A week had passed since Caleb first stumbled upon the strange temple in the woods. Though his mind often wandered back to it, he hadn't dared return. The unease it had sparked still lingered, like an itch at the back of his mind that he couldn't quite scratch. Instead, he focused on the essentials—survival.
The small shelter was finished, a fireplace stood against one wall, warming the interior from the chill of approaching winter. He had patched the gaps in the walls with extra layers of wood and hides, and while it wasn't perfect, it was enough to keep out the cold winds. But the more pressing issue was food. Caleb's traps had been empty for days, and hunger was beginning to gnaw at him like a constant companion.
As he sat by the fire, sharpening the edge of his spear, his thoughts drifted to the temple. The strange symbols, the smooth grey stone—it had felt wrong, as though it wasn't meant to be there. There was no recorded civilization in America that could have built such a thing, especially not this deep in the wilderness. It defied reason, and yet… there it was. An ancient mystery crumbling away in a place where it shouldn't exist.
He shook his head, trying to push the thoughts away. The fire crackled in the hearth, and the quiet of the night settled back in. The visitors hadn't returned, not since that first unsettling encounter. Caleb had almost begun to believe they'd moved on—until the sound of footsteps reached his ears.
Faint, deliberate.
Caleb's heart skipped a beat, and his instincts took over. He rose slowly, spear in hand, eyes fixed on the door. It was happening again. The visitors were back.
He stepped outside into the cold, crisp night air. His breath fogged in front of him, the moon casting long shadows across the ground. There, at the edge of camp, where he'd found the stones before, something new glinted in the moonlight. His blood ran cold as he approached.
A piece of bone.
Small, white, deliberately placed.
His chest tightened, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. This was no accident—this was a message. But before his mind could even begin to unravel its meaning, something far more terrifying caught his eye.
A figure stood at the edge of camp.
Caleb's heart pounded as he froze in place, his breath catching in his throat. The man was almost naked, wearing only a simple cloth covering his waist. But his body was adorned with bones—tied tightly to his legs and forearms, wrapping around his limbs like grotesque armor. Black and red paint covered his skin in intricate swirls, running up his arms, his chest, his neck. But what truly made Caleb's blood run cold was the man's face.
It wasn't a face at all.
A cougar's skull covered the man's head, its sharp teeth bared in a permanent snarl. The eye sockets were hollow, but something moved behind them—dark, watching. The figure stood perfectly still, utterly silent, the firelight dancing across the skull's surface.
Caleb's grip tightened on his spear, but his body refused to move. Fear gripped him, freezing him in place. The man did not move, did not speak—he was just there, standing at the edge of the camp, like a living nightmare.
And then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, he was gone.
Caleb blinked, his mind struggling to process what had just happened. The figure had simply vanished, as if swallowed by the darkness. His heart raced, his body finally responding as he backed toward the shelter. But before he could make it inside, a searing pain exploded from his left leg.
He screamed, his body crumpling to the ground.
An arrow had pierced his leg, the smooth wood sticking out of his flesh, blood seeping out from the wound and staining the ground beneath him. The pain was unbearable, white-hot, sending shockwaves through his body. Caleb dragged himself backward, every movement agony as he struggled to reach the safety of his shelter.
His vision blurred from the pain, but he managed to claw his way inside, slamming the door shut behind him. He collapsed at the foot of the door, clutching his leg as blood pooled around his fingers. His breath came in ragged gasps, his heart pounding in his ears. The fire flickered in the hearth, casting eerie shadows across the walls.
Outside, the night was silent once more.