It started, as all bad ideas do, with a dare.
Jimmy Maddox, a scrappy kid with a chipped tooth and a wild imagination, stood on the edge of the woods, flashlight in hand. His breath was visible in the crisp night air, and the glow from the flashlight flickered as he waved it at his friends behind him.
"Come on, don't tell me you're all scared," he teased, his voice cocky. "It's just a stupid forest."
Stacey, tall and blonde with her hair in a tight ponytail, crossed her arms and glared at him. "Yeah, a stupid forest where people disappear."
Behind her, Jake and Tina huddled close.
Jake, Stacey's younger brother, was only fourteen and had a constant nervous energy about him. Tina, with her wild curls and leather jacket, seemed unphased by the eerie surroundings — but she wasn't about to admit that her heart was pounding in her chest.
"No one's disappeared in years," Jimmy scoffed, though the shadow in his eyes betrayed his confidence. "Besides, I heard there's a shack out there, near the old sanitarium. Bet you won't go inside it."
"Jimmy, this is stupid," Jake muttered, kicking the dirt. "We've heard the stories."
Jimmy grinned. "Yeah, and that's all they are. Stories. What's the worst that could happen?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the wind picked up, howling through the trees like a warning. The forest was alive, groaning under the weight of the night, and the four teens shared an uneasy glance.
Despite the fear gnawing at her gut, Stacey pushed forward. She wasn't going to let Jimmy win. Not this time. "Fine," she said, her voice firm. "I'll go. But if we don't find anything, you owe us all."
The woods swallowed them whole. Once inside the tree line, the world outside ceased to exist. The branches hung low, and the ground beneath their feet was slick with mud. Jake had brought a lantern, and its soft yellow glow illuminated the twisted roots that seemed to reach for their ankles like grasping fingers.
They walked in silence for what felt like hours, the night thick and oppressive.
Every snap of a twig, every rustle of leaves, made them jump. Tina was the first to spot it - a crooked silhouette against the moonlight. The shack, nestled deep within the forest, looked like it had been abandoned for decades. Its roof sagged, and the wooden walls were covered in a thick layer of moss and decay.
Stacey hesitated, glancing at her brother.
"You don't have to do this," she whispered, more to herself than to him.
"We've come this far," Jake said, his voice shaking. "Let's just get it over with."
The door to the shack creaked open as Jimmy pushed it with his shoulder. Inside, it smelled of rot and mildew. The air was stale, thick with the scent of something far worse than decay. Jimmy gagged, covering his nose, but Stacey moved past him, flashlight aimed forward.
The beam of light caught something strange. The floor of the shack was covered in symbols - intricate, carved deep into the wood, spiraling in patterns that made her stomach churn just by looking at them.
"What the hell is this?" Tina muttered, her voice low.
"I don't like this," Jake whispered, his hand trembling as he reached for his sister.
Before anyone could respond, a noise echoed from deep within the woods — a low, rumbling growl that reverberated through their bones. Something primal.
Something hungry.
They froze, terror clawing up their throats.
Then, in the silence that followed, came the sound of footsteps — slow, deliberate, coming closer. The ground seemed to vibrate with each step.
Jimmy took a step back, bumping into Tina. "We need to get out of here," he hissed.
But before they could move, a figure emerged from the darkness outside the shack. It was tall, too tall to be human, its limbs unnaturally long and twisted. Its face was obscured by shadows, but its eyes glowed - bright, burning with a malevolent light. Its mouth opened in a grotesque smile, revealing rows of sharp, jagged teeth.
"Run!," Stacey screamed.
But it was too late.
The creature lunged forward, faster than any of them could have imagined. Its claws tore through the doorway, ripping wood apart as though it were paper. Jake screamed, the sound piercing through the night, but Stacey grabbed him and yanked him toward the back of the shack.
Jimmy scrambled, knocking over a pile of old furniture as he tried to flee, but the creature was on him in seconds. It moved with terrifying speed, pinning him to the ground. Blood sprayed across the floor, dark and warm. Jimmy's cries were silenced almost instantly as the creature's jaws snapped down, severing his neck in a brutal, gory display.
Tina, in a panic, found an old window and smashed through it. She dragged herself out, shards of glass slicing her skin, but the adrenaline kept her moving. Stacey shoved Jake toward the opening, pushing him through before following.
Behind them, the shack groaned as the creature tore through it, shredding the walls in its pursuit. Its growls echoed in the night, and as the siblings hit the ground outside, they saw it leap through the roof of the building, landing with a heavy thud.
They ran.
Branches whipped their faces, tearing at their clothes as they sprinted through the forest. They didn't look back. They couldn't. All they heard was the sound of the creature crashing through the underbrush behind them, its breath hot and foul, its growls growing louder with each passing second.
Just when they thought they would collapse from exhaustion, the trees broke, and they stumbled out into the open field near the old sanitarium. The dilapidated building loomed in the distance, its broken windows staring down at them like empty eyes.
For a moment, the night was still. The creature's growls had stopped.
Jake collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Tina bent over, her hands on her knees, trying to steady herself. Stacey stood frozen, her eyes scanning the dark tree line.
"Did... did we lose it?" Jake asked, his voice shaking.
Tina looked back at the woods, her face pale. "I... I don't know."
But Stacey's gaze was locked on something in the distance — the
sanitarium. Something was moving inside.
Lights flickered behind the broken windows, and she could have sworn she saw shadows shifting within.
"We need to keep going," Stacey said, her voice tight. "We need to get help."
But deep down, she knew that help was something they would never find. Not in Greystone.
Because whatever had chased them out of the woods wasn't the only thing they had to fear.