Footsteps could be heard as several teenagers walked through the woods, the leaves crunching beneath their feet.

“It’s too cold. Can’t we do this another night?” A girl asked, her whole body shaking. The group stopped and looked at her, angry looks on their faces.

“Why would you wanna stop now? We’re almost to the river, and this is the only night he could show up.” One boy said, looking at his phone. “Besides, it’s only 10 pm, your parents are still up. You don’t wanna get caught sneaking back in, do you?”

The group began to laugh and the girl sighed. “I guess you’re right. Let’s hurry up and look already.”

The group began moving again, all of them talking loudly and playing around.

“Hey Ava, its behind you!” Someone yelled from the group.

The shaking girl, Ava, turned around and looked. “That’s not funny!” She yelled, turning back to the group. The teenagers all began to laugh while Ava stared at all of them. How is that even remotely funny? Ava thought, rubbing her gloved hands together. We’re not even close to the river and they’re already beginning to make jokes about it.

Ava looked down at her phone, the noises of the river loud in her ears. October 29th, 2017. Current time: 10:43 pm, EST. Her face worried. It probably would be 12 pm by the time she got back. Why did I come along?

She looked up from her phone and saw her friend throwing rocks into the river. The rest of the group a bit further down the river.

“Hey Rachel. Do you wanna head back ourselves? I really don’t wanna be here anymore.”

Rachel looked up from the rock she has in her hand. “Yeah, this is really boring. Tony usually has cool stuff to do after school like parties n’ stuff, but this? This is just sad and boring. Seriously, trying to find a monster man that probably doesn’t exist? Where did he even hear about it?”

“Uhhh, right, yeah. I’m thinking the exact same thing.” Ava lied. She wasn’t one to believe in monsters and ghosts, but for some reason, this creature sounded real. Ava had heard about a human-sized frogman from community members. Some even said they’ve encountered it.

Ava began to head away from the river with Rachel following behind. The group didn’t seem to notice them slip away since they were too busy throwing mud and rocks at each other.

“My mom is going to kill me.” Ava began, her gloved hands rubbing her shoulders.

“Nah, just slip in really quietly. Also, she’s probably in be-” Rachel cut off. “Did ya hear that?” She questioned, looking around.

Ava stopped in her tracks and listened for a moment. “Er, no? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

After another moment of listening, a twig snapped to their right. Rachel snapped her head to the right, and saw a dark mass flash into the bush.

“AHHHHHH!” Rachel screamed, running to hide behind Ava. “We need to go, like, right NOW.” She pleaded.

Ava began to frantically gaze around, her face full of worry. “S-Surely it’s not the m-monster, right?”

Suddenly, another twig snap from their left. Both of the girls heads turned to the noise.

“Okay, w-we should go now… I don’t want t-to be around when it app-” Ava stopped, watching a dark silhouette of a creature appear in front of her.

Rachel screamed again before running off in the opposite direction. Ava kept staring at it, unmoving. From what she could make out, it looked like a large frog standing on its hind legs like a man.

The frogman began to walk forward, its large, bulging eyes staring at Ava. Its arms were reached out for her, its claws unsheathed. Ava continued to look at it until it swung at her, to which she jumped back. She immediately ran past it, not looking back at the frogman. She could hear loud footsteps running after her, but they slowly faded away. Did I outrun it?

Ava stopped to catch her breath, leaning on a tree for support. She looked around the clearing she stood in, making sure the monster isn’t here. She took out her cellphone, looking at the time. October 29th, 2017. Current time: 11:31 EST.

Ava sighed. I’ll never get home before 12. Suddenly, the bush beside her rustled. She gasped, and began to run again without looking back.

“HEY! AVA! COME BACK!” She heard, but didn’t stop. She didn’t want to take a chance. After reaching her car, she climbed in and started to drive to her house. What the hell was that thing?

Ava keep tossing and turning in her bed that night, unable to sleep. Eventually, she got up at 6 AM. She was tired of sitting in bed with nothing to do. She pulled out her laptop and opened up her browser, looking at the news that morning.

BREAKING NEWS: Several teens found dead near the Little Miami River. Police found the teens with several claw marks down their bodies. Many believe that it was a wild animal that caused this accident, while many others believe it could be something more.