There are no streetlights on this stretch of
the old, narrow road, which runs through a rural part of West Virginia. A car has gone off the
road into a ditch and needs to be pulled out. A common task for this tow truck driver and
he’s often in the area doing similar jobs, though he’s never been on this particular
road and he has to keep his eyes peeled for any signs or other markers that might give
him an idea of how close he is to his turn. He spots something up ahead, but as he gets
closer he sees that it isn’t a road sign, it’s a billboard. As he passes by he can make
out the weathered lettering advertising a diner twenty miles down the road that’s probably
been closed for at least as many years. As he continues driving he sees
more dilapidated billboards, advertising other long since shuttered
businesses like gas stations and autobody shops. But then he sees one on the road ahead
of him that’s nothing like the others. This one doesn’t look old at all. In fact
it looks quite new. He drives by and has to question if he saw it correctly. It seemed
like all it said was “Get Away” over and over and then the name of a road. Is that an
invitation? Or a warning? It wasn’t even clear what kind of business it might be advertising.
He continues driving, but he can’t quit thinking about that strange sign. He even feels compelled
to turn around so he can get another look at it, but there’s no need, because as he rounds a
curve there’s another of the same sign. This time he slows down as he passes to get a better
look and he was right, it just says “Get Away” multiple times with the name of a road. Wagriwa
Road. Must be Native American or something. Now he really can’t get the billboard
out of his mind. What does it mean? What is it advertising? And why is there
a third one of them just ahead of him?! He pulls his truck to the side of the road,
stopping with his headlights illuminating the sign. He gets out of the truck and stands
in front of the billboard. It’s just the same as the others. Get away written over and
over. Wagriwa Road. He can see now that the background of the sign is a picture of
some trees on a gray, cloudy winter day. He also notices for the first time that
there’s another line at the bottom. Find what you are looking for. What does
it mean? Find what you’re looking for on Wagriwa Road? Where even is that? There’s
no directions. No address. No phone number. He takes a step back from the sign and looks up
and down the darkened road. What is he doing out here on the side of the road? Someone is stranded
in a ditch waiting for him and he’s staring at a billboard? He gets back into the truck, puts it
in gear, and drives away. As he continues down the tree lined rural road though, he inevitably
finds his thoughts turning back to the signs. Get away. But find what you’re looking for? It
doesn’t make any sense. Or are you supposed to get away to Wagriwa Road? Who would put these
up? And why do they look so new? Everything else out here looks like it’s for a business that
shut down years ago? What are they trying to - He suddenly slams on his brakes and comes to
a screeching stop in the middle of the road. His eyes are locked on what’s in front
of him. His headlights aren’t lighting up another billboard though, this time
it is a worn road sign... Wagriwa Road. He can’t help it. He has to
know what’s down this road. He has to know what these signs are about. The
stuck driver can wait a few minutes longer. He turns his truck onto the narrow gravel road
and drives for a few hundred yards, following it around a couple of bends as it winds through the
trees, until it abruptly ends. There’s nothing out here, no buildings, no signs, just what looks
to be a dirt path leading deeper into the woods. The tow truck driver switches off the ignition
and the road is plunged into darkness. He reaches under his seat and takes out a
flashlight before getting out of the truck. He shines the light into the woods
surrounding him but there’s nothing to see… no wait, there is something, and it’s
coming down the path out of the trees. “Phil? Phil is that you?” The figure that
stepped out of the woods is talking to him. He shines his flashlight at them and they raise
a hand to shade their eyes from the light. “Sharon?! What are you doing out here?”
It’s Sharon, the tow truck driver’s ex-wife, but he thought she’d moved to Colorado
after she remarried, why would she be here? And what was she doing emerging from the woods? “Phil, come here. I need to show you something.” He hesitates for just a moment, but then
finds that he’s walking towards his ex-wife. Before he can reach her she turns and starts
walking down the path back into the woods and he follows. He walks just behind her, his
flashlight illuminating the path in front of them. He thinks he hears a rustling
coming from the woods next to him and searches the trees with his
flashlight but doesn’t see anything. “Come on, it’s just a little further,” she says. “Where are we going? What’s
just a little further?” “What you are looking for.” The woods suddenly open up and he finds that
they are standing in a clearing. She stops walking and he pauses next to her. He opens
his mouth to speak but she quickly shushes him. “Quiet, they’re almost here.” The tow truck driver looks around but
he doesn’t see anything, just the faint outline of trees that are barely visible
on this moonless night. But then he watches as several creatures begin to emerge out of
the woods into the clearing. They’re… deer? He watches as just a few
come towards him at first, but then he notices that they have completely
surrounded him. There must be over twenty. “Turn off your light” she tells him. He obeys and in the darkness he can see now that
there is something special about these deer. Their eyes are glowing with a pale white light. One
of the smaller deer steps forward and cautiously approaches him. He squats down and holds his
hand out, showing it that he means it no harm. The deer looks back nervously at a larger
one that he thinks must be its mother. It looks like it nods in approval,
and the smaller deer moves closer. He can clearly see its big, beautiful
doe eyes glow brightly in the dark. “You’re okay” he says, and leans forward
to give it a reassuring pet when - Following the mysterious
disappearances of multiple people in an area of West Virginia
near the town of Harpers Ferry, the SCP Foundation soon became interested in
a particular stretch of road where it appeared that many of those who had gone missing
had traveled just prior to their vanishing. Agents were dispatched to the area and immediately
detected high levels of thaumaturgic energy, with the epicenter appearing to be on a plot
of privately owned land. Investigation of local records revealed that the land was owned by a
man named Richard Redkinne. The Foundation staff contacted Mr. Redkinne under the guise of being
federal agents investigating a crime that had been committed on the property while he was away.
Mr. Redkinne happily cooperated with the agents, explaining to them that had never experienced
any abnormal events on the property while he was living there, but that he had not resided on the
land for some time. Strangely he claimed to not know the road as Wagriwa Road, insisting that as
far as he knew it had never had an official name, being nothing more than a long
driveway out to his property. When asked if he could remember anything
else abnormal about the location, he told the agents no, but that his daughter
had written many fictional stories about strange happenings on the land, and perhaps those had
somehow turned into rumors and then urban legends, though that was a long time ago. When the agents
requested to meet with the daughter he explained that it was impossible, she had drowned many
years prior in the nearby Shenandoah River. The agents again examined the local records
and found that Mr. Redkinne wasn’t lying, his daughter really had passed away
and her body was found in the river. The timing of this accident
was quite coincidental though, as it had occurred exactly one week before the
first missing person in the area was reported. Quickly realizing that something was
not quite right with this piece of land, the SCP Foundation authorized the purchase from
Mr. Redknine, who was more than happy to sell, and a research outpost was constructed to
further investigate the anomalous events which had collectively been dubbed SCP-4434.
While exploring the surrounding area, they soon found what so many others had before
- the bizarre billboards imploring one to both “get away” as well as come to Wagriwa
Road to “find what you are looking for.” The signs, which were designated as SCP-4434-A,
were found on roads across the West Virgina, Maryland, Virginia tri-state area, but
their locations would often change, with the billboards only manifesting for
short amounts of time before vanishing and reappearing elsewhere. Bizarrely, when attempts
were made to photograph or videotape the signs, the resulting footage would
show only a blank, white sign. The Foundation knew that they needed to
investigate further, and several experiments were authorized to find just what was happening
on the land at the end of the mysterious road. A D-Class personnel, D-84021, was given a radio and
implanted with GPS locators in his neck, torso, and thigh, and sent down the road with orders
to report back on what they experienced, though unlike the people who had gone missing, he was not
shown the billboard prior to entering the area. The D-Class walked to the end of the road where he
reported that a creature was emerging from a path leading into the woods. He soon exclaimed
that the creature was a dog that he used to own. The researchers monitoring the test
were confused, since the dog had apparently been deceased for some time, and yet here it
was standing in front of him. Although the D-Class had seemed hesitant at the start of
the mission, once he saw his childhood dog, all of his fears were set aside and he
willingly followed it deeper into the forest. After 90 seconds, the D-Class reported that he had
entered a clearing and was being surrounded by a group of deer. The reports stopped soon after and
were replaced by the sound of screams as D-84021 was attacked and apparently consumed by the
deer. Two of the three GPS trackers remained active for the next forty minutes, and SCP
researchers followed their path as they moved to the middle of the clearing and then appeared
to enter into a sinkhole or cave of some sort, where they traveled slowly in a winding
pattern downward until contact was lost. Following this test, the Foundation
researchers suspected that the creature that would emerge from the woods,
which had been designated as SCP-4434-B, was able to change forms into one that would
be trusted by those who entered the 4434 area. The deer, on the other hand, seemed
to always maintain their appearance, and the whole group was designated as
SCP-4434-C. The tests were far from over though. For the next, two D-Classes were sent into
SCP-4434 in order to see what form 4434-B would take when more than one person was present. Just
like before, an entity emerged from the woods, but this time it took the form of a young man
in a suit who immediately offered to clear any and all debts the D-Classes held as well as
expunging their criminal records, freeing them from their life as test subjects. All they
would need to do is follow him into the woods. The agents monitoring the test ordered the
D-Classes not to follow the man, but they were ignored, and the researchers listened as
they instead began conversing with SCP-4434-B, seeming to be quite interested in his offer.
They soon followed him into the woods, and just over two minutes later, they too
were attacked and consumed by SCP-4434-C. It appeared now that once someone
entered the SCP-4434 area, they were all but helpless to resist
the compulsive effects of SCP-4434-B. The Foundation researchers wanted to
test the limits of SCP-4434’s power, and so they then came up with a rather
creative procedure for the next test. Another D-Class personnel was sent down the
road, but this one was wearing a body harness that was connected to a pulley system,
as well as being equipped with a camera. He was ordered to wait at the edge of the
SCP-4434 area until the 4434-B entity appeared. The entity soon emerged, taking the form of a
middle aged woman. As soon as the D Class was seen conversing with the entity and agreed to follow
it, the pulley was engaged in order to forcibly pull him out of the area. This was followed by an
entirely unexpected event. The middle aged woman quickly produced a knife, and with a supernatural
speed, severed the rope on the pulley system. The now freed D-Class stood up, followed the
woman into the woods, and was consumed soon after. The researchers were growing frustrated with their
lack of advancement in understanding the anomaly, and so for the fourth test, they decided to take
quite extreme measures. A drone was used to fly over the area, which identified the mouth of the
cave that the GPS trackers had been taken into. It was a three and a half
meter wide hole in the ground, too dark to see anything past the entrance,
and the drone installed an anchor point in the ground at the mouth of the hole
before flying in to explore further, but the signal was almost immediately
lost. Progress had been made though. Yet another D-Class was selected, this
time one who had climbing experience. D-84041 was warned in advance that the SCP-4434-B
entity would appear to her and would have a compulsive affect, and that she was to ignore
them no matter what form they took and instead proceed as quickly as possible to the cave,
which had been designated as SCP-4434-D. D-84041 was taken to the road, and she
immediately began running down the path into the woods. She was able to reach the mouth
of the cave without seeing any anomalous entities, neither 4434-B nor the carnivorous deer. She
quickly attached the rope she had brought to the anchor that was installed by the
drone and began rappelling into the hole. As she descended down, she described a normal,
rocky cave, one that grew wetter the further down she went. Surprisingly, she soon reached
the bottom, where she found a spherical room, roughly eight meters across, but this was not
anything like the entrance to the cave. The floor of this room wasn’t made of rock or dirt,
it was more like flesh, and it appeared… to be breathing. And there was something else down there
too, a folded piece of paper with writing on it. The D-Class was ordered to pick up the
paper, take a sample of the cave floor, and exit the area as soon as possible, as there
was no way to predict if the SCP-4434-B and C entities, or something worse, would soon
appear. After taking a sample she began climbing out of the cave. When she emerged there
were still no signs of any anomalous creatures but she quickly made her way down the
road and out of the SCP-4434 area. When she reached the waiting Agents at the edge
of the area, D-84041 handed them the sample and the paper that she found but then stopped and
turned around. There on the ground roughly five meters away was a plate of food. Without any
hesitation she walked back into the SCP-4434 area, picked up the plate, and walked back
into the woods. She was never seen again. It was now clear that 4434-B could take
forms other than just humanoids and animals. As the objects that the D-Class had managed
to get out of SCP-4434 were analyzed, the area’s former owner, Richard Redkinne,
was again questioned by Foundation agents. They asked him if there was anything that he
failed to mention in their previous interview and he told them that there was one thing
that he preferred not to normally discuss. Just before his daughter’s death, in addition
to her fascination with writing and coming up with stories, she had become obsessed with the
occult. When they asked him about the paper they had found within SCP-4434-D, he told them
that it was very likely that she had written it. The SCP Foundation now understood why they had
detected so many thaumaturgic particles in the area, which is the residual energy left over
from a particular form of ritualistic practice that is more commonly known
as “magic” or “witchcraft.” The contents of the paper found in the cave
seem to add additional weight to the theory that his daughter may have been involved in a
ritual that led to the creation of SCP-4434, because written on the single
page is a poem which reads: The forest is a sea;
the wind is the waves and the water is the leaves. The streams become undercurrents,
the birds become fish, and coral finds its home as fungus,
growths sprouting as I wish. The ground is the shore,
pulling me by the feet, dragging me down and pulling me back
Back and forth on repeat. I dove down past the light down where I couldn't breathe,
and found nature looking for a fight. Yes, the forest is a sea,
but I've made it barely big enough for me. The forest is a sea,
so now something's bound to come eat. Things only became more mysterious though
when Foundation researchers performed a DNA test on the sample taken from the bottom of the
SCP-4434-D cave. What they found was that it was, just as D-84041 had described, a flesh-like
substance. And that it was a 78.9% match to Melanocetus johnsoni, better
known as the Deep Sea Anglerfish. And there was one final discovery to be made
as well. Linguistic teams within the Foundation investigated the name of the road that
had appeared on the SCP-4434-A billboards and discovered that the word was very similar
to the Native American Tutelo tribe word wágriwa, which roughly translates
to the phrase… I have come back. Now you should come back as well, by subscribing and turning on notifications
to make sure you don’t miss a single anomaly, like SCP-054, the Water Nymph, another
strange and perhaps misunderstood creature, as we delve further and further into the
SCP Foundation’s classified archives.
