Victor's body jerked awake as he gasped for air, his lungs burning as though he had been submerged underwater. His heart was racing, his pulse thundering in his ears. His mind was foggy, disoriented—where was he? What had just happened?
The last thing he remembered was the darkness, the laughter, and that haunting whisper: *You're one of us now.*
His eyes fluttered open, but all he could see was the ceiling—his ceiling. The familiar beige walls of his bedroom came into focus as his vision cleared. He was back home. But the fear didn't leave him. The dread that had filled his body in that dark, cursed forest had followed him back. It lingered in the pit of his stomach like a cold, gnawing weight.
He sat up abruptly, wiping the sweat from his brow, his hands trembling. His breathing was shallow, erratic. The dream had been so real, too real. The sensation of Nathan's cold, empty eyes staring at him, the twisted smile that wasn't his son's—Victor could still feel it, like a shadow clinging to him.
He glanced over to the other side of the bed. Karen was still asleep, her back turned to him, undisturbed by his sudden movements. For a moment, he simply watched her, wondering if she had any idea what was happening to him. Or perhaps she, too, was oblivious to the slow unraveling of his mind.
Victor ran a hand through his hair, trying to steady himself. He needed to pull himself together. He needed to make sense of everything.
But how?
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, his feet hitting the cool wooden floor. The cold of the morning air cut through him, sharpening his senses. He stood up, almost mechanically, moving toward the window. He needed a moment to breathe, to get his bearings. He pulled the curtain aside and looked outside, but the view did nothing to calm him. The neighborhood was quiet, as it always was—silent, predictable, serene. But to him, it felt suffocating. The houses, the streets, the trees—it was all too much. Too... normal.
The moment felt wrong, out of place.
His phone buzzed on the bedside table. Victor didn't want to pick it up. He wasn't sure if he could handle anything else today. But the buzz came again, more insistent this time. Reluctantly, he crossed the room and grabbed it.
A message from Karen: *Have you seen Nathan?*
Victor blinked, confused. He had just woken up. What was Karen talking about? He'd seen Nathan last night—hadn't he? He tried to recall the events before the nightmare, but his mind felt clouded, fragmented. The memory of the forest, of Nathan's eerie smile, of the whispered words—it all blurred together like a bad dream.
Victor swallowed hard, his throat dry. He quickly typed a response, trying to sound as normal as possible: *No, haven't seen him this morning. Why?*
He waited for her reply, his anxiety building with each passing second. The seconds felt like minutes. Then, finally, the message came.
*He's gone, Victor. His room is empty. There's no sign of him anywhere. I've called his phone but it's not answering.*
Victor's blood ran cold. *Gone?* What did she mean by that? Where could Nathan have gone? He had seen him last night. Or had he? His mind began to spiral again, the fragments of the dream mixing with reality. He couldn't separate the two anymore.
He didn't wait for another second. Grabbing his jacket from the chair by the door, he rushed out of the room. Karen was standing in the hallway when he emerged, her face pale, her eyes wide with concern.
"Victor, where is he?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"I don't know," Victor replied, shaking his head. "I... I don't know. But we need to find him."
They both rushed to Nathan's room, their feet pounding down the hallway. The door was wide open. Inside, Nathan's bed was untouched, his clothes and belongings scattered around as if he had left in a hurry. The room was cold, and the smell of stale air hung in the corners.
Victor stepped inside, his gaze darting around the room. He couldn't breathe. *Where is he?* The walls seemed to close in, suffocating him with the silence.
"I don't understand," Karen said, her voice breaking. "He was fine last night. What happened?"
Victor didn't answer. He couldn't. His thoughts were a jumble, the echo of Nathan's voice still ringing in his ears. *You're one of us now.* What did it mean? Was this some kind of warning? A warning that his son was gone, consumed by something else?
"Victor?" Karen's voice snapped him out of his trance.
He turned to her, his eyes filled with a mixture of fear and confusion. "I have to find him," he said, almost to himself. "I have to know what happened. I have to make sure he's okay."
Karen looked at him, her face etched with worry. "Where are you going to look?"
Victor didn't have an answer. But he knew one thing: the park. The park from his dream. The place where he had followed Nathan last night. He had to go back there. He didn't know why, but something was pulling him toward it, like a magnet.
He didn't even wait for Karen to respond. He just turned and walked out the front door, his mind set on one thing and one thing only: finding Nathan.
---
The park was eerily quiet when Victor arrived. The early morning mist had not yet lifted, and the trees seemed to loom over him like silent observers. He stood at the entrance, looking into the empty expanse. Nothing had changed since his nightmare. The park looked the same, but there was a weight in the air, a heavy, oppressive feeling that made Victor's skin crawl.
He hesitated for a moment before stepping forward, the crunch of leaves beneath his feet the only sound breaking the silence. He didn't know what he was hoping to find, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Nathan was somewhere nearby. Watching. Waiting.
He moved deeper into the park, scanning every shadow, every corner. The trees seemed to stretch on forever, the paths winding and narrow, as if leading him somewhere, but he wasn't sure where.
And then, in the distance, he saw it.
A figure.
Nathan?
Victor's breath hitched as he quickened his pace, the figure coming into clearer view. As he got closer, his heart sank.
It wasn't Nathan.
It was someone else. Someone standing in the middle of the path, motionless. A tall man, wearing a dark coat. His face was hidden in shadow, but there was something chilling about his presence, something that made Victor stop dead in his tracks.
The man turned slowly, his head tilting in a way that seemed unnatural.
"Looking for someone?" the man's voice was cold, raspy, like it had been dragged through years of smoke and despair.
Victor swallowed, the words catching in his throat. "Who are you?"
The man's lips curled into a thin, eerie smile. "I'm someone who knows what you're looking for." He stepped forward, his eyes glinting in the low light. "But I'm afraid you won't find what you're searching for. Not here. Not anymore."
Victor felt the chill of the air wrap around him, his heart thudding painfully in his chest. The man was right. The answers were slipping through his fingers, fading into the darkness.
And in that moment, Victor realized the truth.
There was no escaping this. There was no going back.
Whatever had taken Nathan was coming for him next.
And he didn't know if he could survive it.