Occhi / Eyes
In that forest, it would have been strange to not feel like you’re being watched.
Of course, there are eyes in the forest, eyes we recognize as such; be it the wild stare of a boar, the feral glare of a wildcat, the demure look of a deer or the thousands eyes of a spider. Yet, out there, there are other types of eyes, with different ways to look.
There are the eyes of the unseen, those who hide in the shadows, those that barely dare show their figures on the side of your eyes, looking for shelter as soon as you turn your own stare to them. They are shy and weak, most of the time, and don’t dare to come into the light, or into the sight of a forest visitor, they are but mere spectators, watching and human prey wander over the sea of trees.
There are also the eyes of the lost, people just like you and me, those who wander without finding a way out, completely immersed in the illusions of endless bark and leaves, desperate to find something they no longer remember, guided by a yearning they can’t quite place. Most of them never make it out, either getting too lost in their delusions to remember the way out, or completely allured by the insanity that flows and reigns over the roots of the land.
Last but not least, there are the eyes of the hunters.
The hunters are immovable, old as the forest itself, they shape themselves like it, twisting their bodies into trunks and branches, they have learnt the art of camouflage and their hunger borders on insatiable. They drink blood, like the most vicious vampire, they attack with no mercy, like a dutiful soldier, and know nothing close to the meaning of mercy.
They thrive in the smell of death, rot and fear, it feeds them as much as flesh does, making them bigger, stronger, more terrible and fearsome. The hunters are everywhere in the forest, hunting the lost, scaring off the unseen.
So if you ever feel watched in this forest, don’t panic, you just need to get out. Find the one watching you, and never take your eyes off them.
