so, I went down to the creek to have a look. The rain had all but stopped, and I thought looking up at the sky that if the cloud began to clear a little, I may be able to check out the last night of the full moon. This made me feel a little better. The creek was way up and moving so fast that it would have been hard for any animal to swim, and any human would have drowned.

As I was standing there, a coke can be floated by, and this made me think of the old man with no shoes who was upstream of me. I know that I would, not have liked to spend the last couple of night in a tent but if you were homeless it would have been better than under some overpass, I guess. I looked down at the mud and what I saw shocked me.

In the mud not two feet from the rushing water was a paw print, this was not all that unusual but the size was. It was huge, the biggest I had ever seen and had to of come from a beast that was the size of a grizzly bear. There was nothing any were near the area that could have been that big.

I looked around for some time but was unable to find any more sign of what it might have been.

There was just no way it was a bear, it looked more dog-like, but I could not be sure, I had never seen a bear print before. The only thing I had ever hunted was deer and was not good at that. I returned to the cabin, and the first thing I did was retrieve my rifle from the bedroom and carried it the rest of the day.

I was not even sure that it could stop whatever that thing was but, it made me feel better to have it at hand. I walk all around the cabin without finding anything out of place. I filled up the tank for the generator and carried in some wood. I know the night was going to be cool. The rain had stopped by dark, but the clouds were still moving fast but were broke up some.

It was full dark out by the time I finished my dinner. I tried to see the creek, and it was too dark, but I know that the full moon would be up in an hours or so. I also know that it would add a little light, with all the clouds but maybe I could get a few minutes on the telescope. I stocked the fire and sat down with my book and only a few minutes later was fast asleep.

I woke with a shutter by a crashing sound on the back porch, and without any thought grabbed my rifle and out the door, I went. I smelled gas and know what that meant. Just then the lights went out. I rushed back into the cabin and lock the door. I was not sure what had happened but thought by the noise and smell that the tank had been ripped from its mount.

Someone or something had made sure that I would not fix the generator to easily this time. I looked out the windows but was not able to see anything. The clouds were still moving fast, and the moonlight danced around and give an eerie feel to the night. The shadows of the trees seemed to move on there own. I could not hear anything, even the wind at ground level was still.

I thought of the shadow that I had seen and of the fuel tank, why would anyone want me to be without lights? If they wanted to rob me they, could do that with or without lights. If it was a beast of some kind how would it know the power came from the fuel in the tank? This scared me more than I have ever been.

There were old story’s about Big Foot in this area but only of them being seen never messing with people and I never really thought much of them. Maybe it was some Big Foot, but why was it after me, that made no sense? I thought about calling someone but was not sure who to call or if they would ever take me seriously.

For over an hour I went from one window to the next looking out but seen nothing. I began to relax a little, maybe whatever it was had moved on, or I had hoped it had. I sat down on the stairway were I could see most of the first floor, but the dancing shadows made this hard. I had never been so scared in my life. I thought of the old man with no shoes, was he all right. Had this thing paid him a visit before coming here?

That really didn’t matter much to me but, I had little control of what thoughts were running through my brain. I heard a noise from the front of the cabin. I was not sure what it was but, a moment later I heard the boards on the porch creaked. It was out there, and I was sure it wanted in.

It was quiet for a few seconds, but it seemed like hours than I head what sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. There was a break in the clouds, and the moonlight became bright just as a shadow pass one of the windows and what I seen all most made me drop my rifle. It was a perfect outline of the head of a wolf.

What shocked me the most was that it was huge, at least 7 feet tall. I had never seen a wolf other than on TV before, but I was sure what I had seen. I could not remember any time that I was more scared. I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest and was sure that thing could hear it. I thought that it must be able to smell my fear. I could not understand why it was hereafter me, was I a source of food for it?

I felt panic and fought to hold it back, I know that I would never be able to outrun the thing, and make it to my car but I had to do something. I had my rifle, but I don’t think it would help me much with that thing. Before then if someone had told me that werewolves were real, I would have said they were crazy.

I wanted a better look at the thing. I got up and moved my way to the window as slowly and quite as I could. With my back on the wall next to the porch window, I could hear some kind of movement just outside. It sounded like a dog scratching its self slowly. I bend over, took a fast look out the window.

The cloud parted just as I did and what I saw all most made me drop my rifle. It was a full 7 foot tall, covered in hair and looked as if it came straight from a horror movie. It was standing there looking over the moonlit yard, its ears twitched just a little as if listening. I could hear it sniffing like a dog, and I was sure it was trying to smell where I might be hiding. I wondered why I was its target, could it be that I was just the only human around?

I have no clue how long I stood there next to the window listening. I dare not move fearing if I did it would hear me. When it moved, I decided I would try to get upstairs and lock my self in the bedroom till dawn. Maybe I’d survive this, I thought. This made me think of the old man with no shoes again and if he was okay.

I didn’t think he could have survived if that thing had found him before ending up here. I hoped he was all right. I then thought of my car, it’s strange that when you are full of fear the thoughts that run through your mind. I slowly moved to the stairs but in the dark bumped the end table and it made a low groin on the wood floor.

I looked back at the window and froze but it had heard, there was a deep howl and then the window bust in, throwing glass all over the room. I held up my arms with my rifle in hand to keep the glass from hitting me in the face, which was a good thing for me. The beast rushed me, knocking me back on to the couch, by holding up the rifle keep the thing from biting off my face. Its mussel crushed most the wooden stock, but the barrel did not give in. I was sprayed with slobber.

With the force of the struggle we ended up rolling across the floor, at some point in the rolling my finger pull on the trigger and the rifle went off, starting the beast and, I was able to pull my feet up between us and kick out of its grip. I jumped to my feet and for the first time had a good look at the beast.

What was before me, was just what you would have seen at the movies but far more scary, Were-Wolfs were really. It howled in rage as it stood up staring at me with pure hate in its eyes. It was a good 7 feet tall with the head of a wolf,

covered with hair and a mouth full of teeth. It had the smell of a wet dog that with my fear made me feel sick to my stomach.

I was still holding what was left of my rifle but did not think it would help me much. It was all I had as the beast rushed me again. I did the only thing I could think of, I drop to the floor and rolled to the right as I brought the remains of the rifle across the beasts shin. It howled in pain and went down hard, pushing the broken couch it smashed into the stairway wall. Its chin hit the floor hard, and it let out a groin.

I ended up next to the fireplace stone hearth were the shovel, brush, and poker where laying. I dropped the rifle and garbed the shovel and poker. I was not sure if it would help, but it was better then the chewed up rifle. I was able to get to my feet before the beast composed its self. I was able to see a little better because dawn was coming.

As the beast stood, in its rage, it threw the couch ageist the front pouch wall breaking a window. My legs shook as I stood with the small shovel and iron poker before the enraged beast knowing I was about to die. It stood there staining at me with its yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the faint light, and then it began to growl at me.

It looked over at the windows were the faint light of dawn was showing into the cabin, its eyes narrowed as it turned back at me still growling with saliva dripping from its jowls and jumped at me. I held the shovel up to cover my face as the beast hit me hard. I was pushed back ageist the wall, and I lost my breath from the pain of its teeth closing on my forearm. Its yellow eyes were inches away from mine.

It let go of my arm as fast as it had bit down and let out a scream of pain, backing away I could see blood near it mid-chest. It had run full upon the iron poker that I held in the other hand. It had impaled its self as it rushed upon me. Grabbing it middle with both its hands it turned and run out the way it had busted into the cabin.

I slid down the wall where I was, dropping both the makeshift weapons just as the sun began to peck above the horizon. I was in a lot of pain and could not believe that I was still alive. I was able to rip the arm of my shirt off and wrapped it around the bite wound before I lost consciousness.

For the next couple of day’s, I was in and out of a hazily consciousness not really knowing what was real. Dreams filled with the beast trying to kill me and what I thought was the old man with no shoes trying to help me drink and eat kept jumping around in my mind. On the third morning, I woke up in my bed at first thinking it had all been a dream till I tried to move my arm. It was wrapped up and had been done by someone who knew what they were doing. I all most pass out with the realization it all not been a dream.

As most of you, know from movies once someone is bitten by a Were-Wolf and lives they will also become one. At that time I was only happy that I had lived and had not thought about the fact that night had changed my whole life in so many ways. When I pack and left the cabin I noticed that the old man with no shoes was no longer there. From what I could see he had taken all his camping stuff with him so he must have lived.

When I returned home, the next two week I healed up fine but, I never told anyone what had happened knowing that they would have thought I was just crazy and that I had wounded my self in some way.

I spent some time on my computer looking into everything I could find on Were-Wolfs. I was really surprised at how much information there was.

I had many questions about what had happened to me, like why me, and who had helped me that morning, was it the man with no shoes? Who was he and why would he have helped me if it was him? Could he have been the Were-Wolf? There was too much missing from my mind about the days that followed the attract.

Well, now you know how I came to have Lycanthrope. I must say that it really not as bad as the movies have shown us. I’m not out to kill everything, and I’m still not sure why I was attracted that night at the cabin. Most of the time I spend as a wolf I just run in the woods by my cabin.

I did, however, figure out who the beast was, it had been the old man with no shoes. It was strange how I figure it out. It was the first time that I made the change that showed me. I had gone to the cabin just in case I would.

Change, I did all right, but never doing it before had no clue how it would happen, and I don’t think to get naked first. I had on a t-shirt and a pair of old blue jeans that were no big deal. What really got me was the fact that I was wearing my Nike’s Revolution 3 running shoes that cost near 800 dollars.