If I didn’t believe in God before, I certainly believe in him now. For those of you out there who may have some different belief, that’s perfectly fine. I’m just stating my personal belief. After what I experienced, after what I heard, there’s no way there can’t be some higher being. Let me explain.

This happened literally two days ago. Deacon Wester called me at two in the morning. He told me to meet him at the church because he had something important he had to do, and he needed me to go with him. He said that I was the only one he could trust for this situation. Of course, I was already not on good terms with Wester. I was still doubting his story. Regardless, he sounded frantic on the phone. I decided to get up and see what he wanted. I threw on a jacket and jeans, and headed out the door.

The town was in a dead silence. That was natural. I wasn’t expecting many people to be up at 2 a.m. I pulled in front of the church to see Wester pacing back and forth around his car. He ran up to me somewhat panicked.

“Mason, I need your help. I need you to come with me. There’s something I need to take care of.” he said.

Without warning, he opened the trunk of his car and pulled out two hunting rifles. I tried to ask him what the hell was going on, but he just begged me to come with him. He just said he needed to go into the woods and “finish it”. He said he couldn’t handle living in fear anymore, so he wanted me to go with him to help him hunt and kill the Squealer.

Naturally, I thought he was out of his mind. He’s talking about hunting down a beast that we hardly no anything about. I’ve seen some of the monsters it can send, and they were complete nightmares. I’ve only seen the Squealer, but I have absolutely no idea what it’s capable of. For this thing to be the leader, it has to be the most powerful. However, I was tired of living in fear myself. If we kill this thing, maybe it will all end.

I decided I’d help Wester with this hunt. We jump in his car and made our way to the woods. Wester took us on a back road that led us deep into the woods. It eventually came to an end, and we had to walk the rest. Wester gave me a few specific orders.

“Stay close together. Have your gun loaded and ready. And no matter what, watch your back.” he said.

For a few minutes, everything was seemingly quiet. Suddenly, I got that feeling again. The feeling of overwhelming fear embraced my body. I looked at Wester to see that he appeared to be having the same feeling. I began to hear the sound of leaves and sticks crunching. The sound was moving closer by the second. Wester and I simultaneously looked in that direction to see a tall, skin figure. I recognized that figure. It was none other than the Squealer itself.

It still looked as horrific as when I first saw it. Wester wasted no time. He shot at it. The Squealer darted out of sight, but we could hear the heavy sound of moving in the trees. We could also hear the shrill sound of squealing above us. I looked up only to see quick blurs of it dashing back and forth. I pointed the rifle up and shot. The Squealer crashed down in front of me, landing on its feet. I’d never seen it this close. It was even bigger than I first thought.

It raised up its lanky arm to swipe at me with its razor claws, but Wester shot it in the shoulder. The bullet didn’t seem to bother it. However, it did distract it from attacking me. The Squealer turned to look at Wester. In a flash, he ran towards him. He picked Wester up by his throat. His hand was big enough to almost cover Wester’s head. He slammed him down on the ground with such a force. I could hear the painful sound of Wester’s spine snap.

I was then hit with another feeling of fear that made me drop my gun. I couldn’t control it. Squealer glanced over Wester with some curiosity. Wester spoke his final words of spite.

“Go on then. Kill me. I’m not afraid of you anymore.”

With that being said, Squealer reached its long, sharp nails into Wester’s throat, removing his vocal cords altogether. It swallowed them, looked at me, and spoke in Wester’s voice.

“Mason…” it said.

I had no words. What could I say? It could clearly tell I was in shock.

“What’s the matter, Mason? Afraid of me? I tend to have that effect on people.”

I wanted to run, but I felt that it would most likely kill me before I could even turn. Through my fears, I tried to play it cool. I didn’t want to upset it. I didn’t want to give a reason to just rip me to shreds. I managed to muster up the courage to try to say something, but it stopped me before I could. It began to speak again in Wester’s voice.

“I know you may have a lot of questions. What am I? Where did I come from? Why do I do the things I do? Why did I pick this town? Don’t fear. Those are all questions I can answer easily. Firstly, what am I? I’m aware that the deacon told you some tale of other dimensions. That is false. I started here on the soil that all humans walk upon. You see, Mason, I am an Anomaly. An Anomaly is a creature that does not seem to regulate on the standards of human or animal. Essentially, I am a one of a kind creature that was created by God. Most Anomalies have special abilities or properties. For me, I am able to make myself up from pre-existing matter such as human flesh. I guess that answers your first and second question. Why do I do the things I do? Most Anomalies live on one basis only. To cause pain to all other creatures. What can I say? I’m doing what’s in my nature. Why did I pick this town? I didn’t. I am perfectly capable of going anywhere I want. I just want to enjoy the free meal lying within that town. They have nowhere to go. I’ll get them before they escape. I hope you can understand, Mason. This isn’t about science or religion. This is about survival. And unfortunately, humans are in my food chain.”

It said a mouthful of things that I still am no able to fully process. After finishing, it spit out Wester’s vocal cords. I managed to overcome my fear and ran. Before I knew it, I felt the Squealer’s large fist strike me in the back of the head. At that moment, I was sure I was dead. However, I woke up later in my bed. I want to say that was a dream, but I know for a certainty that I went into those woods with Wester. I looked at my phone to see I had 23 missed calls from Ivers. He was most likely livid that I was late to work. Instead, he informed me that Wester had been found dead in the woods.

Of course, I already knew this. I think I’m going to go tell Ivers what I know. I’m not talking about what happened to Wester. He pretty much has an idea of what happened. I’m going to tell him everything I learned about the Squealer. He referred to himself as an “Anomaly”, a creature that doesn’t follow the standards of God’s laws. I remembered he said “Anomalies” as well. Does that mean there are other creatures out there that are just as powerful as the Squealer? Does that mean there are creatures out there that are even worse?

I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m really scared.