The first sound came from the bushes at 11:40 PM. A low scratching noise. I looked over at my friend Mason. “You hear that?” He shrugged. “Probably an animal.” We were camping deep in the woods with two other friends, but everyone else was already asleep. I listened for a few seconds. Scratch. Scratch. Then silence. I crawled back into my tent. At exactly 3:00 AM, I woke up. Scratch. Scratch. The same sound. I looked across the campsite. Mason’s tent was shaking slightly. I whispered his name. He unzipped the door. “What?” “It happened again.” He listened. Scratch. Scratch. Mason sighed. “I’ll check.” He grabbed his flashlight and walked into the trees. I watched his light move between the trunks. Thirty seconds. One minute. Then it stopped. Completely. “Mason?” No answer. I sat up. His flashlight suddenly pointed directly at me from across the campground. Mason was standing between the trees. He wasn’t moving. I waved. He slowly tilted his head. Then he walked back toward his tent. Not quickly. Not normally. Just one slow step at a time. He opened his tent. Looked at me. And whispered, “Goodnight.” Then he zipped himself inside. I didn’t sleep. About twenty minutes later, I heard scratching against my tent. It started near my feet. Then moved up the fabric. Slowly. I could see something through the thin nylon. It was standing on four legs. But it was far too tall. Its back nearly reached the top of my tent. I stopped breathing. It stood there for maybe a minute. Then its head slowly turned toward the woods. It walked away. I waited. Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen. Nothing. I finally crawled outside. Mason’s tent was still zipped shut. “Mason?” No answer. I opened it. Empty. His sleeping bag was still warm. His shoes were still inside. Then I heard footsteps behind me. Step. Step. Step. I turned. Nobody. Then Mason’s voice whispered directly beside my ear. “You shouldn’t have let me in.” I dropped the flashlight. The thing standing behind me breathed softly. I ran. I didn’t stop until I reached the other tents. My friends woke up screaming when I told them. We grabbed our stuff and ran toward the campground office. Halfway there, one of them stopped. “Where’s Mason?” Nobody answered. Then we heard his voice from the trees. “Guys?” We looked back. Mason was standing beside his tent. He waved at us. “Come back.” One of my friends started walking toward him. I grabbed his arm. “No.” Mason smiled. Then he said something only the real Mason would know. “Remember the promise we made when we were kids?” I froze. Because he got it wrong. Mason had never made that promise. We ran to the ranger station. The ranger was asleep inside. We woke him and told him everything. He looked at us for a long time. Then he asked one question. “Did you let anything into your tent?” I told him no. He looked relieved. Then he asked, “Did Mason?” I didn’t answer. The ranger grabbed his radio. “We have another one.” Another one. That’s all he said. We left at sunrise. Police searched the campground. They found Mason’s tent. His shoes. His phone. And deep in the woods, they found footprints. They started as human footprints. Then, halfway through the trees, they changed. Four long prints. Too large to belong to any animal in that forest. Mason was never found. But three nights later, I received a text from his phone. I’m home. Then another. You guys left without me. I stared at the screen. A third message appeared. Can you let me in? I never answered. Because while I was reading it… Someone scratched three times on my bedroom window. And from outside, Mason whispered, “It’s cold out here.” If anyone else has more story request let me know. #scary #scarystories #creepystorytime #captionstory #horrortok - @metaphysiko