The Mile of Red

Nightfall Crypt

While driving the quiet backroads of the Midwest, a man stumbles across a chilling sight—a trail of gore that goes on for nearly a mile. At first, he assumes it's just roadkill, but as he follows the path of blood deeper into the dark, a gnawing fear takes hold. His heart races, his breath quickens, and a voice in his head screams, 'Turn back!' what began as pity turns to terror… because something else may be hunting this road tonight.

Transcript

00:00It was about 9.45pm on a Thursday.

00:04It's one of those midwestern nights when everything feels oddly still, too still.

00:11The quiet where you're suddenly aware of the humming of your engine,

00:15the ticking of your dash lights,

00:17the faint scuff of your jacket sleeve as you adjust your grip on the steering wheel.

00:23Just you, the road, and a black void beyond your headlights.

00:27I was driving the back road out of town.

00:31It's a two-lane stretch between cornfields and pastures.

00:35No lights, no gas stations, no civilization for at least five miles.

00:42I've driven that road hundreds of times, but that night felt... different.

00:48The air was thick.

00:51My breath fogged lightly on the windshield, even with the heat turned on.

00:55And I remember thinking, where is everybody?

00:59I hadn't passed a single car in twenty minutes.

01:02Then I saw it.

01:04A splash of red across the blacktop.

01:08At first I thought it was just a patch of roadkill.

01:11Deer, probably.

01:12Happens all the time out there.

01:14But as I got closer, I realized it wasn't just a smear or a splatter.

01:20It was a full-on streak.

01:23A wide, wet trail of red glistening in my headlights like fresh paint.

01:28The way it shimmered.

01:30It hadn't been there long.

01:32I slowed down to twenty, then to ten.

01:35My tires made a faint squishing sound as I rolled through it, and a cold feeling prickled the

01:42back of my neck.

01:44The gore wasn't isolated.

01:47It stretched ahead of me, farther than I could see, hugging the yellow center line like something

01:53had been dragged.

01:54That's when I noticed something that still bothers me.

01:58There weren't any tracks.

02:00No skid marks.

02:01No broken glass.

02:03There was no obvious sign that a vehicle had hit something and stopped.

02:08Whatever did, this didn't stop.

02:11It just kept going.

02:15I whispered, what the hell happened here?

02:19The blood trail thickened as I crept forward, now crawling at a walking pace.

02:24There were scraps of flesh.

02:26Real, identifiable bits of something organic.

02:30Tufts of fur.

02:31A piece of what might have been a jaw, teeth still intact.

02:36My headlights passed over them like stage lights, unveiling some grotesque exhibit.

02:42The trail veered suddenly to the right, cutting sharply across the lane and onto the shoulder.

02:48I followed.

02:50That's when I saw it.

02:52The front half of a deer, what was left of it, was crumpled against a metal reflector

02:57post, like someone had flung it from a moving car.

03:00But the front half might be generous.

03:04Its ribcage was shattered, its face contorted, eyes wide open and glimmering with what little

03:11light reached them.

03:13One foreleg was bent completely backward.

03:15It was just a steaming mess of bones and meat that looked like it had been run through a grinder.

03:25I stopped the car and just stared.

03:29Something didn't add up.

03:31There was no sign of impact.

03:33No blood on the post.

03:35No other vehicles.

03:37No broken branches or tire tracks leading into the ditch.

03:41Just the trail.

03:42And the carcass.

03:44And silence.

03:45Even the bugs had stopped.

03:48I wanted to take a photo, to prove to myself later that I hadn't hallucinated it.

03:54But as I reached for my phone, my headlights flickered.

03:58Just once.

04:00But enough to snap me out of it.

04:02I backed up.

04:03Slowly.

04:05My tires crunched over something.

04:07I didn't want to know what.

04:09I just wanted to get back on the road and go.

04:11Then, about fifty feet behind me, the headlights hit something else.

04:18A shape.

04:19Tall.

04:20Thin.

04:21Upright.

04:23At first I thought it was a mailbox.

04:25There may be a person.

04:27But it was...

04:28Wrong.

04:30It was standing just off the side of the road, facing away, almost blending into the cornstalks

04:35behind it.

04:36Its limbs looked too long.

04:38Its posture is hunched.

04:40But the worst part?

04:42It didn't move.

04:43At all.

04:45Not even a shift of balance like a living thing would do when standing.

04:49I stared.

04:51And stared.

04:52Nothing.

04:54Then, blink.

04:56My headlights flickered again.

04:59And when they came back, gone.

05:01I slammed the car into drive and floored it.

05:05I didn't care if I hit another deer.

05:08I didn't care if a cop pulled me over.

05:10I just needed to get out of there.

05:14The streak of blood continued beside me for another hundred yards, before finally vanishing

05:19into the ditch.

05:21By the time I hit the highway, I was shaking.

05:24I pulled over at the nearest rest stop and sat in the parking lot with the engine running.

05:31I checked my phone.

05:33There was no service.

05:35Of course.

05:36I didn't sleep that night.

05:38I kept thinking about that shape.

05:40That deer.

05:42The trail.

05:43I went back the next day.

05:45In daylight.

05:46To make sure I wasn't losing my mind.

05:49But it was gone.

05:50All of it.

05:52No blood.

05:53No carcass.

05:54Not even drag marks.

05:56The post was clean.

05:58And the road looked freshly rained on.

06:01Though it hadn't rained.

06:02There weren't even tire tracks where I'd pulled off.

06:06Like it had never happened.

06:08Except for one thing.

06:11Exactly 1,580 feet down the road, measured from the intersection where I'd first seen the

06:18trail, I found something.

06:20A gouge in the asphalt.

06:23Deep and jagged.

06:25As if something with claws, or maybe hooves, had dug in hard, trying to stop itself from being

06:31dragged.

06:33That was the only sign.

06:35And it was enough.

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