The sun was going down, but scary orange and red lights came through the trees. The trees looked like monsters standing guard. Their branches were twisted in a bad way.
Amaliah and Katarina were very scared, but also excited. They stood at the edge of the dark, spooky forest, staring inside.
"I'm telling you, this forest is not a good place. People are not allowed here for a reason," Amaliah whispered, trying not to make noise. Her eyes looked mischievous, but her voice was shaky.
"Don't be a baby, Amaliah! What's the worst that could happen?" Katarina's ponytail bounced as she nodded towards the evil trees. She tried to sound brave, but her eyes looked unsure.
The sisters always wanted to know about the forbidden forest. There were many scary stories and strange sightings. But today, the girls didn't listen to their parents. They decided to finally explore the secrets inside.
They crept into the dark forest. The dried leaves on the ground crunched under their feet. The twisted trees seemed to wrap around them with their crooked branches, making long and scary shadows.
An eerie quiet fell over the forest, only broken by the occasional strange bird call or rustling leaves.
The further they went, the more quiet and spooky it became. It felt like the whole forest had a million invisible eyes watching them. Amaliah and Katarina's hearts pounded rapidly with fear.
"Did you hear that?" Amaliah mouthed silently, looking around with terror.
"Hear what?" Katarina could barely speak.
"Whispering...like someone evil is following us."
Katarina's eyes went wide and she grabbed Amaliah's arm tightly. "Let's get out of here right now!" she cried shakily.
But Amaliah didn't move. Her curiosity made her stay despite the danger. "Wait, look over there!"
In the distance, an odd low humming grew louder and louder, like a thousand angry bees. The sisters clutched each other as the terrifying sound pounded in their ears.
Without warning, a powerful gust of wind rushed through the trees, making swirls of leaves fly all around them. The humming became deafening, and the girls stumbled backwards in fright. A sickly green glow shimmered amongst the trees.
Just as quickly as it started, the glow vanished and the humming stopped, leaving an dead silence. The petrified girls stood trembling.
That's when they saw it - an ancient, decrepit house stood ahead, its windows boarded up and door hanging open like a black mouth. The rotten house seemed to leer over them, daring them to enter its decaying frame.
Amaliah and Katarina's blood turned to ice....
The dead silence around the creepy old house made it feel like it was holding its breath, waiting for the girls to make a move.
"Should we go inside?" Katarina barely whispered, staring at the doorway like a black pit. Her voice was so quiet, like she was afraid the house could hear her and was listening.
Amaliah gave a small nod, "Yeah...let's do it." She took one tiny step forward, eyes rapidly scanning the area for any danger signs. The gnarled, claw-like branches seemed to reach out menacingly toward them.
Slowly, carefully, they crept up the rotting porch boards that moaned under their feet. The sisters exchanged a terrified glance. With each step closer, the air thickened and pressed in, making it harder to breathe.
Finally at the door, Amaliah froze, her trembling hand outstretched to grasp the rusty, old doorknob. "D-Do you feel that?" she mouthed silently to her sister, eyes wide.
Katarina could only nod jerkily, a mixture of sickening dread and morbid excitement on her face. It was like some unseen presence was waiting for them on the other side of that door.
Amaliah pulled hard and the protesting door creaked open with a ghostly moan. Holding their breath, the girls stepped over the threshold into the dim, musty interior. The stale air was thick with the smells of decay and rot. Cobwebs hung everywhere like torn curtains. Dust covered all the things. Their footsteps made loud noises on the bare floors as they walked carefully.
Deeper into the rancid house they went, the silence feeling heavier with each step, only broken by the angry groans of the old floorboards beneath them.
Amaliah and Katarina's racing hearts pounded in their ears as they exchanged terrified looks.
Finally, they entered a small, gloomy room with stone walls and a grimy floor. But their eyes were instantly drawn to the looming structure in the center - an ancient carved stone slab covered in bizarre, twisting symbols that seemed to squirm across its surface.
With trembling steps, the petrified sisters approached the ominous memorial. They had never seen markings like these before. Though they looked like some sort of language, the shapes and figures were entirely alien.
"W-What is this thing?" Katarina shakily breathed, barely above a whisper.
Amaliah shook her head slowly, "I don't know...but it looks so old and scary."
Leaning in closer, their eyes went wide as the symbols began pulsing with a sickly, otherworldly glow. The two girls clutched each other, hearts pounding, adrenaline and fear raging through their veins.
As they stared at the creepy old stone, a faint whisper seemed to come from somewhere in the room. "Amaliah...come closer."
Amaliah's heart jumped. She felt a strange pull towards the stone with the weird glowing drawings. She stopped, eyes locked on the squiggly symbols that were pulsing with an ugly green glow.
"Did you hear that?" Amaliah whispered to her sister, talking very quietly.
Katarina's eyes were wide like saucers. "Hear what?"
"The voice," Amaliah said, still staring at the stone. "It called my name."
Katarina looked at the stone too but shook her head. "I did not hear anything. But...I feel something strange."
"What do you mean?" Amaliah whispered.
"I feel like something is watching us," Katarina said, quickly looking around the shadows. "Like something bad is waiting for us here."
Amaliah shivered, even though it was a warm summer night. "I know what you mean," she whispered back. "I feel it too."
But Amaliah was sure she heard the voice. It was soft and pretty sounding, but also urgent like it really wanted her to come closer. Even though she felt scared and uneasy, Amaliah felt pulled towards the stone, like an invisible force was telling her to get closer.
"Come closer," the voice whispered again, the words echoing inside Amaliah's head.
With a scared feeling in her chest, Amaliah took one step towards the stone. Katarina grabbed her arm tightly, trying to stop her sister. But Amaliah shook her off.
"I have to go to it," Amaliah whispered, not looking away from the stone.
"Amaliah, don't!" Katarina whispered urgently. "Something is very wrong here!"
But Amaliah did not listen. She took another step closer, her heart pounding hard. The weird squiggly symbols were pulsing faster now, and the air around her felt colder.
"Amaliah...come closer," the soft voice said again, echoing in her mind.
Suddenly, a flickering, scary light filled the whole room. The two sisters froze like statues, their hearts racing with pure terror.
Katarina opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The light grew brighter and the pulsing faster. Amaliah could not look away from the glowing, burning symbols...
As Amaliah's fingers touched the glowing stone, a blinding bright light exploded out, surrounding the two girls.
Without warning, an invisible force threw the girls backwards, knocking them to the ground. They landed hard, the wind knocked out of them.
Amaliah's body went limp like a broken doll, her arms and legs splayed out. Katarina collapsed beside her sister, her eyes frozen wide with a silent scream on her face.
But then, as the flashing light faded, something very strange and scary began happening to Amaliah. A glowing red tattoo started appearing on her wrist, like an invisible hand was drawing it!
The tattoo symbol pulsed bright like a beating heart. It looked like the stone was branding her with its mark, claiming ownership over her.
Amaliah lay still, with her eyes closed. Slowly, the glowing tattoo spread its eerie red light through her body like fire. Then, her eyes flew open, but instead of normal eyes, her pupils glowed the same vibrant red as the wrist tattoo.
Her expression was empty as she stood up stiffly and moved towards the stone slab, kneeling in front of it, as if to complete the connection.
For a few moments, Amaliah remained motionless, glowing red eyes locked on the carved symbols. Then, just as suddenly, she slumped back to the ground, unconscious once more.
Next to her, Katarina was still knocked out cold, not seeing any of the bizarre things happening to her sister.
The room was totally silent except for the low humming from the stone and the pulsing of Amaliah's new glowing tattoo. The air felt thick with weird energy, like reality itself had been cracked open by the stone's powerful magic...