Mia's father awoke with a start, his heart pounding in his chest. The first thing he noticed was that Mia, his beloved daughter, was not sleeping beside him as she always did. Panic surged through him as he scanned the area around their makeshift campsite deep within the eerie woods.
"Mia? Mia, where are you?" he called out in a hushed but desperate voice. His frantic gaze swept the surroundings, but there was no sign of her. The forest seemed to close in around him, its ancient trees casting long, sinister shadows in the pale moonlight.
Fear gripped his heart as he considered the possibilities. Had she wandered off in her sleep? Had some creature of the night snatched her away? The woods were known to be haunted, and stories of malevolent spirits that lurked in the darkness had haunted his childhood.
