Chapter 1
Run.
That was the only thought left in her mind.
Run.
She didn't know where she was going.
She didn't know how long she'd been running.
She didn't even know if she was still going in the right direction.
She only knew that if she stopped, whatever was behind her would catch her.
Her boots slammed against the forest floor as she pushed herself through the darkness. Wet leaves scattered beneath her feet, and branches whipped across her face and arms. She barely noticed the scratches anymore. Her lungs burned with every breath, and her legs were beginning to feel numb.
She had been running for what felt like hours.
The moon hung somewhere above the trees, but the thick canopy blocked most of its light. Every few seconds, pale silver beams slipped between the branches, illuminating pieces of the forest before disappearing again.
She looked over her shoulder.
Nothing.
Just trees.
Tall, crooked trees disappearing into darkness.
She turned forward again.
"Come on," she whispered between breaths. "Come on..."
She could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Then—
Snap.
She stopped.
Her entire body went rigid.
A twig had broken somewhere behind her.
She slowly turned her head.
Nothing.
Her breathing became shallow.
"Hello?"
Her voice sounded pathetic in the darkness.
No answer.
She stared between the trees, searching for movement.
Nothing.
She almost laughed at herself.
Maybe it was a deer.
Maybe it was a branch falling.
Maybe she was imagining things.
Then another twig snapped.
This time, it came from her left.
Snap.
She spun around.
Nothing.
Her eyes darted between the trees.
"Who's there?"
Silence.
Then she heard something breathing.
Slow.
Heavy.
Deep.
Her stomach dropped.
That wasn't a deer.
She backed away slowly.
One step.
Then another.
The breathing stopped.
She swallowed.
"Please..."
Something moved in the darkness.
She couldn't see what it was.
But she saw the trees move.
One branch shook.
Then another.
Something was coming toward her.
Fast.
She turned and ran.
The forest exploded behind her.
Branches cracked.
Leaves rustled.
Something large crashed through the undergrowth.
She screamed and ran harder.
She didn't dare look back.
The sound behind her grew louder.
CRACK!
A thick branch broke.
BOOM!
Something slammed into a tree.
Then came the roar.
She nearly fell.
The sound was unlike anything she'd ever heard. It wasn't the roar of a bear or a mountain lion. It was deeper. More powerful.
It seemed to vibrate through the ground.
She felt it inside her chest.
She covered her ears as she ran.
"What the hell are you?!"
Another roar answered.
Closer.
Much closer.
She pushed through a wall of branches and stumbled into a clearing.
Her eyes widened.
There was no path.
No road.
No house.
Nothing.
Just trees.
She spun around.
The creature had stopped.
She couldn't see it.
The forest was silent again.
Too silent.
She stood in the clearing, trembling.
"Okay..."
She tried to catch her breath.
"Okay. Think."
She looked around.
She needed to find a way out.
She reached into her pocket for her phone.
Her fingers shook.
She pulled it out.
The screen lit up.
No Service.
"Of course."
She tried calling anyway.
Nothing.
She stared at the screen.
Her battery was at twelve percent.
She shoved the phone back into her pocket.
Then she heard it.
A low growl.
Behind her.
She slowly turned.
There was nothing there.
Her heart hammered.
The growl came again.
This time from the opposite side.
She turned.
Nothing.
Another growl.
Behind her again.
She began to realize what was happening.
It wasn't standing in one place.
It was circling her.
She backed toward the edge of the clearing.
"Stay away from me."
The trees remained still.
Then a branch snapped.
SNAP.
Another.
SNAP.
Another.
SNAP.
She turned in a slow circle.
The sound was coming from everywhere.
Left.
Right.
Behind.
Ahead.
Her breathing became frantic.
"No..."
She ran.
She didn't care which direction.
She simply ran.
Her boots slipped through mud as she raced between the trees. She grabbed branches and pulled herself forward, using anything she could to keep from falling.
The forest seemed endless.
Every tree looked the same.
Every shadow looked like a doorway.
Every sound made her flinch.
Then she heard something behind her.
Footsteps.
Not animal footsteps.
Heavy.
Two-footed.
One.
Two.
Three.
They were gaining on her.
She ran faster.
Her lungs screamed.
Her vision blurred.
"Help!"
She screamed until her throat hurt.
"HELP!"
Nothing.
No cars.
No voices.
No distant houses.
Only the forest.
And the footsteps.
She glanced over her shoulder.
For the briefest moment, she saw something.
A shape between the trees.
Tall.
Much too tall.
Its shoulders were enormous.
Its body seemed almost human, but something about the way it moved was wrong.
Her foot caught on a root.
She went flying.
Her hands hit the ground.
Pain shot through her wrists.
She rolled down a steep embankment, tumbling through leaves and mud.
Her shoulder struck a rock.
Then her head.
Finally, she slammed into the trunk of a tree.
Everything stopped.
For several seconds, she couldn't move.
She lay there staring upward.
Her ears rang.
Her vision swam.
She tried to breathe.
Nothing came out.
Then she heard footsteps.
Slow footsteps.
Coming down the hill.
Her eyes widened.
"No..."
She tried to crawl.
Her arms shook beneath her.
She couldn't get her legs to work.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
She looked up.
Something stood at the top of the embankment.
She couldn't see its face.
Only its silhouette.
It was enormous.
The moonlight outlined its shoulders and long arms.
It tilted its head.
She pressed herself against the tree.
"Please..."
The creature began walking toward her.
One step.
Then another.
She tried to scream.
"Please don't..."
It stopped directly in front of her.
For one terrifying moment, neither of them moved.
Then the creature lowered its head.
She finally saw its eyes.
They reflected the moonlight.
Not like an animal.
Like something that understood exactly what she was.
Something that had been watching her.
Studying her.
Waiting for her to become too tired to run.
She screamed.
The creature lunged.
Its massive hand caught her before she could move.
She fought desperately, kicking and clawing at it.
The pain was immediate and overwhelming.
The creature's jaws opened.
Far wider than they should have been able to.
Then it struck.
Her scream echoed through the forest.
A violent movement.
A flash of teeth.
Then silence.
She collapsed against the tree, blood running down her neck as the creature released her.
Her eyes remained open.
She tried to breathe.
Tried to move.
But her body wouldn't respond.
The creature stood over her.
For a moment, it simply watched.
Then it turned its head.
Another roar echoed somewhere deep within the forest.
The creature answered.
And somewhere beyond the trees, something else answered back.
The forest seemed to come alive.
Branches moved.
Leaves rustled.
One by one, twigs began snapping around the clearing.
Snap.
Snap.
Snap.
The creature disappeared into the darkness.
Leaving her alone beneath the trees.
And the last thing she heard before everything went black was the sound of something approaching from behind her.
Snap.
