INTRODUCTION BEFORE THE MAIN STORY
The legend of the Skinwalker deeply comes up from the roots of Navajo culture, in the Southwestern United States, particularly in regions like Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.
It is one of the most terrifying and respected legends in Native American folklore.
A Skinwalker, or yee naaldlooshii in the Navajo language, is believed to be a witch with the ability of shapeshifting into different kinds of animals, such as wolves, coyotes, owls, or even humans just by wearing their skin.
This creature is said to possess supernatural speed, strength, and the very scary ability to mimic human voices in order to deceive its targets and victims.
According to the legend, Skinwalkers are individuals who gained their dark powers through evil acts, such as the murdering their own family member.
Once they get this evil status, they can transform at will and use their abilities to harm others.
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Monument Valley of Arizona was blistering in heat as I threw my hands in the air, the wind kissing my fingertips and playing with my hair above the open roof of the convertible car.
It was bliss.
I'd just finished my last semester's exams and decided to take a road trip with three of my friends----- Ethan, Rachel, and Miguel.
Since school was over, we wanted something quiet, raw and beautiful, something... far from the city.
And we found it all right, so right now we were heading there.
The drive was a long one with endless stretches of flat red dirt, cacti, and sun- baked air along the way.
Hell, I even got to see a mirage close up.
Right now, we were listening to music, laughing, and teasing Ethan who was the one driving about his fear of spiders.
Then suddenly we saw a wooden sign half- buried in the sand.
"Coyote Ridge Campground – 2 Miles." Miguel drawled out.
"That's a really freakish name," Rachel added.
I giggled, placing my hand on the tip windscreen and leaning down to take a look at my friend's faces as I suggested;
"Let's camp there."
Ethan frowned, "That's not where we planned------"
"Don't be a kill joy now, buddy," Miguel said slapping his shoulders lightly.
So Ethan muttered, "Okay."
So we went there, and the remaining road leading to the place rough, rougher than the earlier road was.
It was so bad that it made the car rattle non stop and our teeth clack wildly.
When we finally arrived, there was nothing but a dry clearing surrounded by boulders and scrub.
There were no rangers around, no campers, and just silence and heat.
Miguel grinned at this. "Perfect. No neighbors to complain about the music. This is even better than where we'd planned to go."
"Absolutely," Rachel said smiling, and I agreed but Ethan stayed silent.
We pitched our tents, lit a fire, cooked canned beans and watched the sun begin to sink behind the cliffs, causing the desert to turn blood- red, then purple, then finally black.
Music and dancing had never been more fun for us.
Suddenly there was a howl, it sounded very faint at first, but soon, it grew louder.
Rachel shivered. "Please tell me that's a coyote."
Miguel shrugged and tossed another log into the fire. "It probably is. Relax."
But Ethan frowned. "That didn't sound like a coyote."
Honestly he was right, the sound was too long to call it a coyote.
But not wanting to ruin our night, I didn't say anything.
Shaking my head, I reached for my bag. "Who wants some roasted marshmallow?"
That got their attention, and even Ethan excited helped begin tearing the packed marshmallow and fitting them on little twigs.
Soon all four of us were sitting in a circle, holding long twigs with the white marshmallowed end stuck in the fire.
"I can't wait to eat," Ethan said, and Miguel chuckled.
"Same here man."
"This smells so delicious. Are there more left?" Rachel asked turning to me, and I nodded.
"Yeah in my bag, let me get them."
Turning I reached for my bag only to hear rustling from behind the rocks.
Wondering what it was, I stretched my hand and grabbed a twig which had a marshmallow that was burning with fire at the end.
Then I pointed it towards where the rocks were, and caught a glimpse of... something tall and lean, crouching very low to the ground.
"Did you guys see that?" I whispered, turning to my friends.
Miguel laughed, biting into his cooled cooked marshmallow and talking with his mouth full.
"See what?"
"Just look it------"
I turned back but it wasn't there.
Rachel sighed and rubbing the back of my neck gently.
"Maybe you're stressed-------"
"You didn't even ask what I saw," I interjected.
"What did you see?" Miguel asked and I paused, looking about me.
All of them were staring at me with worry.
Come to think of it, I don't even know what I saw,... and yet I was bothering them.
Urgh, this wasn't good, I didn't want to mess up our camping today and we still had one more road trip tomorrow.
I didn't want to start causing an alarm for nothing.
So I shook my head, "Nothing, I'm just tired. Let me just ease myself." I said getting up.
"Me too, wait for me," Rachel said getting up as well and following me out of sight near some rocks where we pulled our shorts down to relieve ourselves.
"Are you okay?" She asked as I finally stood up.
No I wasn't.
"Mmmhm yeah," I replied.
"I probably just need some sleep."
"Okay, I'm back before Miguel eats my marshmallow."
I nodded, "Sure go ahead."
Watching her retreating figure, the slight smile that had been on my lips dropped.
I was very worried; what was that I'd seen moments ago?
I'm sure I hadn't imagined it.
At this point, sleep wasn't what I i needed, I wanted to check out that thing I saw.
Could possibly have been a deer?
I wasn't sure, the light from the burning marshmallow had been so dull that all I'd been able to see was the shadow like figure of that thing.
Trudging forward, I whipped out my phone from my pocket and turned on the flashlight, going towards the particular rock I thought I saw that thing at.
However there was nothing there, but...
I looked down to check for any paw prints or something, but there were no deer tracks in the sand instead there was...
Bare... human feet??
I was confused.
I'd chosen this place on impulse because I'd thought that no one would be hear.
But even at that couldn't the person just have said 'hi' instead spooking me out?
When I came back to the camp, I didn't tell the others what I saw, and just went straight into my tent, ignoring Rachel who I could only vaguely hear ask me what had taken me so long to get back.
Night time came, but I couldn't sleep.
The wind rattled my tent and somewhere far off I swear I could hear footsteps crunching over gravel and sandy stones.
It sounded so soft and careful that I almost didn't hear it, and almost didn't realise when it stopped right outside my tent.
"Ethan?" I called in a whisper.
But he didn't answer.
Instead the zipper started twitching slightly.
Why was he brushing his fingers over my tent? This was mine not his.
... Or had I mixed it up?
Just as I was thinking, a voice reached ears.
"Hey… open up."
My brows furrowed, "Rachel?"
That was her voice, but why was she sounding like that?
I mean, flat and... dull.
Rachel's voice is usually chippy.
"Come out, please," her voice said again, dragging the words over in a drawl.
"What's going on?" I asked, still not making any move to stand up or open my tent.
For some reasons I was weirded out; Rachel's tent was on the right side of the camp, so why did I hear her footsteps come from the left?
And she was a loud walker too, always tripping on everything and nothing, yet this person's footsteps were quiet.
I was confused and creeped out.
"Hey," She called again, but I didn't move.
Instead I just lay there, holding my breath until I slept off again.
---
"I swear someone was walking around last night," Ethan said, his eyes bloodshot when we gathered around the dead fireplace for our camp.
"I heard my name being called."
Rachel nodded. "Same. It sounded like you, Mia. Why were you up that late? I thought you said you were tired."
"I didn't call you last night," I told her, skipping out the fact that I also heard her voice.
"Well then who did, because when I looked out, nobody was there."
"Guys, guys come on." Miguel said spreading his hands.
"What are y'all thinking? Highest it could have been is locals trying to scare tourists."
Ethan ran a hand over his face, "Well it's not funny. I couldn't sleep at all; how am I supposed to drive us around today."
"We'll take turns. I didn't get much of a sleep either," Miguel offered with a shrug, and Ethan scowled at him.
"Yeah because you were fucking Ra-----"
His sentence got cut off as Miguel slapped him at the back of his head and Rachel threw a water bottle at him.
I rolled my eyes.
Did they seriously think I and Ethan didn't notice?
"So uh... let's pack our things!" Rachel gushed out and passing out bags to us, trying to take our attention away from the obvious fact that Miguel fucked her in her tent last night.
I roll my eyes again; I have no intention on asking her for details... until we're back in the city that is (hehe).
We finish packing up, and bundle up into the car, but Ethan went to wheel and started the car it sputtered for some seconds then stopped.
"What the hell?" Ethan grimace as he tried again still it was the same thing.
"Don't tell me you didn't fill it with fuel before we started out yesterday." I say giving him a side glance.
"Of course I did, wait let me check the engine. Miguel help me out here."
After saying that, he unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car with Miguel following him.
I and Rachel stayed in the car though, I don't know about her, but honestly I was too tired to step out.
Besides they'll start the car soon.
The car's hood was raised up for quite a while till suddenly Miguel cursed, kicking the tire.
"The battery's fine. It just won't start."
Startled by the statement, I scrambled to get out of the car, barely hearing Rachel walking after me after walk up to the front of the car.
"What'd you mean it won't start?"
"It means it won't start," Ethan told me plainly.
I let out a shocked scoff.
What were we supposed to do now.
I bit my lip, looking up at the sky in frustration.
"Hey, it's okay," Ethan said, placing his hand gently on my right shoulder to comfort me.
"We'll find a way to continue the road trip."
"Fuck the road trip," I literally groaned.
The thought of staying stranded here for days wasn't a good one; right now I just wanted to go home.
Slowly Ethan let go of my shoulder and let of a small sigh.
'How big was the problem anyway?' I thought turning to look inside the car's hood.
I wasn't that much of a car know it, but I wanted at least look at the state of the car.
However I hadn't voiced my thoughts out, so Miguel closed the car's hood.
That's when I noticed that the top of the hood was smeared with... handprints.
... long and muddy, long- fingered handprints that dragged downward.
"What the fuck?" Miguel muttered, while Ethan shook his head and went back into the car.
Rachel on her own path backed away from the car's hood. "Guy let's walk, the highway's not that far from here anyway."
"We're doing just that," Ethan replied and slung his backpack over his shoulder.
"I'll call a tow truck later."
So that was it, the rest of us grabbed our own backpacks and started down the dirt trail.
But what Rachel described as 'not that far from here' turned out to be farther than we'd thought.
The sun beat down on us mercilessly, and the mini desert seemed to stretched endlessly in every direction; the only good advantage we had at this point was we still knew the right way back.
And so we kept walking, then suddenly Rachel tripped on nothing and fell to the hot soil.
"Owwww," She groaned, and we all stopped as Miguel reached to help her up to stand on her feet.
"Jesus!"
"Fuck!!"
"Christ!!!"
"Mother fucker!!!!"
The four of us screamed as we all saw the figure that was crawling out from behind a small rock which was close to Rachel's leg and was now holding her by her right ankle.