It’s always been one of my biggest fears as a parent to get a sudden phone call from my kid in the middle of the night. The type that causes you to lurch awake in a panic when you see their name illuminate on the phone screen, and last week I experienced that for the first time. It was by far one of the most horrifying nights of my life.

It’s obviously no secret that kids like to party in high school. I did it plenty myself and I’m sure I gave my parents a lot of sleepless nights when I was growing up, and now I guess it’s my kids turn to return the favor.

My son just started his junior year of high school and there have been a few incidents in regards to him being at parties, coming home drunk or stoned and getting a few tickets from the police. He’s a good kid though, and has thankfully never been in serious trouble, and hopefully things will remain that way. I’ve been stern with him, but I also understand that this is pretty normal behavior for teenagers.

My daughter is a freshman in high school this year and up until now has remained relatively clean in terms of the usual high schooler antics. My wife and I of course don’t condone underage drinking or partying, but we know it’s likely going to happen regardless of what we say. We both agreed long ago that we would always do our best to educate our kids on the dangers and try our best to influence them away from that lifestyle.

I’ve had numerous talks with both my son and daughter about this, and made sure to reiterate that I don’t want them partying, but I’m not able to control their entire lives either. My request that I have repeated ad nauseam to them, is that if ever they are in danger or in an unsure situation to please call me. I don’t care what time it is or where they are, I will go pick them up, no questions asked and no grudges held. Better that than them getting into the car with some underage drunk driver or something, because we’ve all heard the horror stories of people’s lives being forever changed by one stupid decision.

My son has never once taken me up on that offer, and I hope that means he’s been responsible. Until last week my daughter hadn’t either, but I’m glad she did, even though it ended up being one of the most terrifying nights of our lives.

My phone began to blare loudly on my side table, stirring me from a deep sleep. With a stark sudden nervousness, I leaned over and silenced the annoying tone, glimpsing with the pirate-eye stare at my bright phone. The name ‘Amelia’ illuminated brightly on my screen, and immediately my heart sank. It was just past 2am, and everyone knows nothing good ever happens that late at night.

“Hello?”

“Dad? Hey I’m sorry to call so late…”

“No no… it’s fine honey, what’s up? Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine umm… we were driving home and my friend’s car broke down. Is there any way you could come pick us up?”

My heart breathed a small sigh of relief then and I tried to gather my mind. I told her I would of course come and get her, and over the next few minutes she described her location as I got myself dressed. She was a good half-an-hour drive away, and basically just on the side of a rural stretch of road. She didn’t mention what exactly they were doing out there, and in the moment, it didn’t cross my mind to ask.

I pulled my truck out the complex maybe 10 minutes later, and texted Amelia that I was on my way. Thankfully the roads were clear at 2am and I was well on my way to her in no time making much better time the drive would’ve normally taken me. Only then did I start to realize they probably could’ve just called roadside assistance and requested service. Would’ve saved me a long drive on a work night, but after all, I’d always told Amelia to call me if she needed help and I’m glad she did.

After entering the highway, I felt my phone begin to buzz in my pocket. I pulled it out and once again saw an incoming call from Amelia.

“Dad… are you almost here?” She spoke suddenly as I answered, a distinct nervousness obvious in her voice.

“Yeah, about 10 minutes out… is everything okay?” She paused on the other end of the line. I heard one of her friends say something in the background but I couldn’t decipher what it was.

“Dad… there’s somebody out here.”

“There he is… down by that post.” Another girl spoke form the other end.

“What do you mean? Is someone threatening you?” I heard them whisper on the other end of the line as I feverishly anticipated a response.

“Dad… something’s wrong.” The line then abruptly cut out. I glanced out my phone to see that the call had failed. After trying and failing several times to call her back I eventually gave up due to lack of service. My heart was throbbing in my chest, and an increased desperation caused me to stomp down harder on the gas pedal. A few minutes later and my phone began to buzz in the center console once again, and once again it was Amelia.

“Hello? Amelia are you there?”

“Dad… something’s wrong.”

“I’m almost there Amelia hold on, are you safe? What’s going on?” There was no response from the other end of the line. Some times when I have bad reception people can call me and speak but they can’t hear me respond. I figured that’s what was happening, until she spoke again.

“Dad… something’s wrong.” A felt a wave of chills roll down my spine as I heard it. Something about the situation really had me unnerved then. The way Amelia spoke, it was like the same every single time, almost like it was a recording.

The area she had told me they were located was about fifteen minutes away from the nearest town on the way to a patch of wilderness. A lot of people go there for camping and whatnot, but the roads were near empty that night. Endless rows of trees lined either side of the road and a cold sweat dampened my brow as stomped on the gas pedal.

Finally, as I rounded a bend in the road a few minutes later I spotted something up ahead. A lone Subaru Outback on the opposing side of the road. As I got near, I squinted to see better, but saw no one inside. I was fairly certain that was one of Amelia’s friends’ cars and since I hadn’t seen any others, I figured it had to be them. I pulled my truck up behind it, and my headlights beamed through the back window, but I saw no one inside of it.

“Amelia?” I called out from my window, but got no response. I killed my engine then, grabbing my Glock 19 from under the seat and stashing it in the back of my pants. The chilly air gnawed against my skin as I stepped out into the road. An eerie silence subsumed me as I glanced around the environment.

The back-left tire on the Outback was completely flat, and I figured that’s why Amelia had called. I hoped that’s all it was, but the fact she wasn’t there distressed me greatly.

“Amelia?” I called out, hearing my own voice slash through the dense, silent night. I checked my phone again, but found it was displaying the ‘searching’ message in place of the bars. The inside of the car was empty when I looked through it, and I shuddered to imagine what could’ve possibly possessed them to leave their car. None of the possible answers I concluded were good.

I called out to her a few more times as I searched around the area, but never got a response. On the side of the road, I noticed something laying in the wild grass. As I got closer, I realized it was a purse with a bunch of items spilled out of it. I didn’t think it as one of Amelia’s, but it was obviously not a good sign.

“Amelia?” I screamed the name at the top of my lungs, but again there was no response. Something was very wrong about the situation. It felt like I was being watched, but that could’ve just been my growing apprehension.

The discarded purse clearly indicated that whoever it belonged to probably went out into the woods. I knew what I had to do, but the fear that overcame me when I considered going into those woods was among the strongest I’ve ever felt. Every self-preservation in me was screaming for me to not go into those woods, but my little girl was out there, and fleeing was not an option.

I made my way to the tree line and entered the woods. The only light I had on me was my phone’s flashlight, and it wasn’t much. It was at least better than making calls though, and surely better than nothing.

Each step I took seemed to crash like thunder when contrasted with the eerily silent night. Each dried leaf like a glass vase shattering on impact and I did my best to move as quietly and efficiently as possible. The Glock remained in my right hand at all times, and my head on a shivering swivel as I persevered onward.

In the distance I started to hear the sounds of trickling water. There was nothing really indicative of anyone having been in there so I decided to just go towards it. I thought maybe one of them was bleeding and went to the water to wash off a cut or something even though that’d be a terrible idea. By that point I was just internally scrambling for answers or any sort of clue I could find.

A minute later and I stumbled into a small clearing and found the brook I’d heard earlier. The small stream extended in a wavering path both directions with thick foliage covering much of the bank. On the other side was a small incline which led deeper into the woods, but once again there was no immediate signs that anyone had been out there.

I really started to panic then, but calling out seemed like a worse idea every time I did it. At the same time, I had to do something. My mind just wouldn’t stop racing about some lunatic serial killer or human trafficker; every father’s worst nightmare.

After a few moments I finally decided to turn around and head back towards the road. As I veered back, I stepped by the bank and was able to see around the small bend in the creek. On the other side of an angled tree, I saw something that made me nearly jump out of my skin. Someone was crouching there on the edge of the stream.

It was a young woman with dark hair dressed in a hoodie and blue jeans. As I lifted the light towards her, I realized I recognized her.

“Natasha… Natasha hey can you hear me? Are you alright?” She didn’t react at all as I made my way over to her. She was just crouched there in a sitting fetal position staring up the incline on the opposing side of the stream.

“Natasha hey, it’s Amelia’s dad. Are you okay? Where is Amelia?” Natasha again didn’t react in any way. As I finally shined the light on her face, I just saw her staring emotionless. She didn’t even look at me Her eyes were like saucers, dilated so heavily that no color was visible. Considering it was night that wasn’t entirely strange on it’s own, but was what strange is that I noticed her pupils didn’t shrink at all when I shined the light on her.

“Natasha…” I put my hand on her shoulder, but again got no reaction. I could tell she was breathing, but clearly she wasn’t all there. She seemed entirely catatonic, like she was trapped in some sort of hypnotic state.

I shook her by the shoulder, called her name and even flicked water on her from the stream but she didn’t react in any way whatsoever. It was really unnerving, but selfishly I was still more worried about Amelia.

I thought about just letting her wait there and return for her as she obviously wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but the sordid idea occurred that it may be too late for Amelia. The thought alone nearly crippled me from the horrific contemplation, but I knew I could at least get one girl out.

I wrapped my arms around Natasha and lifted her off the ground. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and she maintained that as I lifted her into my arms. Her skin was cold to the touch, and with her locked position it almost gave the impression that she was frozen stiff. Thankfully Natasha is rather small so I was able to carry her back towards the road with little issue.

A minute or two later I got back to my truck and placed Natasha in the back seat. Her utterly silent demeanor and complete lack of reaction had really started to worry me. Just to be sure I felt her pulse on her neck, and as I anticipated it was there, feeling pretty much normal.

After loading her in the truck I locked it and resumed my search for Amelia. It was then I noticed that the back left tire on the Outback was not only flat, but absolutely shredded. It looked like it had been flat but they continued driving on it for several miles. The tread was torn open revealing the silver rim underneath.

As I was inspecting it, I suddenly thought I saw something underneath the car. As I leaned down, I once again got a huge jump scare.

“Amelia… Amelia are you okay?” There she was, lying prone underneath the car. Like Natasha she was unresponsive no matter how many questions I asked her. I could see her back moving rhythmically up and down so I knew she was breathing. Her eyes were pinned open wide, and like Natasha her pupils were like saucers.

I had to basically drag her out from underneath the car, all the while she didn’t react in any way whatsoever. She too just appeared in this dazed state, like she was thankfully still alive but not fully conscious. I’ve never seen anything like that with her or anyone else before.

As soon as she was out from under the car she suddenly lurched and wrapped herself into the fetal position. It startled me greatly and I thought it meant she was back to normal, but after questioning her again I still got no reaction. Thankfully that made it much easier to carry her and I got her loaded into the truck as well. Natasha still sat there as she had before, and the sight of both of them curled up and unresponsive like that really chilled my veins.

As I rounded the back of my truck I then came upon an incredibly worrying discovery. The back left tire on my truck was suddenly flat as well. A few dozen curse words slipped liberally from my lips as I debated my options. Unfortunately, the jack was underneath the back seat where Amelia and Natasha were.

I spun back, eyeing the opposing side of the road and the foreboding and unwavering tree line. Someone was messing with me, and I prayed that’s all they were doing. Considering the state of both Amelia and Natasha however, that didn’t seem very likely.

As I began retrieving the jack and lowering tool rom underneath the seat, something suddenly caused me to freeze dead in my tracks. I don’t how to explain it, but every single hair on the back of my neck stood up at once, and a wave of chills rolled down my spine. My knees shook and heart thundered in my chest.

It was like some forlorn sixth sense buried deep within me suddenly sensed danger, but ‘danger’ isn’t even a strong enough word for it. It was this utterly hopeless, paralyzing sense of impending doom with corporeal manifestations. Like some ominous presence was enough to rattle me to my very core, and it was so unfathomably consuming that even the fight or flight response ceased being an option. I was just entirely stricken by terror, like some primal instinct deep within me had suddenly reawakened and set off all the alarm bells at once.

I’d been anxious the whole time I’d been there considering the circumstance, but it was nothing compared to that horrendous sense of crippling fear. I glanced franticly around the vicinity, but nothing appeared immediately wrong. Nothing I could see that is. I really wish I had the words to properly convey the feeling, but at the same time I don’t, because I truly hope no one ever has to experience that feeling.

“Dad…” Amelia’s voice suddenly called out, but it wasn’t Amelia who had spoken it. It came from the opposing side of the road. My heart sunk like a lead weight in my chest as I spun back to face the arboreal blockade. I saw nothing, I heard nothing aside from that familiar voice and uncanny tone.

“Dad… something’s wrong.” I didn’t think my heart could sink any lower, but as those words pierced the obsidian night, I was proven wrong yet again. It was Amelia’s voice again, and it was spoken the exact same way I’d last heard it on the phone.

“Dad… something’s wrong.”

“Dad… something’s wrong.”

“Dad… something’s wrong.” The voice seemed to distort the more it repeated. My legs finally resumed function beneath me, and I had seen enough. I just got back into the truck, with my hands trembling so bad that I struggled to hit the push start. Finally, I did and the truck fired back to life.

Outside I heard the voice repeating, but it seemed to change location every time it did. The first few were off the left of us on the opposing side of the road, but then it came from behind me, then up ahead with only a few seconds interval between each repetition.

Branches then snapped over to my left, and something emerged from the woods. Suddenly I felt woozy, lightheaded and like I was about to pass out. My vision swam around me, and it suddenly felt like I’d just shot-gunned a handle of Jack Daniels. It wasn’t like the feeling of being drunk though, it was something far more terrifying than that; like my very sentience was being drained from my body.

The thing emerged fully from the woods, looming like a shadow on the peripheries of my mind. I can’t even begin to describe it, not only because of my extremely blurred state of mind, but because it just feels wrong to do so. The more I stared at it and acknowledged it’s existence the worse it got. It’s like my feeble human mind wasn’t fully capable of comprehending the thing’s my eyes were beholding.

I saw other things in the woods, or at least I think I did. So much of this feels like a dream now it’s crazy to even transcribe it. It’s like I don’t know whether I can even trust my own account of the events anymore. Something was out there though, something truly horrible. I could feel the claws of utter madness scraping against the last frayed remnants of my mind. It’s mere presence alone was threatening to tear me from reality, and send me spiraling into a dazed delirium the likes of which I would never recover from.

Somehow, I managed to move the shifter into drive, and with no regard for the flat tire I slammed my foot down onto the gas pedal. It felt like driving with a fish bowl on my head while being upside down. My reactions and muscle memory were just disoriented beyond belief. I have no doubt I was swerving all over the road worse than Lindsay Lohan after a birthday party, but thankfully there was no one else around.

The tire flapped relentlessly, creating an irritating cacophony and causing my truck to handle terribly which of course only added to the aforementioned difficulties. By some miracle of fate, I managed to keep the truck on the road for a long enough time.

The delirious sensations seemed to lessen the further away I got. After several minutes of driving, I felt mostly back to my normal state of mind. The sigh of relief I breathed than was probably the largest and most cathartic of my life.

A few minutes later and I pulled my shrieking truck into the hospital parking lot. By that point the tire was almost entirely disintegrated off the rim, and I probably ruined my differential but none of that mattered to me. I ran inside the hospital and got some of the staff at the front counter, telling them I had two girls with me that needed help.

The staff followed me out, and I picked up the still-unresponsive Amelia from the back seat. The security guard picked up Natasha and we carried them back inside. The nurses asked me what had happened as we got them into hospital beds, but I didn’t even know what to tell them. I ended up just saying most of what actually happened and that I’d found them in the woods.

The staff eyed me warily, and I could tell they didn’t trust me. I don’t blame them either as I did show up with 2 underage girls in the middle of the night and under very strange circumstances. I doubt they’d ever seen anyone in conditions like that. The girls very much appeared like they’d been drugged, and although I told them I was Amelia’s father I don’t blame them for being suspicious of me.

Even as the police showed up and began questioning me, I forced myself to remain calm for the sake of Amelia. They asked me what had happened and I told them pretty much everything I’ve written here today but in the most rational means I could explain. I told them I thought someone had abducted and drugged them, but I didn’t see who it was. No way they’d ever believe the more worrying details of the experience though.

The cops kept me there in the lobby, not arresting me but not allowing me to go be with Amelia either. Eventually I called my wife and she arrived at the hospital a little while later. I then had to explain everything a third time to her, and she was able to substantiate my claims.

The cops eventually radioed in to their dispatch and requested officers to go and investigate the scene where I’d found Amelia and Natasha. My wife knew something was up with me; she knew I was rattled by the experience. She tried getting me to tell her more when we were alone, but I told her I’d tell her everything later.

One of the nurses came out a little while later and informed us that both girls had been sedated and were now sleeping peacefully. I asked if they had found anything wrong with them, but they said everything was normal as far as they could tell.

My wife went back to see them, but the cops didn’t want me going considering their suspicions. It was annoying, but I’m trying my best to be charitable to their point of view here. I’d much rather cops that took young girls being brought in under mysterious circumstances seriously even if it meant suspecting me. That’s a far better option than them shrugging it off and not much caring about it.

I was exhausted by then, and ended up falling asleep on the lobby’s couch not long after. I had some pretty severe nightmares then, but I can’t consciously remember the details of them now. My wife shook me awake some time later. As I opened my eyes I saw the sun had risen, and the lobby had many other people coming and going.

Finally, I was permitted to go and see Amelia, and thankfully she seemed fully conscious and back to her normal self. The same was true for Natasha whose parents had also showed up to see her. Thankfully, both girls were cleared to return home a few hours later with a full bill of health.

In the following days more details would be added about the case, but unfortunately most of them have just made all of this more difficult to understand. Amelia and Natasha both tested negative for common drugs like roofies used to incapacitate victims. They drug tested me as well, but as expected it also came back negative. There’s always the possibility that they- and even possibly I was drugged with a more exotic substance that is not normally tested for, but up until now there’s no real evidence of that.

On the following morning the cops went and checked out the area where I found the girls. Natasha’s car was still there in virtually the same state I’d found it in. They searched the surrounding woods but weren’t able to find much of relevance. As of now, I’ve been cleared of any wrongdoing in the case, but that doesn’t mean things have been resolved.

The cops questioned me extensively about the night, and I tried to help them in every way I could. I even told them that I thought I’d seen someone approaching my truck as I fled, but stopped short of implying anything beyond that. If you’ve read all of this, then you may be of the same assumption that I am, and came to a similar but far more unbelievable conclusion. There was something unnatural about that night, and although I hesitate to use the word ‘paranormal’, I’m really struggling to find a better word for it.

Amelia has no memory of what happened to her. She’s said that last thing she remembers was Natasha pulling the car over after they got a flat tire. She doesn’t remember crawling under the car, or me carrying her to the truck. Next thing she’s said she actively remembers was waking up in the hospital, and Natasha’s account was pretty much the same.

I’ve had some horrific nightmares these last couple days. Nothing in particular that I can recall, just distorted visions of horrific creatures and people along with violence and suffering that causes me to lurch awake in a cold sweat. Amelia has had them too, and I suspect- though I’m not certain that Natasha has had the same.

I’ll be honest, some of the things Amelia has told me lately really has me worried. She’s said she’s seen things that she knows aren’t there, and heard voices she knows don’t exist. Based on the things she’s mentioned I’m starting to get worried that she may be schizophrenic. She’s never had these issues before that night, and I really hope it isn’t the case.

I don’t have a good explanation for what happened that night, and all the research I’ve done hasn’t helped much. As of now I’m hoping I can just write this event off and move on with my life, but I have horrible feeling that it won’t be so easy. If anyone has any theories about what the hell happened that night, please share them. I am open to any and all potential explanations. One thing I do know, is that whatever it was I saw that night is still out there, and that thought terrifies me more than anything else.