October 12, 2023: My name is Ghost and I am a cryptid hunter. This journal is to depict everything that goes on in the shadows of this world, why it is that the monsters that go bump in the night are myth and legend. This started when I was 7 years old in 2011. I was camping with my family which included my mother, father, and me. I had an amazing time for the most part. The week was full of hiking, grilling, tree climbing, hunting with an old rifle, really anything you could do when camping we did. However the fun was cut short after about 5 days when the weather shifted into a horrific storm. It caused a massive landslide that engulfed our car and destroyed half our camp, trapping us in the middle of the woods with barely any food, water, and shelter. It took 3 days before we ran out of food, 4 for water. 

My father and I, with what little strength we had left, went hunting. We were searching and searching and searching for anything that could give us some sort of substance. It was nearly nightfall when we finally saw an animal, it was barely visible, just a deer's head poking out from some trees. My father tried to shoot it but the body was too well covered by the trees and he wasn't steady enough after the starvation to make a headshot. The thing jumped away and disappeared so my father tried to quickly run after it. It took about an extra hour to find it again. Before he could shoot we heard our mothers crying and screams coming from the direction of the deer. My father rushed over, not worrying about the deer, to where the cries were coming from but then he stopped right next to the deer he seemed confused and then as he turned around the confusion turned to horror the deers shape twisted and with a single swipe of its gruesome claws longer than any spear and sharper than any sword my father was dead.

Later on I made it back to our camp which was a mess of shredded clothes, fabric, and in the middle was my mother who probably bled out due to a large gash from her neck down to her ribs. In a delusion I wandered, losing consciousness multiple times, not even caring if I was being hunted by that thing. Somewhere along the way I stumbled upon a cave. The outside was littered with bone and yet I still stumbled forward wanting to escape from the harsh environment that I found myself in. The last I could remember was eating something. It was disgusting and painful, like eating a cactus covered in lava, but it was something. That night something happened to me. I still don't understand what but it made me something else. I could crush rock with my bare hands, could see a flea from a mile away, run faster than any animal, hear the dying gasps of a fly caught in a spider's web, and I could sneak up on a deer in a bare meadow.

I made a promise that day that I would hunt the monsters of the night and slaughter every last one of them so that no child would ever go through what I did. That was 12 years ago and I have hunted many different creatures since then. This week however, I am hunting a skinwalker. Which is an insanely intelligent creature that is the best hunter in the world, maybe even better than me. I need to prepare so this is where I am going to end it for today.

Oct. 13, 2023: It's my birthday today so I have bought myself a new knife along with 100 feet of chain, a shovel and pickaxe, and 10 gallons of fluoroantimonic acid which was by far the hardest to get my hands on. Luckily the government has hired me for a couple different jobs which gives me a high security clearance allowing me to get it easier than the average joe. If you are wondering, they hire me to hunt down the things that escape from their labs. No aliens sadly, but it usually was a cross between humid and some kind of animal.

My plan for the skinwalker is to set up a hole at least 20 feet deep with chains zigzagging across the hole all the way down. This is to make it very difficult to go in and out. Afterwards I would place some sort of dear or other animal smothered in blood at the bottom and wait. Then all I have to do is hunt out all the animals from the surrounding area and wait for it to begin to starve. When it takes the bait I will dump all ten gallons of acid down there killing it. It will probably take a couple minutes for it to die which is why the chains are there. The acid will melt through some parts of it but they aren't meant to be strong, they are meant to impede movement. The Skinwalkers can transform into basically anything, even birds, which is why I need something for them to get tangled on so the acid can do its work. If you are wondering why it won't just shrink itself down, it's because the one drawback to a Skinwalker is they stay the same size as their original form which is no bigger than the average human. Their strength stays the same as well but that doesn't help much because they can already jump at least 50 feet and tear whole trees out of the ground. Hopefully this will all be good enough to kill it.

Oct. 14, 2023: It's dead. The plan mostly worked except the acid took too long to eat through its steely skin. It was able to make it out of the pit and quickly turned into a wolf to try and run away. The acid still clung to it though and ate through one of its legs making it collapse to the ground. It took me no less than a minute to span the distance it had made. I walk up to its face to look it in the eyes. With a quick puncture to the chest I rip out its heart and crush it. That is the only way to kill a skinwalker crushing its heart.

Oct. 16, 2023: It's been 2 days since I killed the skinwalker and today I went to a rural town bar. The bartender greeted me with her usual excitement, usually saything something along the lines of “GHOST!!!!!!!! Welcome back, Where have you been? After all, without you I won't have any customers,” She may be loud but she is good company. I spent most of my day there and I find myself enjoying the bartender's company more and more as the years go by. I first met her when I was 16, it was after my second government job where they gave me a fake ID so I can buy anything I need. Alcohol was no exception so I decided, after the hunt, to try some at a bar close by. I have gone there ever since. 

She knows what I am and really my whole story at this point. From the camping trip when it started, to the government contracts. She was surprisingly understanding and accepting of the things I would tell her. She would just pour me another drink then sit there and listen. She was always so nice to me and always smiling. It was the only good thing I had. But today something changed about her, it happened when I was talking about the end of the hunt when I was looking into the skinwalkers eyes. She was doing her normal happy smile as she poured another when the door swung open and an agent with the government walked in. He quickly made his way to me and grabbed me by the arm saying, “Another hunt. Time to be debriefed,” It was only for a split second not even visible to the ordinary human eye but with my eyes it was easy to notice. When the agent dragged me out of the chair her eyes turned to blood moon red and slit down the center like a cat. I jumped at the sight, confused and overwhelmed. She just smiled at me and said “see you next week.”

The entire briefing I was scrolling through my thoughts and knowledge to somehow describe or downplay what I saw. The only thought that came to my mind over and over again was of the vampire. It was the only thing that described her eyes. Though the only credible reference of a vampire that existed was a series of attacks back in the 15th century. They were hunted down however and killed. Ever since then no vampire has ever been spotted. I am going to question her tomorrow but vampires are supposedly stronger than any living thing in existence so I have to be prepared.

Oct 17, 2023: This is what transpired when I confronted her about the change in her eyes. I walked into the door and quickly spotted her at her usual spot behind the bar.

“What are you?” I said

“The same thing I have always been,” she laughed

“You're a vampire aren't you?”

“Maybe, but the real question is, what are you? Cause you are definitely not human. So what are you,” she said.

“What does it matter,” I say inching closer, “it’s not like it will change anything. I will still be the same thing I have always been. A hunter,”

“I am the same thing that I have always been. The same bartender that listens to your stories well pouring another drink. The same girl, just now you know I am a vampire. Does it even matter all that much?” She begins pouring another drink and slides it to the seat that I have sat at dozens of times now. She was right though, it didn't matter. It's not like she sought me out and made me tell her who I am or what I do. I am the one who came to her. Spilling my guts every time without hesitation.

I then relaxed my shoulders and made my way to my seat.

“You know,” she said, “your eyes turn black when you get like that,” I laughed at this and sipped on the drink she poured.

“Never knew,” I said.

“Well now you do,” she said, grabbing a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard. She walked to the door and twisted the sign around. Then she pulled me to one of the booths.

November 1, 2023: It's been 14 days since my last entry and I have a bit to catch up on. The last time I wrote was when I confronted Shade about being a vampire. After a bit of a discussion and heavy drinking she told me she is the last vampire in existence and even her weaknesses. A vampire doesn't have the stereotypical garlic and wood stake, her actual weakness is a cut to her arteries. Apparently Vampires are very susceptible to bleeding out. It was the first time she ever told me anything about her. The night dragged on and I eventually made it back to my place. That week I started hunting down the next government frankenstein I was assigned to. It was a Chimera this time or an attempt at one. The creature was all over the place. I was surprised it even escaped in the first place since it could barely walk. When I finished the job I made my way to the bar for a few drinks with Shade.

When I arrived at the bar I could immediately smell the iron in the air. I knew something was wrong so I rushed in to see if shade was ok. It was a horrific scene. Even for me, after all the blood, guts, and limbs I have personally evicted from multiple bodies, it was too much for me to take in and I threw up. When I finally was able to make it back inside I saw shade on the floor obviously dead. Her left arm was ripped off and a large knife was buried in her chest pinning a piece of paper to her body. I pulled out the knife and grabbed the piece of paper.

It said, “Do not FORGET. WE let you LIVE and you hunt things down for us. You aren't ALLOWED to do anything else,” they were kind enough to leave a stamp. It was the stamp of the CRC, Cryptid Research Center. Once I finished reading the note I took one last look at her. The seething anger in me became nuclear. Nothing in the vicinity was left standing when I finally calmed down. Even the ground quivered at my rage. It wasn't right though, the town wasn't at fault for what happened, it was the CRC. 

They were kind enough to sign their name for me so I had to return the favor. I didn't sleep, eat, or drink, the only thing on my mind was getting to their headquarters. If you wish to know where that is, it's the failed weapons site that blew up in the desert. Of course it didn't blow up like they say it did. It took me about three days of fully sprinting to reach the headquarters. The land was mostly flat for the last 100 miles so it wasn't overly difficult. Security was very tight at the time I arrived. Guards armed with rpg’s and mk-19 sentry turrets lined the outside wall. Sirens were blaring as I approached and a dome began to erupt from the ground encapsulating the building. They must have seen me coming through their satellite, it didn't matter though. I did not stop, not even slow. I hit it full speed like an antitank missile ripping through the metal dome like it was paper sending shards flying everywhere. The turrets and guards snapped on to me but it was only for a second before I painted the walls red, tearing through their defenses. It was too easy honestly, I was barely trying. Scream after scream, limb after limb, body after body. I killed them all.

After I ravaged the place all that was left was the CEO. He was cowering in a corner of his office. When I got to the door of his office my hand kept slipping around the door knob so I just splintered the door and stepped in. The CEO was cowering in the corner of the room when I made my way to him. He was shaking uncontrollably, sweating and crying beyond belief. I approached ready to kill when he fumbled something out of his mouth that piqued my interest. 

He said, “Wa-wait! D-D-D-Don't you wanna know who killed her!” I let him talk as he went on and on trying to delay it as long as possible. The “it” being me ripping him apart of course. But eventually he spilled the answer that shook me to my core. It made sense though everything played out in my mind so easily. First she invited it in thinking nothing was out of sorts, then she went to get a drink but before she could it jumped over the counter and stabbed in the shoulder. After that a massive fight probably broke out but she was already injured so it was over before it even started. 

The thought that she willingly let someone who looked exactly like me into thinking she was just going to hangout with me again just like usual only to be slaughtered. It made me irrational again. I turned my head and looked into his very soul. 

“Demo-” I swiped the CEO’s head clean off before he could finish the word, after all I am no longer a demon. I am now becoming a devil. 

After that I went down to the chemical labs and just cranked some important looking switches and knobs to the max which did the trick, some weird substance started bubbling and I bloated out of there. A beautiful mushroom cloud swallowed the area right after I was able to get out. With all the bodies, there was even a fine red mist in the air. It honestly smelled delicious, so sweet, like honey. I snapped myself out of it and began making my way to the bar hoping I didn't damage all the evidence I could use in my little tantrum.

That is all that transpired in that time. Now, as I am writing this I have found the clone they created. It is sleeping in a cave nearby so I am going to go in now.

December 31, 2023: It's been a month since I last wrote and I have already killed the clone. It escaped from the cave barely alive but didn't last longer than a week. When I finally caught up to it and slit its throat I found myself hypnotized by the way the blood shot out. It was like a scarlet guesser and it smelled so good. I decided to give in and taste it. Turns out I really enjoy it. Sure it was weird comin from technically my own neck but now I have other things I can take it from.

Whoever has read this far I have one last thing to tell you. I was once fighting for the peace of the world. Slaughtering all monsters who would threaten it. Somewhere along the line I became a monster too. I was once named Ghost. Now I am only known by one name. It's the name that haunts the world, the name that describes the horrors of this world. Boogeyman.