Windigo Syndrome

I’m writing this now, so that whoever sees this will know the truth of what happened here while I still have a grip on my sanity.

My name is Jennifer and I want to start from the very beginning. It all started when my uncle told me what happened. My uncle’s name is Tom and my cousin’s name is Sandy. They went hunting for a father-daughter bonding trip as a way to get closer. My uncle Tom wanted a boy but got Sandy instead so he treated her just like a boy. He got her into sports and other boy activities such as hunting. Sandy loved doing boy activities, so they ended up making their hunting trips a tradition between the two of them. They killed a deer or two, maybe even a rabbit of a bear if they were lucky.

On this particular day, my uncle told me things were quite different. As they set up the deer blinds, everything seemed to get quiet around them. Like way too quiet. Not even a bird or a cricket was chirping like they usually would. But there wasn’t a single peep. Uncle Tom didn’t think anything about it though and the duo got into the tree blind.

As they were waiting for something to come by, they heard a strange noise in the wooded area across from them. It sounded like a shrill scream. It frightened Sandy, who was normally very brave, enough to hold onto her dad out of fear. Uncle Tom patted her on the head and reassured her.

Tom: It’s alright sweetheart. It’s probably wolves killing their breakfast this morning. Nothing to be afraid of.

Sandy was reassured and let go to grab her gun again. She looked through her scope and saw something. It looked like a deer from a distance. Sandy nudged her dad so he could look.

Sandy: Hey dad look. I think there’s a deer over there.

My uncle took a look through the scope and Sandy was right. There was something in the distance that did look like a deer. But he knew right away that something wasn’t right; something he couldn’t explain but something off nonetheless. Uncle Tom told Sandy to keep her eye on it and her gun as well. To take the shot when the time came.

Sandy focused on the creature and gripped the stock as she waited for it to come closer. When it came closer, Sandy squeezed the trigger slowly so the recoil wasn’t as strong. A loud bang signaled that she’d fired her weapon and the creature fell to the ground dead. As Sandy and Uncle Tom went to retrieve their prize, they noticed that the creature may have looked deer-like from a distance but up close, it looked grotesque. Tom chalked it up to a disease that effected deer and that they put it out of its misery since it looked like it was about to die anyway.

Tom: Leave it be and let nature do the rest.

But Sandy was upset because her only kill of the season was going to go to waste. So she asked her dad if she could at least have a picture with it. To prove she bagged it.

Sandy: Daddy can I at least get a picture with it before we go? To show everyone that I killed it. Please?

Tom looked down at the ground and sighed. He knew he couldn’t deny his little angel, that he couldn’t say no to his little girl.

Tom: Alright honey but just one because we need to leave ok sweetheart?

Sandy smiled happily and grabbed the carcass by the horns as she crouched beside it in a pose. As she crouched, her finger caught on one of the sharp horns, piercing the skin and drawing blood. Sandy stuck her finger into her mouth to s**k the blood away. She didn’t want the blood to stain her hunting jacket. It was her favorite.

Tom took the picture for her and they headed back to the truck so he could put a bandage on Sandy’s finger. Then they went home.

Everything seemed fine for a few days until Sandy started to change drastically.

First she became sickly pale then she refused to eat anything. Not eating resulted in Sandy becoming thin to the point of emaciation. You could see her ribs and cheekbones prominently. Her parents got worried to the point they took her to the emergency room to see what was wrong.

The doctors examined her but they couldn’t find anything physically wrong with Sandy but her parents knew there was something not right with their daughter. So to placate them, the ER doctor gave them the number to an anorexia specialist to see if they could get her help there. Uncle Tom and Aunt Becky thanked the doctor and took Sandy home where they’d call and make an appointment the following morning.

The next morning when Aunt Becky went to wake Sandy, she heard a loud smash and some screaming coming from her room. She ran into the room to see what was wrong and saw the mirror smashed on the floor. Sandy was in bed with the blankets over her head. She went and placed a hand on the blankets as she asked Sandy what was wrong.

Becky: Sandy darling what’s wrong? Are you ok?

Sandy: No mom! Please go away and leave me alone!

Sandy was frightening her mother the way she yelled but Aunt Becky didn’t relent. She pulled the blankets off of Sandy who was desperately covering her head so her mother wouldn’t see her face. But Aunt Becky knew something was wrong. As frightened as she was, Aunt Becky was more concerned with her daughter’s welfare so she took Sandy by the shoulder and turned her to face her.

Aunt Becky was horrified to see two protruding lumps on Sandy’s forehead that looked like horns and her once beautiful baby blue eyes were now a shade of dull yellow that appeared to be empty. Aunt Becky shrieked in horror and ran to get Uncle Tom. She told him what happened to Sandy and what she’d seen. Uncle Tom had to see for himself what his wife had seen.

Uncle Tom nearly vomited at the sight of his beautiful baby girl’s new appearance. She looked like a monster now but he knew it was still his Sandy despite her appearance. He wanted to hug her despite not knowing what to do. At the same time, Uncle Tom wanted to leave the room and this new monster that wore his daughter’s face.

Without hesitation, Uncle Tom drove Sandy to the emergency room again. He showed the doctor what happened to his daughter and wondered how the doctor could explain this to them. The doctor examined Sandy again and still couldn’t find anything to explain what was wrong with her. He told my aunt and uncle as much.

Doctor: To be perfectly honest folks, I can’t make heads or tails of this. This is something I’ve never seen in my entire life or my career in medicine. I’m sorry but I can’t give you the answers you’re seeking.

The doctor was interrupted by Sandy clutching her stomach with tears rolling down her face.

Sandy: M-mom, d-dad I’m hungry. Can we please get something to eat? I’m so terribly hungry! Please!

Tom: Ok honey. We want to finish up here first then we’ll get something to eat. Please be patient until we’re done.

Sandy: But daddy you don’t understand! I’m hungry now! Please! I need to eat!

Tom: You can eat as much as you want when we’re done here. I promise.

Sandy: I’m hungry NOW!!

After she yelled those words, she lunged at the doctor and bit his arm, taking a chunk of flesh out. The doctor screamed in pain and jerked away from her. Sandy chewed the flesh in her mouth as blood dripped down her chin as she swallowed. Aunt Becky and uncle Tom were shocked at what they’d just seen. They helped the doctor up off the ground and back into his chair. Several nurses came to help him out, one with a first aid kit in hand.

Sandy was restrained despite the struggle she put up and the screaming. She tried to get free but she couldn’t. The doctor told the nurse to sedate Sandy for her safety and theirs. The nurse did as he told her to do, injecting Sandy with a sedative. Sandy eventually calmed down and fell asleep as uncle Tom and aunt Becky begged the doctor not to sue them for assault. The doctor assured them that he wouldn’t sue them. It wasn’t the first time a patient attacked him and it wouldn’t be the last.

My uncle hugged my aunt as they worried about Sandy. The doctor called to have Sandy transported to a psychiatric facility thinking it would help her out. As he made the call, the doctor began to sweat profusely as if he were very hot. He collapsed on the floor and the head nurse yelled for a gurney. When it arrived, the nurses loaded him onto it.

The doctor opened his eyes to reveal they were yellow like Sandy’s. The nurse backed up but the doctor lunged at her before she could get out of reach. He grabbed her by the neck and proceeded to feed on her, tearing chunks of flesh out of her. The whole hospital went into a panic. The doctor was attacking everyone he could get to but luckily my aunt and uncle escaped unharmed. They left poor Sandy behind against their will.

As they got into the car, uncle Tom and aunt Becky noticed that the corpses on the ground began to rise, mutated into the same creature my cousin and the doctor had become. The creature that Sandy shot that day. They came to my parent’s house since they had nowhere else to go. I came down from my room to see what was wrong but my parents sent me back up to my room. I protested and refused because I wanted to know what was going on with my cousin. My uncle relented and told us the whole story.

As I look out the window, all hell has broken loose. Cars were burning and people were screaming, running to try and escape as corpses rose from the ground, becoming the creatures that my uncle told me about. One of them is beating on our front door and demanding to be let in. I’m not sure how long our door will last due to the sheer force being applied to it.

I’m telling you this story because not only does the world need to know but this might be the last thing I write. Oh my god the creature is inside the house! I might not make it after all. Goodbye and try to stay safe!

Beware the Syndrome.

  • Daniel Di Benedetto

    Hey, man, just saying, when you want to write dialogue, you have quotation marks for that haha.