I Went to a Family Reunion Last Week…

I went to a family reunion last week. It’s been happening for almost 100 years now, and the amount of people who attend has dwindled quite a bit. Hundreds of people used to come and now it’s barely 30 people. I have a very large family, and some people I barely even know their relation to me. I don’t really mind going, though — it’s nice to see my family and it’s really important to my grandma that we all go. It happens in a recreational centre in a city that’s relatively close to all of us. There’s a very large parking lot, and next to the parking lot is a small basketball court, a playground, and a shelter.

My brother, parents and I were some of the first few there, as well as my grandparents and my aunt, uncle, and cousin. Everything was already set up inside, so my brother, cousin and I went outside to play some basketball. I had brought a ball in case boredom struck, so we could occupy ourselves for quite some time.

Next to the parking lot there were tons of trees and foliage. There was a hill down to what seemed to be a creek or river — I wasn’t positive, though, because the hill was absolutely covered in tall green grass. There were two bicycles at the top of the hill but since the grass was all tall and nothing was crushed or bent over, it seemed like the bikes had been abandoned; nobody had walked down the hill in a long time.

So we started playing basketball since the reunion didn’t start until everyone was there. It was going by fine enough — none of us were all that good, so we kept missing the net and having to run to get the ball. Eventually, I missed the net and it rolled over to the bicycles. I started walking over to get it. Suddenly, there was a huge gust of wind so intense that it blew the hood on my sweater up over my head. I reached up to pull it back down and for a brief second, couldn’t see anything other than my arms blocking my eyes. When I reached the bikes/where the ball had rolled to, the ball was gone.

I assumed the ball had been blown away from the wind. Still, I couldn’t see any crushed grass or a small split in the grass indicating the ball had rolled through it. I crouched down and took a few more steps forward until I saw a pair of green eyes staring at me. I jumped up and back and felt my heart skip a beat when the ball rolled up to me. There was no wind, no eyes, nothing — the ball just rolled towards me. Were those really eyes? Or was I just seeing things?

“Kyle?” My brother’s voice brought me back to where I was.

“Yeah. Sorry.” I was surprised to hear my voice almost at a whisper. I bent over, picked up the basketball, and dribbled it back to where my brother and cousin were.

“What took you so long?” My cousin asked.

“Did either of you see anything there?” I asked, scared to know their answers.

“Like what?” My brother asked.

“I could have sworn I saw something there.” I said, pointing to the bicycles at the top of the hill.

“The bikes?” My cousin said, laughing. I shrugged it off. Maybe I *was* just seeing things.

We kept playing until I missed the net again. The ball rolled to another spot, thankfully away from the bikes, but still into the grass. I went to get it, half because it was my shot that had made the ball roll away, and half because I wanted to see if I was going nuts or there really was someone hiding in the grass for whatever reason. It had been a tiring weekend of work and I hadn’t slept well the night before — maybe that was it.

I reached down to grab the basketball and decided I was losing my mind when I saw two hands reach out holding the ball.

“What the –“ I muttered. Then the eyes appeared again. I didn’t grab the ball but just stood there, unsure of what to do. I was almost waiting for something to happen, but when it did, I was not prepared.

The green eyes turned red and the normal hands were suddenly rotting. A horrible stench emanated from them. Then I could see what could only be teeth form a smile — but it was a strange, disconcerting smile, with each tooth looking like it was sharpened at the end.

“Guys, come over here, quick!” I yelled out, not being able to look away from whatever was in the grass.

“I found you, and I’ll find you again.” It said, in an incredibly deep, menacing voice. Then it moved back into the grass, the basketball dropping at my feet. I put my hand over my mouth just as my cousin and brother showed up.

“What?” My brother asked. I couldn’t even bring myself to speak. I just pointed at where whatever had just spoken to me was, only seconds ago.

“What?” He asked again.

“Nevermind.” I said, grabbing the basketball. I had made myself look nuts twice now; I wasn’t about to a third time. Nobody would believe me anyways.

The only reason I’m typing this out right now, though, is because I just had a note slipped under my apartment door:

I told you I’d find you.

There’s a red eye in my peephole, and I can hear heavy breathing…