Forest

I will never, ever, ever go into the woods again! Not for any money, not for any reward! Fuck it.
I'm an avid hunter. I have traveled to all the hunting spots in my region. I have seen all kinds of animals: foxes, hares, various birds... I can't count them all. But it became boring to walk in the same places.  And so one summer I decided to take a vacation and go to my relatives in the Krasnoyarsk region.
I traveled by train for several days and, as soon as I arrived, went to bed immediately. I woke up surprisingly awake and, after drinking tea and chatting a bit with my relatives, I immediately started to get ready for the hunt. My brother Sergey decided to come with me. He knew these places and loved hunting as much as I did, so I didn't even have to persuade him.
- Let's make a route first," Sergei said.
-Let's do that," I said, closing my backpack.

Sergei went to a closet full of books, rummaged through it, and finally found the map he was looking for. It was a bit time-beaten and slightly faded.
- So, this is where we'll leave the city, and then we'll follow this road... - Sergei began to plot the route. I was scrutinizing the map. My brother knew these places better than I did, so I didn't interfere. Finally, the route was laid out, and we set off.
It took us about an hour to get to the forest, and before reaching the forest we decided to buy food and water. There was a small village not far from where we were going to stop. There was a tall and seemingly very sturdy gate at the entrance for some reason. It was open, and we drove in without difficulty.
We entered the store, and the old saleswoman gave us a nasty look:
- Are you hunting in the woods? - she asked us carelessly.
-Yes, - I answered as friendly as possible, and I thought to myself: "Well, can you, old hag, answer in a kinder way? Will you break? ''
Finally we bought everything we needed and left the village. After reaching the place we needed and leaving the car, we moved into the forest thicket, away from the road and cell phone service. For the first time we did not meet a single animal or bird. Not even the usual forest sounds could be heard. Only dead silence.
-Strange," I said.
-What? -Sergei asked.
-Suspiciously quiet, -I answered, for some reason whispering-no birdsong, no wind noise, nothing.
-It's true, - Sergei also replied in a whisper.
We should have left right away, then all this wouldn't have happened...
But we decided to continue on our way, not paying attention to the oddities. Suddenly I noticed that someone was moving in the bushes. I pointed it out to Sergei. He took aim and was about to shoot, but suddenly a large hare ran out of the bushes and rushed deep into the forest.  We ran after him. After about half an hour of chasing we realized that we were lost. There was no path nearby that we were following, so it was unclear where to go.
-What should we do? - I asked Sergei.
-How should I know?! -with an irritable note in his voice, my brother replied.
In the meantime, it was getting evening. We were lucky to have a lighter, and we were able to make a fire by gathering some dry twigs. I didn't notice that I had fallen asleep. When I woke up, I found that the fire had gone out. Sergei was asleep. I decided to gather more branches for the fire. A bit away from our camping site, I found a small clearing. At first I thought it was empty, but then I noticed that someone was walking through it. It looked like two people walking in the dark. "People," I thought, and was ready to run to them, but then I saw that it was not two people following each other, but some creature moving on four limbs. I hid behind a bush, which, by my luck, was growing nearby. When I reached the middle of the clearing, the creature stood on two limbs, matching the height of the trees next to it. It was dark gray in color. It had a thick but short tail around its pelvis, which made me spin it for a second person. Its head resembled a dog's, but without ears and with S-shaped spurs on the back of its head. The eyes glistened yellow. The limbs were not four, but six, like those of an insect. From fear I could not even move from my seat.  At the same time, a second creature came out of the forest, then a third, a fourth... There were about twelve creatures. I watched them carefully. They gathered in a circle in the middle of the clearing, and then began to jump, run, and howl. It was as if the creatures were performing some kind of ritual or dance.
Suddenly, an even larger creature emerged from the forest. It was twice the size of the other creatures. It had eight limbs. The tail resembled a snake's. On the head instead of outgrowths were full-fledged horns, reminiscent of the horns of Triceratops. In one paw the monster held something like a staff made of whole wood.
Suddenly my legs gave out and I fell to the ground, crying out softly. One of the creatures turned its head, and when it saw me, it let out an eerie shriek. Their "leader" looked at me, pointed his staff, and hissed something to his "comrades". All the creatures turned in my direction and rushed towards me screaming. I immediately rushed away. And these bastards did not lag behind. Finally I managed to hide in the bushes growing near the road. The creatures ran past without noticing me. I ran back to the campground where Sergei and I were camping.
-Wake up, we gotta go! - I woke my brother up.
-...What?..Why? - Sergei mumbled, not understanding anything.
-There's no time to explain. Run! - I almost shouted. I was getting hysterical.
Finally Sergei realized that the matter was urgent and began to pack his backpack. Suddenly we heard screaming. The creatures are close!  Quickly gathering our things, we ran. We ran without turning around for about half an hour, and when we looked back we realized that these bastards were not lagging behind. But suddenly we came to a familiar path. We only had to run to the car and get out of the damn forest. We ran for another twenty minutes. Finally we saw our car in the distance. But one of the creatures came out on the road right in front of us. It turned its head in our direction and shrieked. We had time to run past the creature and quickly get into the car.
Sergei started the car, and we immediately drove off, gaining speed. When we got on the highway I turned around and saw that the creatures were still running after us.
-Village! - Sergei shouted happily. I looked at the sign and realized that it was the same village we were in during the day. The gate was closed, but a guard noticed us and quickly opened it. As soon as we entered, he managed to slide the deadbolt right in front of those creatures' noses. Then he took us into his house and gave us tea.
-Do you know what these monsters are? - I asked the old man.
- Well... they... Would you like some jam? I made it myself. It's delicious.
The old man clearly didn't want to answer. But I was persistent. Just to be polite, I tasted the stuff. It's disgusting to look at and to taste.
-The jam is really good. -Yeah. So what are those things?
-Well, those things... Let me get you some tea.
-Tell me already! - Sergey couldn't stand it, -What are these creatures? Where did they come from? Why do you keep this information silent and change the subject?
- Okay, - answered the watchman, - What are these creatures - we do not know. They suddenly appeared and started attacking the village, killing people and livestock. That's why we built this gate," he pointed to the window where we could see the gate.
The old man allowed us to stay with him for the night. In the morning we thanked him and went home.
Our worried relatives met us at home. They asked where we had been and why we hadn't been in touch. Sergei and I decided in advance not to tell them about those creatures and simply said that we had gotten lost.  A few days later I went home and decided that I would NEVER go hunting in the woods again!
I have nightmares every night. I think that sooner or later the creatures will find me. That one night, I will wake up and see their faces in the window, that their horrible limbs will break the window, grab me, and I will end my life just like those travelers the old man talked about...
Six months later.
I had to come to those places again for work. I am a land management specialist, and they decided to clear a plot of forest for a biostation. The work was going very slowly, and we didn't manage to finish it until the evening. I made an agreement with one of the villagers that I would stay overnight, left my things and decided to take a walk in the forest. I had forgotten about the creatures.
After a few hours of walking, I realized I was lost. Images of the creatures immediately popped up in my mind. Although it was autumn, and from the old man's stories, I realized that they came out of their holes only in summer. I was about to calm myself down when suddenly I heard the cracking of twigs. I peered into the darkness. "This tree looks strange, the branches look like hands," I thought, when I suddenly realized that it was not a tree, but one of the creatures I had seen then. I started to back up slowly, trying to get my bearings on where I should run to get to the village. It was just a regular creature, not a "leader," so hopefully I'd be able to get away. The creature didn't see me yet, or did, but made no attempt to catch me, continuing to pretend to be a tree.
I was able to get away unnoticed. All that remained was to find the village. After another two hours of wandering through the woods, I noticed lights in the distance. I walked towards the house where I was going to spend the night, when suddenly someone called out to me. It was the same old man who had saved us then. I went up to him.
- Lost in the woods again? - He asked me with a grin.
- Yes. I saw that creature again, by the way," I replied
- Did you meet our deity again? -asked the old man.
- What deity? - I was surprised. Do you worship them?
- We perform a ritual of sacrifice. We sacrifice careless travelers.
I turned around and saw that three men had literally grown up beside us. One of them had a shovel in his hand. Before I could even shout, I felt a blow to my head and was plunged into darkness…