AKA: Screecher, Night Terror The evil-natured entity of the legendary trio, Red Eyes looks like a giant bird with a long, pointed beak and sprawling, clawed feet. The opposite of Brightwing, the Night Terror is associated with fear, pain, and danger, seeking to kill humans and living creatures. It is predominantly active at night, but as it grows in strength, it appears more frequently during the day. Most notorious for its large, glowing eyes— unblinking, ominous orbs with a pinprick of black in the center — Red Eyes’ purpose is to generate as much death and panic as possible, as well as summon the Mothman; after this has been successfully wrought, the creature begins to die. The presence of Red Eyes is known to cause paranoia and uneasiness. Believed to be a creature from another dimension (differing from the one paranormal entities originate from), Red Eyes has resided in the region since at least the 1500s; though unique to West Virginia, similar beings have been spotted around the country and world (such as in Russia). It is most often seen near rural homes or in the forest at night. Red Eyes is the second stage in the Herald Cycle; it exists to summon Mothman and destroy the Headless Guardian. It is retired by Mothman and reborn by its innards. Anatomy and Physical Descriptions The Night Terror is described as being 6 - 7 ft tall when standing and 4 ft tall when leaning in a bird’s stoop. Its beak is thin, curves slightly downwards, and is black—gray in the sunlight; inside of the mouth, rows of needle-like, sharp teeth reside. Its feathers are a mix of black and gray shades, though artificial lighting reveals brown with speckles of blue on the beast’s back. The hide under the bird-like creature’s feathers is wrinkly and gray, though on the head, it turns into a ruddy, reddish tone. Red Eyes’ four-toed feet are a pale orange color, the rougher flesh banded horizontally with pronounced grooves and tipped with formidable, black talons. Feathers on the creature vary depending on their location. Upon the body, feathers are much smaller on the torso and head—the tiniest around the eyes—and longer on the tail and wings. Plumage gives the entity a full, round appearance. Feathers on the tail are the longest, composed of sturdy, rounded feathers that fluff out like an old duster. The wings are comprised of several feather types—pointed, rectangular, rounded, short, and long—optimized for flight. Though adept for air travel in the early stages of its lifecycle, over time, six, long, finger-like appendages are revealed as its plumage withers and it balds. These phalanges elongate throughout the creature’s life, ending in sharp claws. Red Eyes can only fly before the arrival of Mothman. The only aspects of interior anatomy present within Red Eyes are a black, pumping mechanism similar to a heart, a large stomach and stretching gullet, short cloacal tract (connecting to a small bladder and the stomach), and an acid-generating organ connected to the belly, which rapidly breaks down ingested components. The heart moves a warm, black, and corrosive liquid throughout the body’s veins; as deterioration occurs, this liquid cools and thickens, causing the creature to have sluggish, stiff movements. The substance oozes out of pores during deterioration; it has a foul, rotten stench. Food consumed by Red Eyes moves rapidly though its system. With a fast metabolism, it cannot consume enough food to gain weight, giving it a gaunt appearance. Documented History and Life Cycle The Night Terror lives a longer life than the Mothman, but shorter than Brightwing. Its existence begins a variable amount of time after Brightwing’s revival. With a regenerated, fresh body, Red Eyes crawls up from the soil like a zombie from its grave—hungry for flesh and carnage. With an agile, bird-form similar in appearance to that of a hummingbird, it seeks out prey to feast upon. Though the trio’s cycle has occurred several times in the past, Red Eyes’ earliest documentation originates from 1961. Soon after the creature’s birth, it began terrorizing rural areas of Huntington at night—hunting pets, wildlife, and frightening locals. Near their home on 31st St. Hill, an eerie, unsettling beast would visit one family’s home one to two nights per week for a month before vanishing for several weeks; it would always return, tormenting them for four years. At night, the family heard the sounds of its form bumping into the home, its clawed feet and wings scratching against outdoor objects, usually vehicles. As it moved, it grunted and gargled pooling saliva, trampling loudly through foliage and brush. Its strange, hunched, wild form cold briefly be spotted in the shadows; winged arms hung past its bent knees and it ran awkwardly, yet quickly, movement jumpy and in spurts. A pair of wide, bright red eyes, however, could always be spotted. During the night, it released a shrill, spine-chilling screech; it disappeared with the sunrise. As the monster only lurked after sunset, the family moved indoors before dark. During their time haunted by the creature, they were chased into their home or across the yard, harassed in the car, and their dogs were pursued—too frightened to want to go out. Though it tried, it never hurt anyone. No one outside of the home believed their stories and no investigation was initiated, even with their pleas. As the creature consumes more flesh and blood, its eyes glow brighter, and redder, its feathers darken, and its speed increases. Red Eye’s form can be seen stalking through the wilderness, hunting prey, scratching bark and dirt, and destroying nature out of spite. Once it has gained great strength, it emerges from the shadows more often, roaming during the day. In 1965, the creature was seen in Point Pleasant in a shaded copse near a residential area; there, a man spotted it and watched for several minutes. Its form frightened him so much that his wife believed he was having a heart attack in the yard. After regaining his composure, he recounted what he saw: a tall, gray, human-like figure walking in the woods with fiery eyes. When the Night Terror reaches its maximum potential, it seeks out the Headless Guardian; weakened, the altercation is brief and violent. Red Eyes bashes and cracks carapace with its talons and beak, spilling the creature’s innards onto the ground; once depleted of the sluggish creatures that give it life, the bird-like monstrosity consumes several of them noisily, purposefully allowing some of them to escape and delve underground. A faint golden pinprick of light can be seen in its red eyes after the altercation; soon afterward, its belly swells. The larger its stomach expands, the straighter and more human-like it walks. Up to a month later, the beast’s abdomen splits, a vertical beam of light radiating from the division. A dimensional tear, out of Red Eye’s unconscious form a dark figure staggers with large, insect-like wings stretching wide. The Night Terror remains motionless as the cavern in its chest slowly, painfully closes over the course of several days. It is hypothesized—based on sighting data—that Mothman was rebirthed in the summer of 1966 in the Ohio Valley. After the arrival of Mothman, the body of Red Eyes begins to decay; the speed of its decomposition is dependent upon the calamity caused by Mothman—death occurring at the date of the disaster, determining the rapidity of its decline. Red Eyes was not documented again until August, 1966; on Route 19 along the New River, a small child was attacked—her eyes gouged out by a ragged, incredibly large crow. On Nov. 1, near Camp Conley Rd. in Point Pleasant, a national guardsman stationed at the armory reported seeing a large, brown, unsettling, humanoid figure perched in a tree. Several days later, two volunteer Point Pleasant firemen saw the being and its glowing red eyes in the TNT Area on Nov. 18. Two days later, it was flying near Ferry Branch and Dixie. As December 15, 1967 neared, the creature’s appearance became more cadaverous and strange. Its feathers began falling out, exposing claws and dark hide; crevices developed on its beak, sinking in while inhaling, and puffing out when exhaling. The Night Terror’s legs also thickened slightly, bending at odd angles when in motion. With its state of deterioration, it lost the ability to aptly fly, fluttering clumsily or flapping its arms in irritation. The deeper into its decomposition phase it is, the more Red Eyes appears gaunt, corpse-like, its body barren of coverings. Towards the end of its life, the beast’s flesh oozes a watery, black musk that is reminiscent of rotting flesh and makes its body slick, sickly shimmery. On the head, thin quills grow and protrude from the skull. Nearly an undead being, Red Eyes continues to attack those that draw near it, but reserves hunting and tr When Red Eyes is four-fifths through its decay, all feathers but those on the spine and upper arm are gone; at this stage, the color of its hide lightens. The creature begins chattering lowly and its behavior becomes more erratic and unpredictable (for example, Red Eyes may attack a tree or building, thinking it is a living being, or jump from lofty places with the intent to fly). As the beast moves, the sound of bone scraping against bone can be heard; strings of yellow saliva incessantly run over its lower jaw, pooling at its feet. Near the end of its life, the entity turns a pale gray, skin thin and stretched over its skeleton; its eyes appear overly large, rolling unnervingly around. The amount of oil and saliva produced and excreted increases, as does the creature’s strange, staggering activities. Red Eyes moves around jerkily, sometimes eerily standing still and staring into the distance before suddenly making quick, spontaneous movements. After Mothman’s disaster is wrought, the creature falls to the ground and disintegrates—its form dust. With rain, the particles hydrate, forming a black goo that sinks deep into the ground. The dark, foul substance congeals, slowly forming a snake-like organism; it lies dormant, one day developing and reforming as the Night Terror, Red Eyes. Right before its passing in 1967, the macabre creature was seen in the Chief Cornstalk park by four hunters; the sighting was brief, as it disappeared before their eyes. Other Sightings Legends and notes strewn across history and folklore, Red Eyes regenerates, causes havoc, and dies—returning in a decade, generation, or numerous lifetimes later. Since the Silver Bridge era, the creature has been documented four separate times. First, in August, 1978, it was seen in Oceana several times on Clear Fork Road. Twelve years later, it was seen around 9 p.m. in the TNT Area; there, two people visiting the area experienced a cold, unsettling wave of fear. Upon leaving the place, Red Eyes flew over their car. In 2003, it was seen near Huntington, swooping over cars. The last documented sighting occurred in 2010 in Point Pleasant. In the middle of the road, a black figure loomed, red eyes glowering menacing at a parked car; the ugly creature stooped over them, wings folded behind its back. It had no feathers, only dark skin. Fear welling inside, they yelled and threatened it with a metal baseball bat. The being fled with a deafeningly shrill screech. It is unknown how many cycles the trio have gone through overall—or even how many have occurred since Dec. 15, 1967; it is also unknown whether or not the creature is currently active. Regardless, if seen in the wild, it should never be approached, as it is extremely violent and unpredictable.