 Some of you may not believe me, and that's okay. I'm not here to convince you. I just need to get this off my chest, so it stops occupying my mind every single day. Who knows, I might even sleep better after I tell someone. A friend of mine, I'll call him Kelvin, reached out to me on a Saturday and asked me to join him hunting. Now, I'm not that into hunting, never saw the appeal in it, so it took me by surprise that Kelvin asked me to join him. I was also a bit suspicious that he didn't ask any of the other guys in our small group. It has to be you. He urged over the phone. I could hear the excitement in his voice and the sound of fallen leaves crunching underneath his boots as we walked. It took a second to weigh the pros and cons of this hunting trip. If I go, I have a reason to leave the house, there will most likely be alcohol, I'll get some fresh air, and I get to hang out with the funniest guy of our group. If I stay, I'll have no one to hang out with, I don't have any alcohol, and my cousin will be back with his asshole friends, so I'll most likely confine myself to my room. After a few more minutes of pondering, I got dressed in my warmest clothes, texted Kelvin my decision, and slipped down my boots. I didn't have long to wait since Kelvin pulled into the driveway a few seconds after he read my message. Is he already on his way to get me? Hurry it up. I want to get back to the deer stand before nightfall. He shouted over the loud roar of his muffler. I noticed a few neighbors sticking their heads out of their windows to see who was making all the noise. My anxiety was kicking up full force. I rushed up to Kelvin's truck and climbed in. I could feel the whole truck shaking from the engine. We pulled out of the driveway, just as my cousin's car turned onto my street. Dodge a bullet? Kelvin gave my arm a sharp elbow to my ribs. He glanced into the rear view mirror, and so did I. Five figures stumbled out of my cousin's compact car and made their way up to the house. Looks like I did. The rest of the drive consisted of Kelvin's excited ramblings and him praying that whatever he found was still there. We pulled into a dead-end gravel road that led deep into a thick growth of tamaricks. Their golden needles covered the ground. It was a 20-minute walk, give or take, till we reached Kelvin's deer stand. I wouldn't even call it a deer stand. He made it from a scrap of wood that he found on his property. It wasn't the most structurally sounding in the world, but hey, if it works it works. I paused for a second when he motioned for me to climb the lopsided rungs he had nailed into the trunk of a dead tree. I grabbed the first rung and gave it a good tug, making sure that Kelvin's makeshift ladder would hold my weight before I scaled the tree. We ended up a good 10 feet above the ground. He passed me a can of beer, and we waited. We finished the first 12-pack as the sun's final rays slipped below the horizon. The surrounding woods were nearly plunged into darkness when Kelvin gave my shoulder a nudge and pointed at something he spotted between the trees. About 30 feet away, a herd of deer treaded through the trees. We heard their grunts as they stopped to rest. Their ears perked up, and the buck of the herd tilted his head up into the air. A cold gust of wind picked up behind us and blew our scent right into the herd. The deer dispersed and disappeared into the forest. I thought you were hunting. I whispered to Kelvin, but I didn't receive any response at all. He had his hand on his rifle that rested against his front leg, and his attention was on the spot in front of us. I was about to ask again when he hushed me and jutted his chin forward. I looked back at the spot where the herd once stood and noticed a lone deer had now meandered its way into our line of sight. To anyone else, it looked like a plain old deer, but Kelvin could see things I couldn't. He had more knowledge on the behavior of deer than I did. What's so great about one deer? It's not even a buck. It hasn't noticed us yet. Kelvin stated as he picked up his rifle and aimed the barrel at the target before us. You're gonna lose your shit. He whispered as he looked into the scope and rested his index finger on the trigger. I held my breath and waited for the firearm to go off, but I was in shock when something I never experienced in my life happened, within those few intense seconds. Don't shoot. It's me. The voice was clear as day when the deer turned its head towards us. Its mouth opened and closed as the phrase left its throat. That's when I knew we messed up big time. I jumped down from the deer stand and shouted at Kelvin that we needed to get the hell out of here. I heard him grunt as he jumped down and landed on his knees. I took hold of his coat and dragged him behind me as we made a dash for his truck. It made my blood boil when Kelvin let out a laugh at my spooked face. He began to slow down, but I kept my grip on his coat and continued to run. Didn't he realize how dangerous it is right now? Isn't he scared? How could he laugh at this situation? It hit me. Kelvin doesn't respect me and doesn't respect my culture. Kelvin is an arrogant asshole who thinks my entire culture is a joke. That's when I let go of his coat and sprinted ahead of him. I could hear him call out my name, but I didn't look back. I didn't stop until I reached his truck. Even then, I still wanted to run to run the 10 miles back home. I heard Kelvin scream. I could hear him running along the dirt road. His face twisted in sheer terror as he flung the truck door open and slammed it shut. He struggled to put the keys in the ignition and threw the truck into reverse. We spun out of there and I looked back to see the same deer at the edge of the dirt road. Its beady eyes reflected the light of the moon and gave them an otherworldly glow. What the hell? What the hell? He yelled. A part of me almost wanted to laugh at him. You might want to sage yourself down when we get back to my house. I stated as I looked at the window, then screamed as I saw the same deer running alongside the truck. Go! I shouted. Kelvin pushed down on the gas pedal as the truck neared 80 miles an hour, yet the deer remained right next to the truck. There was a sick feeling in my stomach and I felt like my 17 year old self again as the deer seemed to slow down. I knew what was next. I looked into the rear view mirror and watched as the deer stood on its hind legs and revealed its true form. A man of great stature was now following the truck and it was gaining on us. His deer skin flapping in the wind as he came up alongside us. He looked at me and I could see the hate and anger in his eyes. I watched as his hand reached out for the door handle. It sucked the air right out of me as he opened the door. 80 mile an hour winds whipped around inside the cab of the truck. Kelvin and I screamed as he pressed down on the gas pedal as far as it would go. Yet the man still kept up with us. That's when I noticed the bundle of sage I'd given to Kelvin hanging on the rear view mirror. I grabbed it and reached for my lighter. The man looked at the bundle of sage in my hand and let go of the door which slammed shut from the wind. I looked back to see the man in the middle of the road just staring at us. We slept little that night. We didn't sleep for three days. Kelvin was too afraid to be by himself so I let him crash on my couch while I made a much needed phone call to my grandmother. Kelvin asked me what we encountered that night and I told him a skin walker. I couldn't go into too much detail. The mere mention of a skin walker is enough to lure them to you. Some of you are thinking, but that wasn't a skin walker wears the sharp teeth, claws, the gore. Skin walkers were never monstrous beings that fed on the flesh of humans. They are in fact people who have done the unthinkable to achieve their new found gift shapeshifting. So if the animal you're hunting says, don't shoot, it's me. Leave those woods and never go back.