The low growl from the darkness kept the group on edge, their collective fear hanging thick in the air. Ethan squinted, his eyes straining to make out any kind of shape or movement within the pitch-black void surrounding them, but there was nothing clear—just the shifting murky blackness, constantly moving at the edges of their perception.
He couldn't tell if the movement was from the trees swaying gently in the wind, or if it was something more sinister. Something watching them, waiting for the right moment. He clenched his jaw, trying to push the anxiety down, but his muscles tensed involuntarily.
And then, the footsteps began.
Heavy, but not thunderous. Just loud enough to be unmistakable, enough to send a chill down Ethan's spine. The ground beneath them seemed to vibrate with each step, a subtle tremor that only increased their collective fear.
Ryan heard it first, his heart skipping a beat as the footsteps grew closer. Closer to him.
His breath caught in his throat, his face freezing in place. He felt paralyzed for a moment, unable to move, unable to even process what was happening. But as his fear began to grip his chest, his eyes darted to Jason, the boy behind him, who was looking at him with confusion. Ryan swallowed hard, the terror swirling in his gut.
He wanted to run. He wanted to bolt and never look back. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to flee. But Jason… Jason was right there. Just like Thomas had been. The thought of the young boy's fate flashed in his mind, making his heart pound even harder.
I can't… I can't let that happen again.
The footsteps grew louder, the sound unmistakable now. It was coming closer, undeniably closer. His pulse throbbed in his ears as he turned slightly, just enough to glance over his shoulder at Jason.
"Get back," Ryan whispered, his voice barely audible, trembling with fear. "It's… it's coming toward me. Don't stay near me."
Jason's eyes widened in response, fear spreading across his face. Without hesitation, he took several steps back, distancing himself from Ryan. His movements were careful, slow, as if any sudden movement would trigger something.
The growl came again, deep and guttural, vibrating through the air. It was closer now, its source moving directly toward Ryan. The footsteps grew more distinct, as if the creature was zeroing in on him. Ryan stood still, frozen in place. His legs felt weak, like they would give out at any moment, but he couldn't move.
Troy, who had been watching from a distance, noticed Jason's retreat and Ryan's petrified stillness. His brow furrowed in confusion as he quickly asked in a hushed tone, "Jason, what's going on?"
Jason, his voice shaky, replied in a sarcastic whisper, "I don't want to be near whatever the hell is stalking Ryan, okay?"
Troy's eyes widened in realization. The thing in the dark was targeting Ryan. But why? He didn't understand. None of it made sense. Yet, there was no time to figure it out.
"Ryan!" Troy hissed loudly enough to catch his attention. "Run! Hide! Do something! Don't just stand there!"
Ryan's eyes flickered to Troy, but his body remained rigid, his voice breaking as he shouted back, "I can't! If I run—if I come closer to you all—it'll come for us! It'll kill us all!"
His voice wavered, and everyone could hear the raw fear in his words. It wasn't just panic; it was desperation. A sense that he knew moving would doom them all.
Troy clenched his fists, struggling to think of what to do. His gaze darted between the darkness where the creature stalked and Ryan, who stood like a deer in headlights. Why was it focused on Ryan?
But before Troy could act, Ethan's voice rang out from a distance, sharp and loud, cutting through the air.
The sudden shout made everyone flinch, their heads snapping in Ethan's direction. Even the heavy footsteps halted abruptly, as if the thing in the dark had been startled. The growling ceased, the oppressive presence suddenly paused.
Ryan's breath caught in his throat, his mind spinning. 'Why? Why did Ethan shout?' His thoughts raced, but the most terrifying realization hit him like a punch to the gut: 'Why does it sound like he's so far away?!'
The heavy footsteps, once closing in on Ryan, now began to recede. Growing quieter, more distant. The creature was moving away. But not just away from Ryan—it was moving toward Ethan.
Ryan's mind screamed with panic. 'No, no, no, no! What are you doing, Ethan?' His fear was no longer for himself, but for Ethan, who had somehow ended up in the dark, far from the rest of the group.
Ethan, meanwhile, was cursing himself silently. Why am I doing this? His thoughts were a mess, full of regret and fear. Why did I shout? Why am I so far away from everyone else?
But the reason was simple. It was stupid, yes, but simple. He had noticed something that no one else had—the heavy footsteps were moving in one direction, consistently. The growls and the steps weren't random. They were deliberate, calculated. Ethan had figured out which direction the creature was heading before anyone else.
He had watched Ryan and Jason, their silhouettes barely visible in the darkness, and heard the heavy steps drawing closer to them. And in that moment, Ethan had made the only decision he could think of—he had to distract it. He couldn't fight it, he couldn't see it, but maybe he could lure it away.
But the question plagued him: Should I?
Should he risk his life for people he barely knew? For Ryan? For Jason? He didn't even know these people beyond their names, beyond their shared terror. His mind wrestled with the thought, his heart pounding in his chest.
But then the sound of the heavy steps grew louder, and the growl echoed through the clearing, closer to Ryan and Jason. Ethan clenched his fists, knowing he couldn't stand by and do nothing. He couldn't let this thing kill someone else. He couldn't be responsible for hearing someone die when he could have done something.
So he had made his choice. He had moved away from the group, carefully navigating the expanse of dead grass, stepping lightly in the hopes that nothing else would pop out of the darkness to end him right then and there.
Eventually, his hand had brushed against the rough bark of a large tree. He glanced around, recognizing the thick, ominous fog that signaled the edge of the forest once again. Ethan swallowed hard, the fear rising in his throat, but he couldn't let it stop him.
Turning around, his back pressed against the tree, he gathered what little courage he had left. 'This is stupid. This is so fucking stupid,' he repeated over and over in his head. But he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. He inhaled deeply, bracing himself for what was to come.
And then he shouted, as loud as his lungs would allow.
The echo of his voice tore through the night like a gunshot. Everything stopped. The footsteps. The growling. The murmur of the group. Even the wind seemed to still, as if the entire world was holding its breath.
Ethan stayed perfectly still, his back pressed against the tree, the cold bark digging into his skin. His heart pounded in his chest, and for a moment, all he could hear was the rapid thudding of his own pulse. The silence that followed his shout was deafening. Every second that passed felt like an eternity.
And then, after what felt like forever, the footsteps resumed—but this time, they were moving toward him.
Ethan's breath hitched in his throat, his entire body tensing as the sound grew louder, the vibrations under his feet growing stronger with each passing moment. It's coming for me, he thought, the realization crashing down on him.
In the distance, he could faintly make out the voices of the group. Troy's shouts, Ryan's panic. But they sounded so far away now, too far to reach him in time. He was on his own.
The heavy footsteps grew closer, the ground beneath him shaking more violently with each step. Ethan swallowed hard, his back pressing further into the tree as if he could somehow meld into it and disappear. He couldn't see the creature, but he knew it was there, lurking in the dark, waiting for him.
For a brief moment, he regretted his decision. The fear was overwhelming, suffocating him as the footsteps closed in.
But then, through the darkness, he heard something else. A low growl. Not the same one as before. This one was different. More primal. More menacing.
'No…' Ethan's thoughts ran cold.
He recognized the other growl instantly. That low, menacing rumble sent a shiver down his spine, an oppressive weight of dread settling deep in his gut. He felt compelled to look up, slowly, his eyes following the rough bark of the dark tree towering beside him. His breath hitched as the sense of being watched—always being watched—pressed harder against his chest.
And then, he saw it.
His blood turned to ice, freezing him in place as his wide eyes locked onto the source of his terror. Emerging from the black fog, those eyes—ghastly, glowing, milky white—pierced through the darkness, staring down at him with a cold, unblinking gaze. Ethan's heart pounded violently in his chest, but he couldn't move. His body shook, paralyzed by fear.
The heavy footsteps in front of him, the ones that had been growing louder with every moment, suddenly stopped. Silence fell over the clearing, but only for a heartbeat, as a deep, guttural growl rumbled from the shadows before him. But the growl wasn't directed at Ethan.
No… it wasn't looking at me.
Ethan's gaze remained locked on the creature in the fog—the creature. The one that had been stalking them from the beginning. The one that had killed Thomas. Its monstrous form was barely visible, its silhouette shrouded by the thick black fog, but those eyes… those ghastly, glowing eyes cut through the darkness, locking onto him with an intensity that made his chest tighten.
It towered above him now, its enormous, twisted body still obscured but more terrifying than anything he could have imagined. And though he could feel another presence in front of him, lurking just beyond the tree, it didn't matter anymore.
Because whatever was in front of him wasn't nearly as terrifying as the thing that was watching him from the fog.