Sarah, a little girl of only twelve years old, was always happy to play outside and look for little critters around her property. She had been living on a large plot of land in Georgia that was once a plantation. Her mother and father always encouraged her to stay within sight, never allowing her to venture off into the woods fifty yards behind their massive plantation home.
One late October evening, moments before dusk had settled upon their land, Sarah had felt the need to search for the little orange and brown cat she had made friends with that very week. Her mother had told her to be careful and stay close to the house, for it was almost time for a bath and she didn’t want to have to go looking for her. The girl promised to stay within shouting distance and to come running as soon as she heard her mother's call.
Satisfied with this, Sarah was sent off to play and find her new feline friend. With her red rain coat and fancy new running shoes, she was out the back door. A soft meow sounded from somewhere off to her right, drawing her attention to the shed only twenty feet from the back porch. She giggled and tromped happily toward Mr. Kittles, sure he was beside the storage unit. Peering around the edge of the shed, she spoke out,"Mr. Kittles, is that you?" She looked about and didn't see his brown and orange speckled coat anywhere. Just as she went around to check the back of the structure, she heard another faint meow. This time, the sound came from maybe thirty feet away from her near the chopping stump her father used to cut the fire wood for wintertime.
"Oh, Mr. Kittles! Get back here silly kitty cat. I want to say goodnight to you." She took off as fast as she could for the chopping stump, her shoes making a squelch sound as she hit a couple patches of mud from the rainfall earlier that day. As she got up close to the stump, a puzzled look grew on her face. There wasn't any place for her new friend to hide, but she didn't see him yet again. "Where are you?" She began in a quiet voice as a shiver went down her spine.
Then, she heard a twig snap and looked over to the trees that were closer than she had thought. "Mr. Kittles! Hey, you shouldn't be in there. Come here!" Sarah ran toward the trees, walking into the bald cypress woods to bring her cat-friend back to where he belonged. It had been about a minute that she was walking through the foliage before she noticed that the sky wasn't as bright as it was when she had left her house. She heard a meow further in and she felt like someone was watching her. Sarah's footsteps stopped as she looked around the dark forested like area. Turning her head to face the way she came, there were only more trees. The house had vanished from sight and she could barely see anymore as the sun made its way to the other side of the earth.
She wanted very much to call out for her cat, but her voice was caught in her throat. Everything was silent. Just as she had nearly built up the courage to move back in the direction of her home, she heard one twig snap after another. This time, the noises were moving toward her instead of deeper into the forest. Her breath hitched and she started running immediately for the backyard, toward comfort and safety.
The twigs kept snapping, getting louder and faster while the girl ran as hard as she could. The trees got a little thinner, signaling that the yard was only a few feet from those trees. The low hanging branches caught her hair and pulled, the twigs stung her face as they rapped against her skin, and her lungs burned as her breathing became frantic. A strangled cry of "Momma," left her lips as she felt a hand grip at her arm, the force caused her to wince in pain. She could see the back-porch light through spaces in the trees as she fought the thing that had taken a hold of her limb. The last thing she heard in her ear, just as she realized she would never return home, made her blood run ice cold. The raspy voice of a man who's age more than tripled hers sounded in her ear, breathy and ragged,"Meow..."