To some people, it is just a story, but to others, it is a person’s worst nightmare. According to some historians, around 1640, a couple was taking a walk in a forest that is believed to be haunted, located behind a small village in Lancaster, Virginia. While they were walking, they claimed to have seen shadow figures darting between the trees. Frightened by these dark manifestations, the couple decided to leave the forest. There was one problem though; they could not find their way out of the forest. As it started becoming darker, the couple still had not found the way out of the forest. While the couple was looking for a trail to follow, a horrific noise, which sounded like an animal growling was, creeping up behind them. They turned around slowly, and saw with horror that this animal was an unknown creature that looked almost like a demon or a vampire. Terrified by this supernatural being, the couple ran for their lives, hoping to find a place to hide. They ran as fast as they could, but the creature caught up to them. Not knowing what else to do, the couple panicked. The creature grabbed both of them by the legs and dragged them into a dark, mysterious cave. The creature’s roars and the couple’s cries for help led the villagers into the forest. When the villagers entered the forest everything was silent. The villagers searched everywhere in the woods, but they could not find anything; no remains, no clothing, and no creature. After a week, the villagers stopped searching, and decided that the couple was dead. Since then, the couple has never been seen.



As the years passed, this story of the disappearing couple has been passed on from generation to generation, thus everyone in Lancaster knows about the story. However, skeptics have told people that it is just an urban legend, and there is no such thing as demons or vampires. From then on, people have only seen this story as nothing more than an urban legend, and named it “The Disappearing Couple.” Although no one believes that the story is true anymore, no one has entered the forest since 1640.



Now, 360 years later, a small and quiet little neighborhood now stands where the village uses to be. Everyone in the town of Lancaster knows about the Urban Legend. Even to this day, no one who lives near the forest ever goes in there, until someone decides to take a chance.



The year is 2000. A family from Syracuse New York has just moved into the neighborhood located in Lancaster. The family consists of a mother, Jane, a father David, two teenage boys, Eric and Nick, and a young girl Melissa. It is October 23, and everyone in the neighborhood is preparing for Halloween. During school, Nick is in History class, and he learns about the “Disappearing Couple.” Although Nick is a true skeptic, he becomes intrigued by this story, and decides to do more research on it. He learns about the forest believed to be haunted, and that there is a supernatural creature living in the woods. Fascinated by the legend, he tells his brother Eric about it.
“You don’t really believe in it do you?” asked Eric.
“No not really, but it is a pretty interesting story, don’t you think?” asked Nick.
“I guess it is.”
‘You know, this would be a great thing to do on Halloween.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Eric.
“We could take a walk in the woods and see for ourselves if the legend is true or not.”
“Yeah, I guess it would be better than sitting around the house watching horror movies. But what if mom and dad are not comfortable with us going into the woods by ourselves?”
“Come on Eric don’t worry about what mom and dad think. Besides, there is nothing else to do; we’re too old to go trick- or- treating, and there are no other places in this small town to go to. We can just tell them that we’re going out with some friends.”
“I don’t know Nick. I mean you never know what might be in those woods.”
“Don’t tell me you actually believe in the legend. There is no such thing as ghosts or anything supernatural.”
“Yeah I know, but I still don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Okay fine, I guess we can just sit around the house and watch scary movies all night long. That’s much better than walking around on Halloween night.” said Nick sarcastically.
“Well, alright maybe we could walk, but let’s just not go too deep into the woods.”
“Yes! I promise Eric, It’ll be fun.”



For the next few days, Nick and Eric continue thinking about them walking in the woods. It is pretty much all they ever think about. Although they are both skeptics of the legend, something about it scares them that they cannot explain.



It is now October 31st, Halloween. After school Nick and Eric prepare themselves for the walk in the woods. They gather supplies including a flashlight, water bottles, and a hunting knife for protection. While they are preparing, their younger sister Melissa is watching and wondering what they’re doing.
“What are you doing?” asked Melissa.
“Nothing, we’re just going for a walk around the neighborhood.” said Nick.
“You’re not going into the forest behind the house are you?’ she asked.
“No of course not, but if we were you wouldn’t tell mom or dad would you?” asked Nick.
“You just better be careful, my friends at school say that the forest is haunted, and there is something terrifying living in there.” murmured Melissa.
“Don’t tell me you believe in that stuff, because there is no such thing. And I already told you, we’re not going into the forest.” said Nick.
“You just better be careful.” she said.
“Don’t worry about us Melissa, we’ll be fine. Expect us back between eleven and midnight.” said Eric.

At around 7 pm, everyone in the neighborhood is getting ready to go trick- or- treating. As soon as it begins to darken outside, Jane and David go out for a Halloween party, and Nick and Eric quickly run into the forest. Too dark to see, Nick switches the flashlight on.
“This forest is huge!” said Eric.
“Yeah I know, now let’s see if there are any ghosts in here.” Nick said jokingly.

About fifteen minutes later, the boys continue to walk deeper into the forest. So far, nothing abnormal is happening, until Eric spots something up ahead.
“What’s that?” Eric asked.
“I don’t know. Let’s take a closer look.” said Nick.
“Wait a minute. How do we know it’s safe?”
“We’ll never know what it is until we can see it up close, now come on.”

As the brothers walk closer to this mysterious thing in the woods, they realize that it is an old cave about teen feet tall.
“Well, what do you know, it’s an old cave.” said Eric.
“Come on let’s go see if there’s anything in there.” said Nick.
“Are you crazy? There is no way I am going into that cave. It’s so dark and damp in there, and there might be bears or other big animals living in there.”
“Lighten up will you? If there is anything in there, we have dad’s hunting knife for protection. Now come on chicken.”
“Either way I am not going in there. It’s too risky.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll go in myself, and prove what a chicken you really are.”
“I am not a chicken.”
“Then prove it, and let’s go in the cave.”
“Alright fine, I guess we can check it out, but I don’t want to stay in there too long.”

The two brothers enter the cave. So far there is nothing in there, until Nick spots something sticking out of the ground.
“What’s this?” Nick wonders.

Curious about what this strange object is Nick pulls it out of the ground. When he a pulls it out, and full skeleton comes out of the ground. Shocked by the discovery, Nick let’s go of the hand, and steps back, terrified.
“How did this get in here?” asked Eric.

They then uncover another skeleton.
“You don’t think these are the skeletons of that man and woman from the Urban Legend do you?” asked Eric.
“I don’t know but I don’t want to stick around any longer to find out.”

Terrified, the boys rush out of the cave, and back out into the forest. However, when they exit the cave, they can’t figure out how to get back to the neighborhood.
“How do we get back?” asked Eric.
“I don’t know. I guess we just go in the opposite direction we came in. Maybe we’ll find a trail that will lead us back to the neighborhood.”
“What was that anyway?” asked Nick.
“I don’t know, but we better not tell anyone, because then we might be laughed at, and claimed lunatics.”

They start to walk around, hoping to find the way out of the forest. There is no sign of any exit though.
“Nick, I’m starting to freak out here.”
“Calm down Eric. I’m sure we’ll find our way out of here soon.”

They continue walking for the next twenty minutes, but still cannot find any houselights, or hear any children trick- or – treating.
“Nick, I knew this was a bad idea. If we ever get out of these woods, we are never doing anything like this again.”
“Fine, but for right now, let’s just focus on getting out of here.”

As they continue walking, Eric notices something fly by in the corner of his eye.”
“What was that?” Eric asked.
“What was what?”
“I thought I just something. It looked like some kind of shadow or dark figure flying by.”
“It’s probably just your imagination, besides it’s too dark to see anything in this forest. Let’s just keep moving.”
They start walking again, until this manifestation appears again.
“There it is again.” said Eric.
“Ok Eric, just ignore it. We have to find our way out of these woods before mom and dad get home.”

Suddenly, more of these dark figures appear darting between the trees behind Nick.
“Nick, look behind you.”

Nick turns around, and sees the dark figures.
“What are those things?” Eric asks terrified.
“I don’t know, but just back up slowly.”

The two boys back up until they start running for their lives. While they are running, they begin to hear footsteps, and leaves rustling behind them as if someone were following them. They stop to look back to see if there is anyone following them, but no one is there. As they turn back around, this horrific creature appears right in front of them. It is about seven feet tall with glowing yellow eyes, horns on its head, dark skin, and wings lined with hundreds of spikes. Scared to death, the boys run for their lives, but do not get far from the creature. While they are running, they spot the old cave, and use it as a hiding place. At first, it seems like a good place to hide, but it turns out that the cave is the creature’s hideaway. Nick turns on the flashlight, and the creature appears right behind them. They try to escape, but the creature grabs both of them by the legs, and drags them back into the cave. Then Nick remembers the hunting knife that he brought with him. He pulls the knife out, and stabs the creature right in the arm. The creature lets out a loud roar, and releases both of the boys. While the creature is roaring and shrieking, the boys run as fast as they can until they lose the creature. Soon enough, they find a place to hide in the bushes. Although they are safe from the creature for now, they still have no idea how to get back to the neighborhood, and they are traumatized by what just happened.
“What was that thing?” Eric asked terrified?
“I don’t know. It looked like a giant vampire, or a demon, just like the one from that urban legend.” said Nick.
“So that means this is no legend. The story is actually true. Those skeletons that we found were of the man and the woman who were killed by that monster. I just don’t believe it; we actually saw a giant supernatural creature. What do we do now?” asked Eric.
“Well let’s just hope we don’t run into that thing again. Come on we have to find our way out of here as soon as we can.”
“You’re kidding right? With that thing probably waiting out there for us? There is absolutely no way I am running out of these bushes and risking getting injured or killed.”
“What are supposed to do then? Wait here until morning? If we don’t get back to the neighborhood in time, mom and dad are going to freak out, and it’s already 10:45, so we don’t have a lot of time left. Come on Eric, let’s at least try to find a trail or something, and if we run into that creature again, I have the hunting knife right in my pocket.”
“Oh alright, I guess we can walk a little more.”

They begin walking again, and are on the lookout for the creature. Fifteen minutes pass, and soon enough, they find the neighborhood houselights. While they are walking out of the woods, they hear a horrific growl, as if it were some angry creature. In defense, Nick pulls out the hunting knife. They search everywhere, but nothing appears. Suddenly, Eric spots two glowing yellow circles in the dark. They then realize that the creature has found them. They run as fast as they can back to the neighborhood. The creature flies over them, and lands right in front of them. Nick puts the hunting knife in front of the creature, hoping to scare it away. It only makes the creature angrier, and forces the knife out of Nick’s hand. Now that the boys have no weapon, the creature grabs both of them by the necks, and runs back into the woods, toward the cave. The boys try scream out for help, but the creature’s grip on their necks is so tight, that they cannot even speak.

Back in the neighborhood, around 11:30 pm, Jane and David return from the Halloween party. They both go upstairs and find Melissa sleeping in bed. They go into the boys’ bedrooms but find that they’re missing. They search everywhere in the house and around the neighborhood. Not knowing what else to do, Jane calls the police and organizes a search party. When the cops and search party arrive, half of them check the neighborhood, and the other half checks the woods. When the other half enters the forest, they search everywhere. Then one of the cops finds the cave where the creature took the boys. They all enter the cave and turn on their flashlights. They cannot see anything; no creature, no bodies, and no bones. The only thing that they can find, is writing on the wall saying “You’re too late.” Spooked by this message on the wall, the cops exit the cave, and decide to end the search party. They have a suspicion that Eric and Nick are dead, and the crime remains an unsolved crime. The murderer/creature is never found, and Eric and Nick are never seen again.