“What’s your fucking deal, pal!?” I finally yelled.
I tried to sound boisterous and angry, hoping it would scare the kid off. But the young man merely twiddled his fingers in front of his mouth, reminding me of a menacing child, and proceeded to laugh with a girlish chuckle. It was enough to make me stop pretending to be tough and just run. I turned and sprinted for the bridge, letting my feet pound across the wooden boards. Each stride brought me further across the slow-moving river, and into the sight of the parking lot. I ran clear across the bridge, not stopping until my feet were slapping against cement.
I told myself that this had to be some kind of dumb, millennial joke. It was for some internet video channel, right? Turning around I expected some spikey haired, muscle-bound idiot to come jogging down the bridge toward me, holding a camera in one hand and laughing obnoxiously as he announced that it was all “Just a prank, bro!” I wished it ended like that, but in the tranquility of nature there was no one else but him.
The young man didn’t chase after me, but he was still in sight. He stood, stolid, at the other end of the bridge as he watched me. There was a distance of about fifty yards between us. I couldn’t see the veiny whites around his black eyes, but I could definitely see the scowl he still protruded out at me.
After nearly a minute of stillness he finally moved – running his sleeve across his mouth once more. His hand then lowered back down to his waist, flicking his fingers quickly. Suddenly he snarled incoherently, sprinting across the bridge after me.
I ran toward my truck without any more hesitation. I ran so fast that I ended up stumbling right up to the driver’s side and slamming my hip into the door (a dent that vehicle still carries). My fingers frantically fiddled with the keys, dragging them from my front pocket. I didn’t realize how shaken I was by the whole encounter until they fell from my trembling hands.
“Really?!” I yelled.
Of all the bad clichés, I had to get butterfingers in the worst time possible moment.
I snatched them up with intensity, squeezing them so tightly into my palm that I almost drew blood. I proceeded to slide them into the door, and was about to unlock it when I paused once more. A soft wind passed through the trees, and the calmness of nature washed over me. There were no pursuing footsteps from the young man, no pounding of the wood boards as he attempted to get to the other side.
Glancing over my shoulder once more, I saw him again.
He stood on all fours, kneeling upon the midway point on the bridge. Through the old, iron crossbars that ran under the railing his vacant eyes peeked through the spaces. More girlish laughter fell from his mouth, as if he was genuinely satisfied from tormenting me. Rolling out his pinkish-gray tongue he deeply licked the old metal, evoking a slithering sound from his mouth. My skin ran with goosebumps from hearing the itching sound of a slimy tongue lapping across the grainy bars.
Resting back on his hands and knees, and putting his backside against his heels, the young man barked at me. When I failed to respond to him he threw his head back, unleashing an ungodly wail until his voice cut out. His head pivoted forward, snorted in some air through his mouth, and he began to crawl on all fours. The young man wriggled faster than any seasoned infant.
I was already in the car by the time he neared the end of the bridge, and I peeled out just as he stood erect. My getaway didn’t stop the young man, who charged after my car as he screamed and wildly flailed his arms about. I hit the gas pedal all the way down, my motor roaring. Looking through the rearview mirror my heart only palpitated more, though luckily his erratically moving body was growing smaller and smaller. Even then he still continued to chase after me, and I eventually lost sight of him as the road began to curve.
The shadows of willows washed over the interior of my car; my whole body shook, and I panted rapidly. I tried to decipher what exactly I just experienced, and by reflex I turned the radio dial that was tuned in on a local station.
Fate made it all known at that moment when a stern voice broke through the speakers:
Warning: This is a Public Emergency Announcement for the Fox River Valley. Authorities are in the process of locating a patient that was in transport to the Northern Illinois Hospital of Behavioral Health. The patient is a white male, in his early twenties with long, black hair, dark eyes, and unkempt clothing. If seen, please contact your local authorities and do not approach. He is considered extremely dangerous to himself and others. This message will repeat in fifteen minutes. Now back to your regular broadcasting.
It was in that very moment that I knew: humanity’s greatest fear, within the 21st century and beyond, is not that of the unknown. Humanity’s greatest fear is the ravenous animal that lingers within us all, and those, whom either by choice or illness, thought or empathy, are willing to embrace it. In the end we’re no more civilized than any other apex predator – we’re just better at hiding it.
You still might disagree with me on that assurance, but at least you now understand.
Evan M.
