1 I was on a road trip to a remote mountainous region with my best friend, Jess. While driving, Jess suddenly said she saw someone waving at us from a distant hill. Thinking it was a hiker in need of help, we immediately stopped the car and ran towards the figure. But halfway there, Jess abruptly stopped. Confused, I looked at her, only to see her expression twist into sheer terror. I was about to ask what was wrong when she grabbed my hand and sprinted back towards the car. "Run!" she hissed, her voice frantic. "That's not a human!" Having been friends with Jess for years, I knew she wasn't joking. I didn't ask a single question. I just turned and ran for my life, following her back to the car. "Start the car! Now!" Jess screamed as we scrambled inside. I jumped into the driver's seat, jammed the key into the ignition, and fired up the engine. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the dark figure in the distance sprinting towards us. My heart skipped a beat. In the few seconds it took to start the car, the figure had closed a terrifying amount of distance. "Go! It's catching up! Drive!" Jess yelled again. My hands were shaking, but I forced myself to focus. Seatbelt on. Gear shifted. I slammed on the gas, and the SUV shot forward like an arrow. I glanced in the rearview mirror. The massive dark figure was now only twenty or thirty yards away. I could feel its overwhelming malice radiating towards us. It chased us for what felt like an eternity before finally stopping. Jess and I didn't dare relax. We kept our eyes glued to the mirrors, nerves stretched to the breaking point. The creature was covered in black fur, but it had a face that looked disturbingly human. It stared at our retreating car with a twisted expression, as if memorizing us... We drove at full speed for over half an hour. Only when we started seeing semi-trucks on the main highway did we finally let out a breath. Neither of us spoke first. We were both still shaken to the core. Another half hour passed in silence. We pulled into a gas station to refuel. Jess and I went to the restroom to wash our faces. "That... that was terrifying!" Jess stared at herself in the mirror, looking like she'd just escaped death. My limbs felt weak. The adrenaline crash was hitting me hard. I bought two bottles of Gatorade, parked the car to the side, and sat on the curb to drink. "Halfway there, I realized its proportions were wrong," Jess said, taking small sips of her drink. Her eyes still held a flicker of fear. "And the way it waved... it was too stiff." I recalled the creature's silhouette and nodded thoughtfully. Jess was an art major. She had an eye for perspective and anatomy. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have noticed until we were twenty yards away. By then, it would have been too late. We had started running back when we were still over a hundred yards away. Yet it had closed the gap to twenty yards in seconds. Its speed was inhuman. A truck driver in his forties, who seemed to have overheard us, walked over. He frowned. "Ladies, did you run into a mimic bear?" Jess and I exchanged a look. "Mimic bear?" 2 The driver took a swig of water and pulled out his phone to show us a video. "Look. That's a mimic bear." "There have been a lot of videos online recently about these things attacking people." "They say they stand almost ten feet tall and weigh nearly a thousand pounds. One bite can tear a grown man in half." "And they're smart. Scary smart. They can mimic human movements." "A while back, a college student on a graduation trip was lured in by one pretending to signal for help." "By the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late. He couldn't outrun it." As the driver spoke, a wave of relief washed over us. We were lucky. If we hadn't realized it sooner... "Lily, let's go. I don't feel safe here," Jess urged. I nodded vigorously. It was 2:25 PM. We said goodbye to the driver and hurried towards the nearest town. By evening, the weather had turned cool and overcast. With the windows down, the breeze helped clear the lingering fear in our minds. "Seriously, what are the odds?" Jess muttered. "We just wanted a nice trip, and we run into something like that." She sounded annoyed, but her tone was much more relaxed. I sighed. "Yeah. If it weren't for you, we'd probably be ghost stories by now." Jess glared at me. "Don't jinx us!" "Bang!" Before she could finish, a loud noise cut her off. The car started shaking violently. "What's happening?" Jess panicked. I gripped the steering wheel tight and managed to bring the car to a stop. "I think we blew a tire," I said, checking the dashboard. Sure enough, the rear right tire pressure warning was on. "Look, there's a repair shop right there!" Jess pointed ahead. She scanned the surroundings nervously. No sign of the mimic bear. "Let's go. We can't waste time." "It's getting dark. It's too dangerous to stay out here," I agreed, driving the limping car to the shop. A skinny man sat at the entrance. Seeing us, he grinned. "Ladies, car trouble?" Jess and I exchanged a look. We both knew what this was. We'd read about scams like this—shops scattering nails on the road to puncture tires and charge exorbitant fees. But we were in the middle of nowhere, with no surveillance cameras. We had no choice. "How much for a patch?" I asked, suppressing my anger. "Five hundred bucks. Cash or card?" The man's grin didn't waver. "What? You—" Jess started to lunge forward, but I held her back. We couldn't afford a confrontation here. We paid the money. "Do a good job," I said coldly. The man pocketed the cash, beaming. "Of course! You're VIP customers. I'll fix it up real nice!" ... Jess stomped off to scroll through her phone while I watched the man work. I checked the time. We should still make it to town before dark. Suddenly, Jess ran towards me, her face pale with terror. 3 My heart leaped into my throat. Jess shoved her phone in my face. She had been browsing local videos for food recommendations, but the top result was a police alert. [Truck Driver Mailed by Unidentified Creature!] My pupils constricted. If I wasn't mistaken, the driver in the video was the same one we had met earlier. That red jacket... I was sure of it. Jess scrolled down to the comments. One comment read: [I drove past there around 2:30 PM. I think something happened to that guy!] Jess and I stared at each other in horror. 2:30 PM? That was five minutes after we left. "Is it another one, or the one we saw?" Jess whispered, her voice trembling. A chill ran down my spine. If it was another one, that was bad enough. But if it was the same one... "It's following us?" I gasped, clutching my chest. "But why? It holds a grudge?" "We didn't even do anything to it!" My voice shook with fear. "Who knows how a monster thinks?" Jess spat. I checked the time. 5:30 PM. We had driven three hours since leaving the gas station. Surely it couldn't catch up that fast. "Once the car is fixed, we go straight to the police station in town," I said grimly. The man finished the repair quickly. We sped towards the town. An hour later, we arrived and went straight to the police station. The officers listened to our story, their expressions growing serious. They promised to investigate and increase patrols. We found a motel to stay for the night. "Want to grab some food? We haven't eaten all day," I asked after we settled in. Jess waved a weak hand. "I'm too tired. I just want to sleep." "Alright. Shower first, then sleep. We'll eat a big breakfast tomorrow." We washed up and collapsed into bed. We were asleep within minutes. I don't know how much time passed. In my half-sleep, I heard heavy footsteps. Like something incredibly heavy walking on the floorboards. Thump, thump. Thump, thump... The sound got closer, then stopped. Knock, knock! Knock, knock! A knock on our door. Then, a wave of nauseating stench hit me. I snapped my eyes open, staring at the door in horror. 4 I froze, cold sweat soaking my back. The stench from outside grew stronger. It smelled like rotting meat, making my stomach churn. Jess woke up too, gripping my arm tightly. We looked at each other, mirroring the terror in our eyes. "Who is it?" I asked, my voice trembling. The knocking stopped. The silence felt suffocating. A few seconds later, a guttural sound came from the other side. Like a throat clogged with phlegm, or a beast trying to growl. Jess clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. I got up slowly, trying not to make a sound. I grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight. As the beam cut through the darkness, I saw a pool of black slime seeping under the door, slowly spreading into the room. "What do we do?" Jess whimpered. I signaled her to be quiet and tiptoed to the window. We were on the second floor. Below was a narrow alley, about a ten-foot drop. I looked around for a weapon. Nothing. The knocking started again. This time, it was urgent, accompanied by heavy thuds. The door frame shook. We couldn't wait any longer. I gestured to Jess to get ready to jump. As I reached for the window latch, a loud crack echoed from the door. Wood splintered. The door burst open. A massive dark figure filled the doorway. Over nine feet tall. Covered in matted, blood-stained black fur. A twisted human face, veins bulging, mouth split to the ears, revealing rows of sharp teeth. Its eyes glowed green, fixed on us. It was the same creature from the hill. Jess screamed and ran towards the bathroom. The mimic bear roared and swiped at me with a massive paw. I dodged instinctively. The claws grazed my shoulder, leaving five deep gashes in the wall. I stumbled into the bathroom, slamming the door. We pushed the heavy sink cabinet against it. "It's going to break in!" Jess sobbed. I pulled out my phone. No signal. The bear roared and clawed at the door. Every thud felt like a hammer to my chest. I saw a small window in the bathroom. Big enough to squeeze through. "The window!" I yelled. We pushed it open. Below was the motel's backyard, filled with junk. I climbed out first, hanging onto the ledge, signaling Jess to follow. As she leaned out, the bathroom door shattered. I grabbed her hand, but the bear caught her ankle. "Lily! Help me!" Jess screamed, her nails digging into my skin.
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