I had too much to drink but I was still

driving myself home to be with Melissa and the kids,

not that they'd notice me.

Things just hadn't been working out for me lately

and I'd seen the bottom of too many beer bottles that night.

I drove the back way home in an effort to avoid any cops.

That was a bad decision.

The rain was heavy

and the winding mountain roads were slippery.

Then suddenly, I took the sharp turn too quickly

when this hitchhiker appeared out of nowhere.

I only had a split second to make a decision.

Swerve off the cliff side to avoid hitting the hitchhiker,

or pray that my brakes could save us both before

(car crashing)

I had another decision to make.

Do the right thing, call the cops,

and get slapped with vehicular manslaughter,

or save my career and my marriage.

I pushed the hitchhiker's corpse off the cliff side

and drove away, promising myself to forget about that night.

But that was two weeks ago.

The drinking had gotten worse.

I hadn't slept in days and Melissa knew something was off

but the only proof of my accident

was this crescent shaped scar that had appeared on my hand.

The images of the hitchhiker

caught in my headlights haunted me.

I took a swig from the flask

I had tucked under my driver's seat.

Yeah.

I learned nothing that night.

I was parked in front of a burned out house

in the town of Harbor.

It was my assignment for the day.

I'm an insurance claims agent.

All the more reason to drink, right?

I took another Harvey swig, grabbed my clipboard,

and went to inspect the home.

A glamorous life, I know.

The job was simple.

Walk through the house, snap a few photos,

keep notes on anything unusual.

But nothing unusual ever happened on the job.

Until today.

I was somewhere in the middle of the house,

scribbling down some thoughts about a snapped beam

when I heard a loud thud.

(car crashing)

The thud sounded exactly like my car hitting the hitchhiker

but nobody was supposed to be within 50 feet of the house.

It was taped off with warning signs

covering every entrance onto the property.

I looked around, trying to catch sight of the trespasser

but it was difficult to see anything

a few feet beyond where I stood.

There was a glimpse of polished black shoes

that stepped out of sight the second I laid eyes on them.

I couldn't explain why, but I felt a chill pass through me.

I tried to muster up some form of bravado in my voice.

Is someone there?

This is a closed site, I called out, and listened.

Just more slow, deliberate footsteps

on the crushed rocks surrounding the house.

Hello?

Still no response, but at that moment,

a figure stepped into view directly in front of me

at the other end of the house.

My blood went cold.

The face that stared at me wasn't a face.

It wasn't human at all.

It was a massive white waxy flesh.

An eyeless head with a gaping mouth that leered at me.

I couldn't define it but in that moment,

I knew whatever the hell this thing was, it was here for me.

The Looksy.

An image came into my brain.

A warped memory of my accident,

but this time, the corpse of the hitchhiker

was on his feet, stumbling towards me,

his broken jaw rasping out a stuttered phrase.

- If you yourself can not release,

then it will come to take a piece.

The homeless man lunged at me.

A terrible shriek coming from him

as I snapped back to the present.

Back to the Looksy.

It beckoned me, but I was frozen with terror,

unable to move.

He began to shuffle, slowly coming for me.

And there was that memory again

of a rotting hitchhiker stalking around,

reaching for me.

Why couldn't I force it from my mind?

A new sound interrupted my horror.

Something off to the side.

My eyes flickered over to a shattered window

praying that help was coming

but all I caught was a flash of brown rags,

something hurrying around the house.

The Looksy snarled, as if a (mumbles) threatening its haunt,

rushing to meet the threat.

The two beasts slammed into one another,

outside of my view.

All I could see was glimpses, picking up dust,

their ugly snarls and growls snapping at each other,

rattling the frame of the house as they bodied each other.

I panicked.

Spotting a narrow path that led to

the opposite side of the property

hoping, maybe, there was a way I could escape,

whatever the hell was going on.

I willed my legs to move, scurrying as fast as I could

for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Then suddenly, it was quiet.

I couldn't hear either of them and that terrified me.

I froze, trying to figure out what I should do

when a jagged spear of wood whipped from behind me

ripping through my shoulder and pinning me to the wall.

I screamed in pain, struggling to get free

but, I knew it didn't matter.

Help wasn't coming and I wasn't getting out of there alive.

I never should have survived the car accident

and this was fate catching up with me.

I whimpered in pain, trying to see where they were

finally realizing they had me trapped.

The Looksy was standing outside the house

waiting for me with a twisted smile

and the ragged loping thing was right behind me

breathing on me.

I knew that the (mumbles) had come to finish

what the tree branch had started.

The hunk of wood was yanked out of me,

dropping me back to the ground.

I groaned as blood pulled beneath me

staining the floor black.

I closed me eyes, accepting what was coming

as the wooden spear jabbed down again,

this time dead center in my back, erupting through my chest.

It was already dark in that burned out house

but it was getting darker by the moment.

The life pulsing out of me with each beat of my dying heart.

The last thing I heard were the footsteps

of the Looksy as it approached me.

Its yellow, sharpened teeth

closing around the back of my neck with a sickening crunch.

I looked down to my hand.

The crescent shape scar was growing,

slowly turning into a circle, completing itself

until finally, everything went black once and for all.