Cryptid Angel

By Renee Barton

Chloe Mahoney's Native American heritage has always given her plenty of insight into the realms of mysticism and folklore ever since she was a little girl. And although her grandpa told her many wild and unbelievable tales claiming them to be true, she sometimes found his mystical, fanatical stories to be quite dubious. Nothing could ever prepare her for the most extraordinary encounter of her entire life while deer hunting one early fall morning. And along with this most unexpected, absolutely terrifying encounter, her entire life, along with her own personal perception of the world as she knows it, will be forever changed. Sometimes you may think that someone is completely out of their mind when they tell you something that's beyond belief, but is it really just nonsense, or are they telling you the actual truth and nothing less? Maybe you should give them the benefit of the doubt because you may get your own taste of their world if something so bizarre and unfathomable happens to you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798886544589

Book preview

cover.jpg

Cryptid Angel

Renee Barton

Copyright © 2022 Renee Barton

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 979-8-88654-457-2 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-88654-459-6 (hc)

ISBN 979-8-88654-458-9 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

A Note from the Author

Chapter 1

A Good Marriage

Chapter 2

The Cabin

Chapter 3

Beastly Savior

Chapter 4

Secrets and Lies

Chapter 5

Missing, 411

Chapter 6

Not a Believer

Chapter 7

Healing Time

Chapter 8

Empty-Handed

Chapter 9

My Cryptid Angel

Chapter 10

Run for Your Lives!

Chapter 11

Who Let the Dogs Out!

Chapter 12

It's Showtime!

Chapter 13

Back to Civilization

Chapter 14

Facetime with the Spirits

Chapter 15

Moving Forward

Chapter 16

The Hard Wait

Chapter 17

The New Year

Chapter 18

Unexpected Reunion

Chapter 19

What's Next?

Chapter 20

Taking Care of Business

Chapter 21

I'm Gonna Make You Pay!

Close Encounters of the Cryptid Kind

Just a little recent update…

Nayz Bigfoot Wasp

About the Author

Have you ever danced with the wolves beneath the ghostly glow of the shimmering midnight sun?

They say that seeing is believing, but if you don't believe it because you didn't see it, that doesn't mean it didn't happen or doesn't exist!

A Note from the Author

Before we get started on this newest edition of my writing collection, I'd like to thank anyone who has decided to read this book and gave it your time! A ginormous thank you to all of you! This book was inspired by my own personal encounter with the elusive beasts mentioned within these pages, and although the story written in the first section of this book is totally made up, my weird, absolutely true, and wildly freaky tale is told afterwards. I would like to inform all of you readers that the certain town, county, and state that I've placed my creatures in is just a random spot that I picked out on the map, and I have no idea if anything of their nature, or anything else otherwise, prowls around its countryside. So please, don't travel out there thinking that you're going to find something that's more than likely not even there!

I'd also like to thank my fans, family, friends, and Page Publishing, who have all been so supportive and have been my reason for continuing with my writing endeavor. I have so many unbridled stories that I'd like to write swimming around in my brain, and hopefully, I'll be able to keep putting them out there for everyone to enjoy. I know that this story is going to throw many people for a loop, and it'll definitely be one of those books that will probably have people questioning my rationality, but it's totally original and one of a kind. I'd love to hear your comments about it or to answer any questions that you may have, along with any other book of mine that you've read. So please, even if they are things that I don't want to hear, leave me some feedback on my Facebook author's page or my Instagram website! I've also downloaded some pictures of my property to my Facebook Author's page so that you have a completely genuinely accurate visual of my surroundings. This way, you'll have a clear picture of what I'm describing to you when you read my actual close encounter!

One more thing before I leave you to your reading, always keep an open mind, and no matter how off-the-wall or silly something may seem, the truth is out there!

Chapter 1

A Good Marriage

Did you stop by the gun shop to pick up some ammo? I ask my husband while going over my lengthy list.

Yep! I sure did, and I also picked up some more rubber gloves and dressing kits to clean the deer with, my husband, Rex, informs me happily.

He's pretty stoked about our upcoming hunting trip to my family's cabin in Kentucky and has been talking about it for weeks. He and I usually go hunting closer to home, but this year, he's dying to try our luck out at the cabin. We live in a cute, quiet suburb in the state of Missouri, but my family has owned a quaint little cabin way out in the backwoods of Kentucky for many years. It's about a 582-acre property out in the middle of nowhere, and about a half-mile behind the cabin, lies a 34-acre lake. My family and I used to go out there at least twice during the summer and have a huge get-together, but in recent years, everyone has either moved away, gone their separate ways, or just don't have the time to give. Not to mention, my family, along with myself, have all grown older or passed on, leaving the cabin and property abandoned for the past few years.

Before my grandpa passed away last year, he gave me the deed to the place and told me to keep it in the family. He didn't want it to be sold and was afraid that if he were to have left it to my mom and dad, they would have sold it just as soon as he was gone. I promised my grandpa that I would never sell it and that once I was gone, I would leave it to my daughter. That way, it will remain in the family for many years to come. I also had a special clause written up in my will so that if something did ever happen to me, the property would be left to my next of kin, which is my daughter as of now, but I wanted to make sure that if something were to ever happen to her, it would still remain in my family. I'm hoping that I'll have a couple of grandchildren at some point in time, who will be able to take the reins if something that unfortunate were to ever take place.

I can definitely understand him being so dead set on wanting to keep the property in the family because, for one, a massive amount of land like that would cost a person one hell of a pretty penny to purchase in this day and age, and with it being available to us at any time, if any of us do decide to go out there for any reason, it will always be there; for two, why give up something that's as absolutely beautiful and peaceful as that place is? The charming little cabin has two bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and a roomy utility closet located inside of it, along with a nice-sized covered front porch and back deck. There's also a twenty-by-thirty concrete patio beginning right off the back deck that we used to always park our lawn chairs on, along with our gathering table. My dad would put up our pop-up gazebo to cover it, and it was basically another room of the cabin. We spent many hours sitting and playing out on that patio, and it was the main attraction of the cabin for the most part. I remember my grandpa saying that the cabin is about 1,100 square feet, and it doesn't have much of a yard because the woods encircle the entire thing, but if you follow the narrow path behind the cabin to its end, you'll step into a huge wide-open field with the lake being located on the farthest outer edge of it. It's quite picturesque, and when the sun begins to set, it's nothing short of being absolutely breathtaking!

I remember taking my younger brother out there, and he and I would play for hours down by the water's edge, digging along the shoreline for crawdads and trying to catch some minnows in our little nets. These fond memories make me smile, yet tug at my heart, because my brother Andrew passed away about three years ago. He was always a sickly child, plus deaf on top of it, but I ceaselessly made it a point to do as much as I possibly could with him because I didn't want him being left behind. I wanted to make sure that he could enjoy his life even though sometimes he would tell me that he was ready to die because he was so tired of constantly being in and out of the hospital. He was thirty-eight when he died, and when he did, I felt a great sense of relief and sorrow for him because he suffered for so many years. It was a large brain tumor that finally killed him, and by the end of his life, there was nothing but the relentless torment from his agonizing pain. It was written all over his face the last time that I saw him alive, and as I sat next to his deathbed, I wanted nothing more than to be able to put him down. I feel like we should be able to put an end to our own horrendous pain and suffering by making our own decision when it's time. Just like we do with our pets when they are no longer able to live a peaceful existence. I know that according to the Bible, we are supposed to suffer just like Christ did when he was nailed to the cross and had to endure all that hellacious torture and torment, but times are so much different now from what they were then, and when is enough pain enough? How does God judge anyone with as wild and as crazy as it is out there these days? I'm not prejudiced by any means, but how does he decide if you are sinning against him if you're a transgender, gay, or just unsure about anything in your life? Many people don't really feel comfortable in their own skin and have a relentlessly nagging dire need to completely change their physical form and/or way of life. So if a person does feel this way, is this wrong in the eyes of the Almighty above, damning these poor, confused, and miserable souls to hell right off the bat? There are plenty of incredibly new medical procedures, breakthroughs, and advances in this time that can help a person achieve their ultimate needs and desires, giving them the happiness and sweet release of finding themselves among all the mayhem and unrest that most of us live through from day to day. The help is out there, and all of those talented, skilled brainiacs have been placed on this earth for some reason!

How does he judge the different kinds of religion if you happen to be from another country or don't have the same beliefs as a Baptist or Lutheran has, so to speak? So many people live their lives in so many different ways, along with believing in their own faiths, how does the Almighty even begin to decide on how to go about judging anyone? Watching my brother slowly die was something that I will never forget, and I hope that someday we will be able to put ourselves to sleep because, in my opinion, suffering is needless. One shot is all that it takes, and one shot will give a dying person the solace that they so desperately desire.

Make sure that you pack some extra snacks and water because if this cabin is as far out in the woods like you say that it is, we won't be making many trips to town, Rex tells me while we load up his truck.

We can stop by the store after we get all this stuff loaded and out on the road to pick up whatever else we may need before heading to Kentucky. I also want to make sure that we take a couple of extra gas jugs for the generator, I say while looking at the four-wheeler sitting on the trailer.

Rex wants to take it so that we can get around the property quicker and to scope out potential hunting spots. I don't mind because I love riding on the four-wheeler! We used to have them back in the day, and my brother and I would drive them all over the property!

The cabin is run by a big generator sitting outside in a small shed all by itself, and my grandpa has always kept everything up, so hopefully, we won't have any issues once we get out there. There aren't many places to get anything worked on around where we are going to be, and the property is quite the trek off the beaten path. It's about a twenty-minute drive from the main road, so if we have any problems, or need anything, it'll be an entire day wasted running to town.

Rex and I have been married for about four and a half years now. I never thought that I would ever find a man as wonderful as he has been to me after my first husband and I had gotten divorced because with me being in my early forties, most men my age are more concerned with finding some girl who is about thirtysomething or even younger. Rex is forty-six, and I'm forty-four. My first husband is my daughter's dad, and it wasn't any kind of surprise when he walked in the door one day after fifteen years of marriage and announced that he wanted a divorce. He and I had been fighting quite a bit several months prior to him leaving, and everything made perfect sense when I found out the entire story.

Apparently, he had been sneaking around with a girl that was twelve years his junior and ended up getting her pregnant. She was an intern at his financial investment company, and all of it worked out in my favor because I took him for as much as I possibly could! Why not? He was the one messing around and for months tried making me out to be the bad guy. Every day when he would come home from work, he would start some kind of an argument with me about something. Either I didn't do something the way that he wanted it done or make him the right meal—nothing was ever right. I work too, and I'm usually home on time, but sometimes, I do work a couple of hours later at my job, finishing filling out paperwork or things that need to be done before the next day. I'm an office assistant for one of the local doctors, so it's my job keeping everything in order.

Johnathan, my ex-husband, started accusing me of having an affair with my boss, and I spent many nights alone in bed while he slept on the couch, bawling my eyes out. How could he accuse me of anything like that? I never even thought about having some wild affair with my boss! Not to mention, he's in his late sixties and loves his wife dearly; plus, I can't even picture myself waking up next to the guy in bed, let alone having sex with him! But once all was said and done, I felt great knowing that none of Johnathan's finger-pointing and smack talk was my fault after all. He was just trying to justify being the unfaithful husband, and he wanted to make me feel like I was nothing but a worthless piece of crap, just so that he could feel better about himself. It was quite the rough patch during all that because not only did I have my husband being a complete dick to me, but my daughter was also thirteen going on thirty and used our issues to play the both of us. I was never so glad when she finally got over her adolescent spell and realized that her mom wasn't so bad after all!

She got a massive reality check when she went to stay with her dad for a couple of weeks during that next summer after he moved out because Johnathan's new fiancée, Andrea, was not a very, shall I say, good motherly figure. She had no patience with my daughter, Justine, and was constantly crying to Johnathan about everything that Justine did and said to her. I'm guessing that it must have been quite the ordeal because Justine came home after only about four days over at her dad's house. She told me that Andrea did nothing but whine and complain all day long, and she couldn't cook and was not a very neat and tidy housekeeper. I couldn't help but eat up her words because after all the hell that Johnathan had put me through, he was getting an even bigger dose of his own medicine! Justine even told me that her dad started drinking pretty heavily, and I'm sure that has everything to do with his little tramp too!

I was really shocked one day after Andrea had given birth to her baby boy and had called me up out of the blue to ask me if I could come over to her and Johnathan's house. I could hear her baby screaming at the top of his lungs over the phone, so even though I hated the woman's guts, I drove over there. Little Alexander was screaming so hard that his face was beet red, and his cheeks were soaked with tears. Andrea had no idea how to make him a bottle properly or how to calm him down, so I showed her how to mix up the powder and water, then sat her down and showed her how to feed him and then how to burp him.

They always say to only feed your baby so many ounces per feeding, but I think that's a bunch of crap! I always fed Justine until she was full, and she turned out just fine, I told Andrea while she rocked little Alexander in the rocking chair.

I could see the relief in her eyes while she held her napping baby in her arms, and seeing that made that weird trip over there well worth it. She couldn't thank me enough when I was getting ready to leave, and once Johnathan got home, Andrea must have told him all about her and my little bonding time because he called me and thanked me several times himself. I could tell that he was absolutely miserable while we chatted over the phone, but that was his own fault because I always took good care of him. He thought the grass was going to be much greener on the other side, but that's a shame on him because his new life was not my problem. Andrea and I have gotten along much better after that, and it's much easier dealing with her and Johnathan being in my life, with Johnathan and I sharing custody of our daughter. At least we were able to come to an agreement by having joint custody, and neither of us expected the other to pay any child support. Since Johnathan only lives about five miles from me, things worked out great, and we were always able to split any expenses that came up or needed to be paid for her care and daily life without much of an issue.

I met Rex on the job because he and his construction crew were remodeling part of our building. He just so happened to sit down at the same table as me while I was on my lunch break one afternoon, and he and I struck up one lengthy conversation. His ex-wife was a heavy drinker and loved sitting on the gambling boats. She would be gone for days, then show up out of the blue, and then act like Rex wasn't supposed to be upset about anything. He told me that at first, things between them were great, but when his ex-wife's mother passed away, everything went downhill from there. He also told me that he almost lost his business, along with everything that he ever owned in their divorce, and it took him over three years to get back on his feet after that. I told him all about my ex-husband and our divorce, then after our chance meeting that very same day at lunch, the two of us have been inseparable. We were married only a few short months later, and it's been great ever since! He and his ex-wife never had any children, so sometimes I feel bad about him never getting to be a dad, and the conversation has come up a few times over the years about it. I'm more than willing to give him a baby, but time is running out because I'm over forty-four and don't want him deciding that when I'm fifty, he wants a baby! I feel like it's now or never in the baby department for me because other than being in my forties, who knows when Mother Nature may decide that I don't need her curse any longer! Rex has always been so caring and charming, and the two of us share so many things in common that I feel like I've been blessed every day that he and I had found one another.

Rex is a fairly handsome guy. He's about five feet nine and stays in pretty good shape with doing his construction work. He has a thick head full of light-brown hair that he likes keeping cut short, but you can't see much of it because he's always wearing his ballcaps. He has brown eyes and is quite fair-skinned, except for his farmer's tan from being outside most of the time. Rex is also very anal when it comes to keeping himself well-groomed. A lot of men these days have been growing beards or keeping stubbly faces but not Rex. He wants a nice, clean-shaven face. He was adopted, so he doesn't know anything about his birth mother and father, but it doesn't matter to him because he adores his mom and dad, regardless.

What were you and my dad talking about over the phone last night? I ask Rex while we pull out of the driveway.

He was just warning me about keeping a close and wary eye on my surroundings while we are out in the woods, he replies.

I nod because he and my dad have talked numerous times about the property and about the dangers it contains. When we were younger and all of us were at the cabin, my grandpa always told us to stick to the path and to never venture very far out into the woods. All of us know that there are bears out there, but he has always been very adamant about something else being out there too, a huge predator that most people don't even know exists.

He would say, The tree dogs don't mind us being here just as long as we keep to ourselves and don't cause them any troubles. Never go out after dark, and if you see something that may resemble a dog of any kind, come right back to the cabin. Never approach it, and never make eye contact with it.

For the most part, we always did what Grandpa said even though we thought he was just a crazy old man. At night, I would hear the grown-ups talking about these doglike creatures that lived out in the woods, but I never believed them because never once did I ever see anything like what they were talking about. After all, Andrew and I had been all over the place, and we had never seen anything out of the norm. I'm sure that a person would never be able to forget seeing a monster as scary and as big as what they have described, so I know that without a doubt, Andrew and I had definitely never seen one!

My family comes from a long line of Native Americans. My dad's side of the family are full-blooded Choctaw Indians, and my mother is half-Choctaw and half-Mexican. No one knows much about her side of the family because her father died when she was a baby, and her mother was killed during a drug deal gone bad when she was thirteen. Her aunt raised her, but once my mother graduated high school, she was pretty much on her own because her aunt moved to Mississippi. Other than that, not much else is known about her side. I've always been close to my family, and we always keep in touch.

I've been fortunate that even though I may be a little out of the norm as far as my lineage goes, I've never really been discriminated against. Sure, I've had people question me about what race I am and about my family, but other than that, not much else gets said. I don't mind talking about my life because I'm very proud of my nationality, and I love my family unconditionally.

I have the typical long dark brown, almost black hair, that Native Americans have, along with their dark piercing eyes and amazing tanned skin. I've always been complimented on my dark bronze-colored skin, and when I'm out in the sun, it gets even darker. I'm about five feet seven and a half, so I'm glad that Rex is a little taller than me. I'm an average-sized woman, but I'm definitely built a little bigger than I'd like to be! I've always joked around and told people that I'm built like a draft horse because even when I've been at my skinniest, I still look like a husky woman. And when I say husky, I mean that I have a beefy sort of look about me, kind of like a person who goes to the gym to gain muscle mass. I'm not as big as a bodybuilder or anything like that, but I do have people ask me if I work out, and I do have to admit, I've always been very self-conscious about my body. Even more so, it sucks getting older and noticing the subtle changes in your appearance and your body that seem to creep up on you when you least expect it. The hands of time can be very cruel, and no matter what a person tries doing to make themselves look younger, it still doesn't change their age.

Chapter 2

The Cabin

We make it to the cabin before sundown, and man, am I ever so glad to see it! It takes a good three hours to get to Owensboro, Kentucky, from the house, plus about another twenty minutes off the main road to the cabin. It's located in Daviess County, and this part of the country is absolutely gorgeous! I breathe in a huge breath of cool, refreshing evening air after hopping out of the truck, then look around. The woods are alive with activity and the smell of the trees, along with the fresh country air is fabulous! Memories of this place flood my brain, and I smile to myself while walking over to the front porch. It creaks and groans when I step up onto it, and I can remember my family and me sitting out here having a great time while enjoying one another's company.

Are you going to help me get this stuff inside and unloaded? Your dad was very clear about us not being outside after dark, so we need to get a move on! Rex reminds me while grabbing a couple of the gas jugs off the trailer.

I'm on it! I unlock and open the front door, then join my husband to begin carrying in our supplies. Rex and I have taken off work for the next two weeks and plan on spending the entire time out here. The later it gets, the colder it is outside, so after we get our stuff carried in, I help Rex drag in some firewood. The cabin seems so bright and cheerful once we get everything squared away, along with a warm, cozy fire burning, then the two of us snuggle up on the couch with a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

Man, it sure got cold out there really quick! Rex tells me while staring into the flames of our fire.

Yeah, this time of the year can get really cold, especially at night. It is November after all! I remind him.

Rex chuckles. I know, but it didn't seem quite this cold back home.

I think that it may have been just a few degrees warmer but not by much. Just wait until we go out in the morning! It'll be all frosty outside! I say, and he laughs.

I'll tough it out. It won't be that bad.

We should have come out here earlier in the year and set up some trail cameras, I tell Rex, and he nods in agreement.

Maybe, we can do that next year. I'll have to buy a few of those cameras that we can place randomly about around the property, then watch them live right from the comfort of our own living room. That way, we can see what's moving around out there without having to collect all the SD cards, Rex suggests.

That's a great idea! I look at my watch and see that it's a little past ten, and after our busy afternoon and long drive, I'm beat! I'm going to hit the sheets! I'm tired, and we're going to have an early start in the morning, I inform Rex while peeling myself up off the couch.

Yeah, we sure will. I hope that we at least see something when we get out there, he tells me.

Hopefully! I'd at least like to bag up one deer before we go home!

Rex laughs, then says, Me too! Even if we don't, it'll still be nice having this time away from the city for a change.

It sure will! We don't get much time to ourselves it seems like these days, I agree.

No, we don't, honey.

The two of us brush our teeth then hit the bed, and it doesn't take me long to fall asleep.

The next morning is a hot mess! Rex and I are running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to gather up our gear. I don't want to starve the entire time that I'm out, so I stuff several packages of beef jerky, along with four snack cakes in my backpack, then grab three bottles of water.

Make sure that you have your walkie-talkie, Rex reminds me after he zips up his backpack. He plans on dropping me off in the woods once we find a suitable spot, then picking me up once we're through for the day or if one of us manages to shoot a deer.

I have it in my bag, I tell him happily.

He and I gas up the four-wheeler, then load up. He drives, and I ride behind him, and when we get ready to take off, I can hear my grandpa saying to me, Chloe, always make sure that you look up in the trees before you go anywhere near the woods. The tree bears love hiding up in the treetops to stalk their prey, and it's an easy ambush spot for them. So with that, I can't stop myself from scoping out the treetops, looking for my grandpa's tree bears. I've done this religiously throughout my entire life after he told me this, and even though I've never seen anything, I figure that it can't hurt to at least look!

Rex drives us around through the woods, and after about an hour, he