I was spending a month with my cousins at my grandma's house. It was August and my cousin's ages ranged from ten to fifteen, and I was the oldest (being fifteen). I was staying with a ten, thirteen, and fourteen years old. We stayed up telling scary stories often, but one night a few weeks in, we decided to make a campfire out back. My grandma's house is in a rural suburb, the neighbors aren't too far when you're driving down the road to her house, but in the backyard, it's a thick forest with man-made paths through it. Each house is on a hill so only part of the basement was actually underground. That isn't important until later though. So, we're towards the east side of her yard, in a smallish patch of open land. You couldn't see the neighboring yards from there, and there was probably three-quarters a mile to each side of us that belonged to my grandma.

It was maybe eleven at night, and we were playing truth or dare after telling scary stories, and my fourteen-year-old cousin dared me and the thirteen-year-old to go walk through the paths for ten minutes or so. I said yes right away, as I wasn't easily scared and rather level-headed, but my younger cousin was a bit more hesitant. We didn't bring a flashlight because it wasn't pitch dark yet, and we could see enough to not die. We were walking through the paths for about five minutes and could barely see the fire through the trees when we decided to turn. In the middle of the path, was a large dog-like creature, hunched over with its front hands an inch from the ground.

What I remember most was how its eyes were bright white, and it was humanoid-dog shaped with a human-like head but a dog-like body but human hands and feet. It looked right at us and I know I was paralyzed with fear as it dashed away from the opposite way from us, towards a creek that ran through the yard. Eventually, my cousin and I screamed bloody effin murder, and the other cousins and my grandma ran to us. I don't remember much here because I was really disoriented and I couldn't think properly, but I did wake up in bed, so I assume that I was brought up to the house. All the kids slept in the basement, in a big room with sliding glass doors to the outside, as the room was on the side that wasn't underground. My bed was pressed against a big glass window, and I could see my cousins playing outside down below. The house is in Michigan so it gets slightly chilly even at the end of August, and there was a slight breeze so I put on a jacket and ran to join them outside, skipping breakfast, not wanting to miss out on anything fun.

When I got down I could tell they weren't playing but rather running to get my grandma. Her dogs–both of them–were dead, ripped up. That night we went to bed early. I woke up at maybe two in the morning because I felt something hit my head. My cousins were all sitting on the double bed opposite me on the other side of the room. There was one bunk bed and two double beds, the double beds for me and my fourteen-year-old cousin. They were being quiet and staring at me. The thirteen-year-old nodded his head toward the window. I froze. They all looked afraid. I turned my head slightly to the side and I saw a really messed up-looking face pressed to the window with gaping eyes looking down at me. I screamed loudly, and it bolted. My grandma called the police after I told her what happened and they found nothing. I went home after that and I have never been there during the night again.