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Path Hands
Path Hands
Scientific Name Not Yet Assigned
Path Hands "hissing" and striking at a threat.
Overview
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Category
Bibelotite
Location
Unknown
Population
Unknown
Agent Risk
Medium Danger
Biome
Unknown
Activity
Unknown
the Story
Every sighting, every mention, every bit of history -
this is the complete story.
Though young Jacob Taylore was an outsider, he was a welcome outsider. Handsome, ambitious, and single, many sought his attention for themselves or their daughters.
A logrolling was in order.
Not grand events, the thrown-together affairs were nonetheless exciting. For a day, villagers put aside their own duties to gather and work as one; land would be cleared of tree, stump, and brush. But after, fires and food and dancing and plans. Jacob would be expected to do the same for new and old faces alike. He would also be expected to give special favor to those who contributed the most.
At the end of the day, the gathering had grown loud. Spread out over smoothed earth, fires popped up, encompassing piles of debris atop rough stumps. The clink of cookware and savory smell of meat caused the clearing to be filled with not only light, but fellowship. Laughter, singing, and the tap of feet joined the happy chorus. Only a handful of particularly diligent women continued to work into the twilight. A sudden shriek, however, stilled everything, even the firelight.
Tripping on her skirts as she twirled, Miss Beth Turner fell hard and headfirst into the middle of the largest bonfire. A broken leg kept her grounded; pushing herself up, tangled among the burning brush, she could not pull or back away, only scream. An unexpected horror, a few seconds passed before help rushed to her thrashing side. So badly burned and cut were her hands that they sloughed off and fell back into the flames.
Water extinguished the suffering woman, the bonfire, the logrolling festivities, and her hands. They sizzled and smoked atop a charred stump.
The gathering wordlessly collected their tools and dishes, leaving the new resident a solemn pile of leftovers. Everyone avoided staring at the horrific display, though a few paused to say a prayer for Beth and those treating her. Her wounds tended as best as they could be, the last of the party carried her down the trail to rest. Jacob had seen plenty of burns, but none this bad. Before returning to his rented room, he decided to take care of the hands first; if she were to die, it would be proper to bury all of her－not leave those for the animals to devour. Unfortunately, they were already gone.
Beth lived for another six days. Her hands were never recovered, though people still claimed to see them. In the forest, it was said that one could see the disembodied, burned fingers pulling their palms across the ground, sometimes chasing, grabbing, and scratching at whoever came by.
Was Beth's fearful, angry spirit trapped in her disembodied hands? Were the hands possessed by residual emotional energy? Was something more malicious at work in the forest? Or was it all just a story? While the tale evoked more questions than answers, it was the beginning of great discoveries.
Investigations proved the bit of folklore to be at least somewhat true: there was an entity living in the woods and Beth was a real person. But, these disembodied hands were most certainly not Beth. These things were not trapped souls, but organisms - life from another dimension. Was there another Ohio ghost story linked to a real organism? Was this just a stroke of luck, or were most, if not all, ghost stories partially true?
Paranormal entities are always attracted to events we would only describe as terrible; some beings have preferences, others requirements; some pretend, others possess; some feed on substances imperceptible to our senses, and others feed on us. While the latter are always more immediately dangerous, they are the most easily understood.
Path Hands
Scientific Name Not Yet Assigned
Field Report
A BCwPA Team has conducted a full investigation; this is what they have observed and learned.
Path Hands are often called "zombie hands"; while they are similar in appearance, they are not undead creatures, but organisms that possess separated flesh.
Categorization
Path Hands are a kind of bibelotite known to infect the disembodied flesh of multi-fingered appendages. Microscopic, insect-like organisms before metamorphosis, they are attracted to the smell of blood and cooking, burning, or decaying flesh. Traveling in pairs, they seek suitable hosts to make their cacoons.
All bibelotites, even of the same species, are unique. Their secondary forms are based upon their host, their personality, as well as their partner's. In a 1915 study, two coupled bibelotites were placed in observation; each were given a hand from one organism, and a second hand from a different organization. The same species with the same hands produced two similar, yet different pairs; while their anatomies were identical, their appearances and activity were distinct. One pair appeared as bloated, purple, and disfigured versions of the appendages they possessed and were active only in periods of darkness. The other pair's metamorphosis changed the appearance of their hands little, only growing rigid bumps along the tops of the fingers and one side of the wrist; this pair was active regardless of light, but moved markedly slower in darkness.
Pairs, even those made up of different organisms, take on similar appearances after metamorphosis; the size and makeup (number of fingers, for example) are dependant upon the host.
Appearance
Flexible and almost rubbery, Path Hands have a red, bubbly crest at the top of their wrists and display no bones or bone-like material. Topside, they are composed of a shiny, chitinous material called the outer-shell; glossy, purple-black, this shell protects the organism's organs from harm and helps it blend into the shadows. The underside is not encased in this substance, but a thick, reptilian hide instead. Rough and unfeeling, it protects the animal from getting hurt while traveling over difficult terrain. As it moves against itself, it makes a raspy, crispy sound.
Path Hands are only found in a small section of forest near Pike Lake State Park in southern Ohio. They can survive wherever food exists, as long as there is ample daylight.
Path Hands are carnivorous animals
Just like any wild animal, the hands feel threatened around larger creatures, especially when they’re in a small, unfamiliar place and the threat is loud, moving erratically. Bibelotites aren’t native to our world, and, unlike other paranormal entities, they don’t travel here on purpose. They may fall through a window area, are forcefully or accidentally brought by or alongside other entities, or are teleported into the area by evil or dark magic. As they are not interplanar travelers, once they arrive, they are trapped here, unless others step in to help. Their surroundings must feel especially threatening, confusing, and frightening.
Paranormal beings cannot coexist in our world. Many throw our ecosystems into chaos and disfunction; minor beings, like these, have little negative impact, but must still be returned home. However, benign entities like the hands can be studied here first; researching their activities in our world helps us predict their behavior, understand their functions, and interact with them more safely for all involved. Bibelotites are difficult to find and safely study in the paranormal world, so our knowledge mostly stems from the rare encounters here.
After a catch has calmed, agents must document observations. What does the entity look like? How is it acting? How is it responding? There are a variety of tests performed on new species, paranormal categories, and for cases like our hands, who seem to fall for the same trap again and again; the process takes very little time. This animal is much different than those you would normally see around Pike Lake - and they really do resemble a pair of decaying, human hands, though, with some strange abnormalities. Flexible and almost rubbery, they have a red, bubbly crest at the top of their wrists that resembles wet gore; however, they display no bones or bone-like material usually paired with these kinds of grisly displays. Topside, they are composed of a shiny, chitinous material called the outer-shell; glossy, purple-black, it protects their organs from harm and helps them blend into the shadows. The underside is not encased in a shell, but a thick, reptilian hide instead. Rough and unfeeling, it protects the animal from getting hurt while traveling over difficult terrain or from flinching while attempting to feed. They walk on four fingers, balancing and observing their surroundings with the thumb-like limb. Small, black, beady eyes sit on the top and bottom of the thumb. Their eyesite is poor in the light, but it is completely blind in the darkness.
at the BCWPA
Can you tell fact from fiction? Here is a breakdown of what can be found in this entry.
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Sources
All of the reference materials & research used in the creation of this entry.
“Pike County Hauntings & Legends.” Ohio Exploration Society, 20 May 2016, www.ohioexploration.com/paranormal/hauntings/pikecounty/.
“Pike Lake State Park (Ohio).” Wikipedia, 3 Aug. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_Lake_State_Park_(Ohio). Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.
Quackenbush, Jannette. “Haunted Ohio Ghost Stories, Legends, and Hauntings-Ghosts and Hauntings by County and Region throughout Ohio.” Hauntedhocking.com, hauntedhocking.com/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.