The night was almost completely black; I could barely distinguish the outlines of the trees. There was a flashlight on my belt, but I didn’t dare use it. It would give away my location.

Luckily, I was only a dozen yards from my tent and my feet knew the lay of the land. I’d had the batteries give out on my torch in the middle of a midnight tinkle trip before and still made it back unscathed.  

Of course, on those occasions I hadn’t had the Beast of the Pine Barrows on my tail.

The old oak tree pressed up against my back was broad enough to hide me from view, but I found it a struggle to keep my panicked breathing quiet. I feared it would smell me anyhow; I hadn’t been bathing with the utmost frequency lately.

My machete was in my hands but my useless eyes were closed. I didn’t want them to distract me from the slightest sound or vibration.

To think, I had chosen to lay low here after the breakout because I knew those foolish old folk tales would keep everyone away. It turned out I was the fool.

There was a sudden burst of motion from my left and something came galloping towards me. It must have been moving twenty or thirty miles per hour, and I had a brief impression of its sheer mass before impact.

The collision shattered ribs along my left side and destroyed that shoulder, leaving my arm hanging limply. Somehow I managed to hang onto the knife with my right hand.

The force of the blow should have sent me sailing, but my clothing had snagged on the creature, and I was whipped back and forth violently as it tried to shake me off.

Stunned beyond thought, but acting on some base instinct, I wrapped my legs around my tormentor and stabbed at what seemed to be its neck again and again.

I held on as the thing’s struggling weakened, but could not disentangle myself as it collapsed, trapping both of my legs beneath it.

I tried to push the carcass away, but I lacked the strength to budge it an inch. Miraculously, my legs didn’t feel broken, but I was certain I’d bleed to death without medical attention. I dropped my machete and managed to work my flashlight free from my belt, hoping I could find something nearby to wedge under the creature or to lever it off me.

Swearing, I switched the torch back off. One glance had revealed my error.

Atop me lay a wild stag, its antlers piercing the fabric of my jacket. The deer must have been as frightened of the Beast as I was. In his panic he had bolted right into me.

Just then, a shadow shambled towards me out of the darkness, walking on two legs but crouching forward like a hunchback.

The noise it made sounded like laughter.