Wendigo

An old story I decided to retell from Strange Stories to Tell In The Dark.

Wendigo 

There's an old legend in Native American lore that talks about a creature who stalks and kills humans. They're called Wendigos. The only way that you become one is if you eat human flesh. I wish I knew what I know now when I went to the lake two years ago and then again a year later. I will tell you the story of what happened over those two years I went to the lake. 

I had decided that I was to go on a hunting trip so I went to my fathers old hunting ground in Canada. I had decided to get me a Native American guide since I didn't know the area well. I went to a reservation to see if I could find a guide. To my luck I did find one and his name was Dancing Wolf. He said that I could call him whatever I wanted as long as it wasn't derogatory. So I called him Wolf, for short. Wolf kept to himself most of the time so we didn't get to know each other much. He did talk though about his village and some of the legends that his old tribe used to tell. I paid no mind to them as I always thought of legends as tales to scare children. As we got to the cabin, Wolf looked very pale. 

" you chose here?! " Wolf asked, rather slightly frantic

" yes. " I said " is there a problem? " 

He looked more pale " our tribe tells us to never come here, they  are out here. " 

" who? " I asked, still skeptical 

" the spirits. " he said " the spirits are here. The Wendigos. "

I chuckled " I doubt that are any spirits out here Wolf, relax, my father comes here all the time. " I said 

He still looked nervous but said " your fathers lucky to be alive if he comes here all the time. " 

He then walked ahead of me as we got close to the house. I thought it sounded silly but Wolf was sincerely nervous walking to the house. 

I don't even remember if we caught anything but we went hunting and we had three days worth of food so we tried to use it wisely. We went hunting but failed to catch anything. We would then go by the house and then eat. I mostly read while I was there or I cleaned my rifle. Wolf often would mediate or look outside a lot. I was curious of why he did it but he had his reasons and again I paid no mind to it. Night would come and then that's when the strange things started to happen. Wolf and I were in a bedroom when we suddenly could hear a screech. I could swear that it sounded like it was yelling Wolf's name.

" Wolf!! Wolf!! Wolf!!!! " 

Wolf looked extremely nervous and I looked confused. I got up to see the origin of the noise but Wolf held me back 

" no don't go outside. " he demanded 

“ why, it might just be a raccoon or something. “ I said 

“ No! No raccoon! Just leave it alone! “ he said 

I paid no mind but I then heard the screech again, calling Wolf’s name 

“ Wolf!! Wolf!! WOLF!!!! “ 

Wolf looked nervous but we both managed to sleep that night, although the screeching continued. I managed to sleep through it. 

The next day, we hunted pretty much all day. Wolf was shaky, more than he was the previous night. Right then I heard, this time rather distant, the same screech, calling Wolf’s name. 

“ Wolf!! Wolf!! WOLF!!! WOLF!!!! “ 

Wolf looked afraid now. I began to get irritated. 

“ What is this? Are friends of yours pulling a prank? “ I asked 

Wolf didn’t answer he just looked and said “ we must go inside. “ 

So I followed him back to the house and the screeching stopped. When nightfall came I went to bed and decided to call it a night. I told Wolf that if the screeching happened that he best awaken me and we could check it out. Wold looked at me fearfully and said nothing. I then went to sleep. I slept until…

THUD!…

What the frick, I got up and saw that Wolf was still awake. He was mumbling something and I heard more thumps. I then got up and moved towards him to see what he was saying. I could make out what he was saying. 

“ Wendigo…Wendigo…Wendigo… “ he mumbled 

What the frick was he saying? What the frick was that outside? I didn’t know. Wolf was sketchy since when I met him. I needed answers and fast. 

“ What the frick is wrong with you? What the frick is that thing or person outside? “ I asked, quietly 

Wolf kept mumbling so I then suddenly, with all my might, slapped him in the face. 

“ Get yourself together man! What the frick is going on here?! “ I demanded 

Right then, as Wolf got back to his senses. I heard a noise. 

CRASH…

Wolf’s eye grew huge and then he turned to me. 

“ Get your stuff and get the hell out of here. I can’t do this anymore. They want me, not you, leave now. “ Wolf said 

I looked confused “ What? I ain’t leaving you here. “ 

“ You don’t understand. “ Wolf said “ I’ll hold them off. You get your stuff and get out of here. “ 

I listened. I grabbed the stuff, my guns, and my food. We then silently walked into the kitchen, where I heard a bunch of stuff being thrown around. Wolf grabbed a bat and then we got to the kitchen where I finally got a look at the things. 

The appearance wasn’t even human, it looked like Gollum from Lord of the Rings but worse. It had no hair and its skin was so boney you could see it’s organs almost. I looked at them in fear but Wolf looked at them angrily. 

“ Run! “ he said “ If you see any shoot them! Run as far as possible! Go! “ 

I then followed his instructions as in a heap of a yell, he began to attack the creatures. I ran and saw that the creatures were not only in the house but they were everywhere. I began to shoot and I managed to hit one of them and I ran as far away as I could. I could hear Wolf’s screams as I fled but I paid no mind. I then ran as fast as I could into the forest. I made sure that those things weren’t following me. I hid in the snow behind a tree. Not daring to go to sleep. 

The next day is when I realized that those things had gone. I ran into the for about three hours until I finally found help. I explained to them about what happened and, to my surprise, they actually believed me. A lot of them were Native American and understood what happened. 

“ A lot of people disappear there. “ one said 

“ Wolf was probably there to get his due. “ another said 

“ due? “ I asked 

No one answered and we walked back to the reservation. 

I managed to file a report of Wolf’s disappearance. They looked everywhere but Wolf, he was never found.

It took me several months to forget about what happened but I couldn't forget those things. Those...horrible things... I knew that they would probably stay with me. I couldn't forget something as discreetly horrifying as that. I decided to get some answers so a year later I returned to the reservation. I ended up meeting up with one of the Natives who rescued me. His name was Silver Fox, his English name was Scott. Scott was an alright guy. I walked up to him the day I arrived and asked him about what happened. 

" You see, there's an old Native legend that regards the Wendigo. Wendigos are evil spirits that get to people when their hungry. " he said 

" What do you mean? " I asked 

" Well, when you get lost with their humans up here in Ontario, you get lost in the deep woods. Eventually your gonna get hungry and eventually your gonna want to eat. So the Wendigo makes you eat what's readily prepared for you. Human flesh. " he explained further " when you eat the flesh, you become one. Wolf had a pretty interesting history here. He guided 20 men out to where you were and he was the only one who made it back. I guess the Wendigo decided to get the last one. You see once you get hungry as a Wendigo, the hunger never stops. “ 

Author's Note

A retelling. So nothing really to expect. I had a lot of fun writing it though.