Entry #5

"WILLKOMMEN IN MEINEN GARTEN DER EWIGEN KINDHEIT, DETEKTIV"

The words carved into the bark could not have been anymore clear. I walked right into her territory like a fool wandering into a minefield. I didn't waste a second to put my ghost hunting equipment away for good, take my night vision goggles out from my bag and prepare myself. I stood my ground and pointed my pistol into the darkness and blasted a warning shot to maybe try to scare her. If I couldn't hit her, I could still show her I wasn't going to lay down and cry waiting for the inevitable. Lord knows she can probably taste fear and I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing me scream in fear.

"Ich habe keine Angst vor dir, HEXE!! HÖRST DU MICH?!” I yelled, trying to stay calm and brave. But the feeling of my heart beating told a different story. All that could be heard afterwards was dead silence accompanied by wind. I was hardly able to comprehend that the woods seemed to have changed entirely. The location seemed to have either been altered...or I was taken somewhere while I wasn't looking. It was starting to make sense now, this forest wasn't just her territory. It was a portal to hell. HER hell. And I walked right into her trap like a fish taking the bait.

At that moment I was hesitant about moving from that spot, but something told me if I stayed in that spot I'd be a sitting duck. I was trapped and staring into the void beyond the trees for what looked to seem to go on forever. It was like I was lost in the middle of a cave. Any wrong turn and it would have been over. After what felt like an eternity, the wind started to die down and it was dead quiet. I swear I couldn’t even hear my own heart beat. For a time I started questioning if I was dragged to hell without my knowledge. Despite my efforts to stay strong, the fear started to take over and I began panting. The feeling of dread took over and I nearly broke down on the spot. It was as if I was staring death himself in the face

To this day I have no idea how I didn’t drop my gun and ran. Because after I tried to take a step forward from that spot, I heard the sound of carving behind me. I felt a tear run down my face as I turned around. There were twigs tied together dangling like Christmas decorations held up by the tree branches. Every single one of them were shaped like X's. I swear on my goddamn life those things were NOT there earlier. I felt my heart sink when I looked back to the trunk again. There was only a single message newly carved in the bark that could not sound more fucking threatening to me.

“You will join them soon”

My fear and anxiety went into overdrive immediately and I finally listened to my instincts. I clenched my gun tightly and bolted into the darkness while sending warning shots into the night. Even if It didn’t hit her, I could at least attempt to try and intimidate her, as foolish as it sounds. I didn't care anymore, I just had to take my chances and pray to god and heaven I don’t trip. If I stayed there even for a minute longer I'm not sure if I would be here today writing this. I ran for what felt like a mile until I was hopefully out of earshot. I swear on my grandmother’s grave as I was running I heard screeching coming behind me. I knew damn well that wasn’t an animal that made that sound, and I didn’t want to stick around and wait to hear her getting closer. If I didn’t do something fast she would have probably grabbed my arm or leg and did god knows what with me. I was under the impression if I ran far enough I could potentially reach an edge of the woods. I was dead wrong.

I started to get tired so I tried to jump into a nearby large bush as a hiding spot. I was low on options so I had to jump and pray, only to find out there was a hill right behind it. I dropped my gun and fell and started rolling like a rock being kicked off a mountain cliff. It hurt like a son of a bitch but it was my best chance at getting away from her somehow. Thankfully when I fell onto a wet surface and survived with only a few bruises and cuts. It didn’t take long at all for me to realize I didn’t just land in a muddy puddle, but a whole swamp. I couldn’t bring myself to care about getting dirty. My top priority was surviving and hopefully getting some answers. My pistol thankfully didn’t land in a way where I wouldn’t be able to see it. The butt of the pistol was close to the surface, meaning the swamp wasn’t that deep either. I pulled it and myself out of the water and resumed walking.

“Hopefully I got that German hag off my ass now..” I muttered to myself while wiping off my night gear with my shirt, as well as some of the blood off my arms and legs. For obvious reasons, I was on my toes and made sure not to walk slow. Once again I was alone in silence in the forest and it was deafening. Not a single creature could be heard or seen for some strange reason. No crickets. No frogs. No owls. Not even any wolves howling at the moon. And …now that I think about it, when I looked up to the sky while walking, I didn’t see anything. There weren’t any stars showing. And the moon was completely and utterly absent. Not even a shred of moonlight behind a cloud... I didn't feel like I was staring into the sky at all. It felt like I was staring into the abyss. As creepy as it is, I didn't want to think too much about it so I moved on. I’m not sure if it was a hallucination or some kind of trick that hag pulled.

I started to fill a chill run down my neck as I got farther and farther from the swamp. When I looked back for a moment, a strong sense of urgency kicked in and I knew exactly why. The fog was starting to come in. If there’s one thing I’m damn sure of, it’s that.the fog I saw wasn’t native to it. I turned my body to face it for a moment and before I knew it, the swamp was barely visible. The fog had consumed it. “She” was close. The worst part is I wasn’t even able to hear her footsteps despite the dead of night and I had a good feeling why. I didn’t want to waste any ammo because there was a 50/50 chance it would miss and she’d charge at me after she hears it. If I were to survive being hunted by this woman, I’d need to try and play my cards right. One wrong move and I’m dead.

At first I came to the conclusion she was scouring the swamp to look for my body. That was until the fog started to overtake my surroundings as well. And I immediately knew what she was doing. She realized I was able to see in the dark, so now she was trying to make sure I couldn’t see anything at all. Using all my leg power I sprinted as far as I could from the pathway and get out of the fog. I was starting to feel violently sick. It was no surprise that running through cold air would make me nauseous. The immediate sound of branches breaking and falling like rocks behind me made it clear that this woman’s patience was running thin.

I’ve only seen things like this happen in horror movies and some of my nightmares when i still believed in the boogieman as a little girl. I’ve dealt with a number of dangerous individuals during my time on the force but not one of them compares to the terror this monster inflicted on me and God knows how many other children for years in Germany. I’ve always been a skeptic on the existence of monsters and denied the legitimacy of magic. That was a grave mistake. My worst nightmares had come to life.

As if God answered my prayers, something came into view. Something… familiar. It looked to be a pathway to an abandoned rundown village that looked to be almost entirely consumed by the forest. The torches that lit up the pathway glowed a burning mixture of blue and purple. More than half the homes I saw seemed to have been destroyed while some were wrapped in mother nature's rooted clutches. Was this Alexander's home? Börfink? Did.. did she drag him and everyone in his village into some otherworldly-like realm set up as their own personal hell? Was this some twisted imitation of their home made to mock their suffering? This must've been done to make sure their chances of salvation were less than 0.

I charged into the first wooden door I came across and slammed it with all my might and hid next to the window in the shadows. Like a bat out of hell, she appeared on the pathway to the village almost instantaneously. I was barely even able to register what happened and covered my mouth to muffle my own screams. She had to have been flying at the speed equivalent to that of a cannonball being shot.

To my misfortune, I was able to get a better look of the woman that had been toying with me. I saw her slowly walk into view and… dear god.. her face was.. grotesque. Just thinking about it to this day still makes my skin crawl. She looked like a walking corpse. Her hair was a blend of gray and burgundy. It looked as if she had been using blood to dye her hair for centuries. Her teeth were so gray I almost thought they were made of stone. I'm not even sure if those were her real teeth or if she ripped them from her victims' corpses. Her skin was so pale and wrinkly that It would make a dried white raisin blush. And her eyes.. christ. Her small indigo pupils glew bright like a match being lit. They were like tiny dots floating in a void of nothingness. Her hands barely even looked like hands. They looked cryptic and the overgrown nails made them look like claws.

"Jesus christ…" I said under my breath, while doing all I could to make sure I wouldn't vomit on the spot from sheer disgust. Not taking any chances, I ducked under the window and prayed.

I had a good feeling she knew I was hiding because a moment later I heard cackling coming from outside. I heard her speak in an eerily calm tone. There was no doubt it was her voice. .

"Verstehe... du willst mit mir "verstecken" spielen, sterblicher?" She said in an amused tone. Her voice was decrepit yet menacing. "...I have not played this “game” in a very long time.. I hope you keep this interesting for me, detective" I didn't see her face but I had a good feeling she was grinning like a maniac and was enjoying every second of this. I heard her run past the building like a wolf after its latest prey. With a sigh of relief I slowly got off the ground and rest for a brief moment. My heart was beating so fast I swear it was going to burst out of my chest. I didn’t really know what to do next. It was only a matter of time before she barges in and comes for me.

A part of me wanted to just lie down and wait for the inevitable, while the other told me to calm down and think of a strategy. The latter part won. After some time thinking it over, I decided there was only one way to settle this once and for all.

I decided that I was going to try and burn the witch. If I couldn't escape from this realm, I could at least try to make sure she never hurts anyone ever again. Especially my family.

This ends here.