Prologue
RUN!!!
The word ceased to be a thought long ago, and had molded itself into a sharp instinct. My lungs burned with every ragged breath I took as I tore through the forest, branches clawing at my face and sleeves, roots twisting beneath carpets of dead leaves like skeletal fingers reaching from beneath the earth, and every heartbeat thundered against my ribs with desperate urgency, loud enough that I feared it carried for miles.
The forest was so quiet that it made my own breathing sound really loud.
A faint, silvery fog crept through the old pine trees, wrapping itself around their dark trunks like lost souls. The moon cast a pale, eerie glow through the leaves above, lighting up small areas of silver before quickly covering them in shadow again. The forest seemed to go on forever, a vast and mysterious maze of tall trees and hidden paths that shifted and changed with every passing moment. It was as if the forest was alive, and nothing stayed the same for more than a second. The trees loomed above, their branches creaking softly in the stillness, while the fog swirled around their thick bases, creating an otherworldly atmosphere. Every step revealed a new and unfamiliar landscape, as if the forest was constantly reinventing itself, refusing to be pinned down or explored. The darkness was almost palpable, a living, breathing entity that pulsed with a strange, wild energy, and the silver mist only added to the sense of enchantment and unease.
I didn’t know where I was. I only knew that I couldn’t stop running forward. Behind me—something moved, something impossibly swift, otherworldly and nightmarish in its motion as it flowed gracefully through the undergrowth. Branches seemed to bend aside before it reached them, as if bowing to its supreme presence, and fallen leaves stirred only after it had already passed. Whatever pursued me belonged entirely to the realm of darkness in a way that no living creature ever should.
I took a quick look back, but saw nothing out of the ordinary—just the thick fog swirling around, the trees leaning in like they were trying to listen in, and the moonlight casting an eerie glow over everything. The branches of the trees were all twisted and gnarled, like nature’s own sculpture. The moon’s pale light was breaking up into little pieces as it hit the forest floor, making everything look spooky and unreal.
A surge of hope rose within me.
Perhaps I had imagined—
Something darted between the trees, a dark figure that vanished before I could even get a good look at it. It moved so quickly that my eyes couldn’t keep up with it, and my stomach did a flip as I tried to process what I had just seen.
No. Not gone. It is moving.
It hunted through the woods as though every root, every stone, every branch had been placed there specifically for its convenience alone.
I tripped over a root that was sticking out, and my hands hit the wet ground as I fell, which hurt like fuck. Everything around me seemed to move and change.
I couldn’t help but uttering a quiet “No.”
I scrambled upright again, leaves clinging to my jacket as blood welled from a shallow scrape across my wrist, bright against my pale skin.
Again, the forest changed around me—the wind vanishing, the trees all seeming to hold themselves perfectly still. Even the crickets had stopped. And then—
A low, rumbling noise echoed through the darkness, like the soft whisper of a breath when someone’s amused by something. My instincts were yelling at me to get out of here, fast.
I obeyed without hesitation.
The path disappeared beneath my pounding feet. Pine needles slid beneath my boots as I raced downhill through a narrow ravine where jagged rocks emerged from the earth like broken teeth. Thorn bushed reached across the trail, tearing at my clothes until ribbons of fabric fluttered behind me. The cold air sliced through my lungs, each new breath becoming harder to steal than the last.
Don’t stop! Don’t you dare look back! Whatever it is… Don’t let it catch you, Claire! Keep running!
A blur flashed high above. I looked up instinctively. Nothing should have been able to move through the treetops like that, yet shadows crossed the branches with unnatural, predatory grace, from one pine to another, barely touching them at all, completely weightless. Watching me…
A flash of pale skin in the shimmering moonlight, a hand closing around rough bark. Then empty branches swayed gently beneath the moon.
The thing was playing with me…
It’s not like it’s trying to kill me or anything, I mean, if that’s what it wanted, I would probably be gone by now, no problem. Right?
I stepped into a small open space, where the soft moonlight spread out across the tall grass that sparkled with frost. It was a really beautiful sight. The stars shone brightly above, and a thin mist floated gently across the field as old trees stood quietly around the edges. Then, without making a sound, something landed about thirty feet in front of me. The world had been quiet, but now it felt like everything was waiting to see what would happen next. The trees seemed to be watching, and the mist swirled around me like it was trying to hide something. I stood there, taking deep breaths, trying to take it all in.
The air was cold and crisp, and I could feel the frost on the grass beneath my feet. It was a moment that felt frozen in time, like nothing could ever disturb it. But then, I saw the shadow, and everything changed.
My breath caught.
It stood tall and completely still, with its back to me. The dark clothing it wore blended seamlessly into the darkness of the night, making it almost invisible. But then I caught sight of one of its hands, resting gently against the trunk of a huge oak tree.
The figure tilted its head ever so slightly, listening and waiting. I turned sharply and fled in another direction, struggling to catch my breath, flinching as laughter echoed behind me; quiet and beautiful and terribly, terribly wrong, carrying no cruelty or anger, only absolute confidence. The kind possessed by something that had never known failure.
The trees all seemed to close in around me, their branches slapping at my face like whips. My eyes stung from the sweat and tears that streamed down my cheeks, blurring my vision. Every part of my body ached, my muscles screaming in fierce protest. And with each ragged breath, my throat felt like it was on fire, the air scratching in and out like sandpaper.
I couldn’t keep this pace much longer, I knew I couldn’t.
The pounding footsteps behind me never changed or grew any heavier or sounded strained in the slightest. They remained impossibly measured, almost leisurely in their pursuit.
The thing was letting me exhaust myself.
As I walked, the trees started to spread out, and then I caught sight of water up ahead.
The lake!
Moonlight stretched across its surface in a sheet of shimmering silver. Relief flooded through me at the sight of it. If I could reach the shoreline…
If I could find people…
Lights…
Anything—
I felt a gentle touch on my shoulders, it was so soft that I thought it might have been a leaf falling from a tree. But then I let out a loud cry, my body jerked forward and I started choking, gasping desperately for air. I looked around, but there was no one standing next to me or behind me, and that scared the shit out of me. My breath caught in my throat as I spun around and around, trying to see who or what had just touched me, but I was completely alone.
I ran harder.
The glimmering shoreline drew nearer and nearer—twenty yards, fifteen…
Ten…
Something rushed past me, a dark shape, a gust of freezing air striking my face as the blur mingled with the moonlight, standing between me and the lake.
I came to a sudden stop, my legs almost buckling under me. The figure was just a few feet away, its face hidden in the dark. But its eyes gleamed in the moonlight, shining like silver, fixed and starving.
We just stood there, frozen, our eyes locked on one another. The whole world seemed to fade away, leaving only those creepy, dead eyes staring back at me. A gentle wind blew, stirring up the mist that embraced us. Then, the figure’s face twisted into a crooked smile, and for a split second, the moonlight caught something white and pointy—fangs, I was sure of it. But before I could even process what I was seeing, the darkness closed in again, and they were gone.
Every instinct told me to scream, but I just froze up. The figure vanished in a blur, nothing more than a rush of air behind me, where I felt cold fingers settled around my wrist. Another hand rested against my shoulder with startling tenderness, and then I heard a voice right there next to my ear, speaking in little more than a whisper.
“Not fast enough, little heart.”
Everything went black. My heart stopped beating, and the world spun wildly out of control. I felt a chill slither down my spine as cold breath whispered against my neck, and then I felt a sharp pain as the tips of teeth sank deeply into my skin. The next thing I knew, everything was dark and silent.