Sin

Where the Forest Listens

The trees stretched impossibly tall around me while silver fog drifted low across the ground, curling around my ankles with every step. Somewhere deeper in the woods, water trickled softly over stone.

I should turn back.

Instead, I kept walking.

Lately, it has become easier to listen to the forest than my own thoughts.

Branches snapped beneath my boots as I pushed through the dark, clutching my flashlight tighter.

Now, standing alone beneath twisting branches while the fog thickened around me, I was beginning to reconsider.

A distant sound echoed somewhere ahead.

Voices.

Male voices.

Low enough to blend with the wind.

I froze instantly.

The forest went silent.

Then—

A man stepped between the trees.

My breath caught painfully in my throat.

Beautiful.

Inhumanly beautiful.

Pale skin. Dark clothing. Eyes the color of winter storms.

Before I could speak, another man emerged from the fog behind him.

Dark hair. Sharp smile. Golden eyes reflecting the faint light unnaturally.

He looked at me like he had discovered something interesting.

The second man said, “you have beautiful eyes.”

I took a slow step backward.

The flashlight flickered once—

then died completely.

Darkness swallowed the forest.

A startled sound escaped me before I could stop it.

And immediately—

The taller man lifted his hand.

Light bloomed across his fingers.

Soft silver light spilled through the fog, illuminating his face.

Not human.

The thought struck me instantly.

Every instinct screamed at me to run.

But neither man moved toward me.

The dark-haired one tilted his head slightly, studying me with unsettling calm.

Then, they were gone.

I told myself afterward that the forest encounter had been stress, exhaustion, imagination.

Then shadows began appearing in places they should not exist.