Prologue
Speeding down the wet asphalt, Sam had only one thing on his mind: telling his wife the good news.
After four months of unemployment, he had finally found a job. A smile spread across his face as he imagined her reaction. She would probably apologize for calling him useless these past few weeks, showering him with sweet words to make up for it.
He would pretend to be upset for a few moments before finally giving in to her affection.
The thought made him smile again as he shook his head slightly and pressed harder on the accelerator. Traffic was light that evening. He lowered the window, and the damp night air rushed violently into the car, tousling his brown hair.
His attention was suddenly drawn to an old wooden sign pointing toward a shortcut to the city. Without hesitation, Sam turned onto the narrow, muddy road leading through the dark forest.
The constant jolts from the potholes made his stomach churn. Feeling his last meal rising, he leaned over to grab a sick bag from the glove compartment when something slammed violently into his windshield before being thrown into the back of the vehicle.
Panic surged through him.
He stepped hard on the accelerator, swerved sharply, and crashed into the trees lining the road.
My God… what the hell was that? he thought, his heart pounding wildly.
Breathing heavily, he quickly stepped out of the vehicle and grabbed a flashlight. A few meters away, a figure lay motionless in the mud.
At first, he thought it was an animal.
But as he approached, horror washed over him when he realized it was a man—badly injured.
His torn clothes were soaked in blood. Strange claw marks covered his left arm. A deep wound on his neck was bleeding heavily, and part of his right side appeared to have been ripped apart.
Those injuries couldn’t have been caused by the impact with his car.
Sam crouched down and carefully turned the body over. The man was still breathing, but barely.
He pulled out his phone to call for help.
“Damn it!” he cursed when he saw there was no signal.
Quickly tearing off a piece of his sleeve, he pressed it against the stranger’s neck wound to stop the bleeding when the injured man suddenly grabbed him by the collar, trembling violently, his eyes wide with terror.
“They’re here…” the stranger whispered in a hoarse voice. “The creatures from hell… they are among us.”
Sam frowned, unconvinced.
The man was clearly in shock.
“I need to get you to a hospital immediately, or you’re going to die,” he said, ignoring the injured man’s delirious words.
With great difficulty, he carried the man back to his pickup truck and laid him on the back seat.
As he was about to get inside, an invisible force suddenly threw him violently against a tree, cracking his ribs.
Dazed and struggling to breathe, Sam slowly got back to his feet.
That was when he saw it.
A hooded figure dragging the injured man through the mud.
Sam took a few hesitant steps toward the stranger, but what he saw next froze him in place.
From the darkness emerged a monstrous creature standing between him and the hooded figure.
The beast was covered in thick black fur, its sharp fangs exposed beneath curled lips. Its glowing eyes burned with a terrifying intensity as a deep growl escaped its throat.
It was ready to attack.
