The road to Silverwood seemed endless, twisting and turning through an ocean of towering pines. The further I drove, the darker the trees seemed to grow, their thick branches clawing at the sky like they wanted to blot out the sun. Not that there was much sun to blot out; the early evening fog hung low over the road, and the air was thick with the scent of damp earth and pine needles.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter, forcing myself to focus. The last thing I needed was to veer into a ditch before I even made it to town. But my mind wouldn't stop wandering—to the call I had gotten last week, to my grandmother's trembling voice, to the unsettling sense of urgency that had followed me ever since.
"My health is not getting any better." She had said. "Hurry, Elena. Please."
Those words had haunted me the entire drive, gnawing at the edges of my resolve. I hadn't set foot in Silverwood since I was a teenager. It was supposed to be a clean break—a way to leave behind the ghosts of my parents' deaths and all the strange whispers that came with growing up in a town like this.
But now, here I was, back on the same winding roads I had once sworn I would never travel again.
The forest pressed closer as I rounded another curve, and that was when I saw him—a figure standing in the middle of the road.
"Shit!" I slammed on the brakes, the car screeching to a halt just feet from where he stood. My heart hammered in my chest as the stranger turned his head toward me, his eyes catching the light of my headlights in a way that made them gleam.
For a moment, neither of us moved. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair that looked almost black under the fading light. He was dressed in a leather jacket and dark jeans, like he had walked straight out of a magazine shoot, but there was something about him that sent a shiver down my spine, I couldn't tell what it was.
I rolled down the window, my voice sharper than I intended. "What the hell are you doing? You could've gotten yourself killed!"
The man tilted his head, watching me with an expression that was equal parts curious and amused. "You're the one speeding through the woods."
"Speeding?" I sputtered. "You're standing in the middle of the damn road!"
His lips curved into a faint smirk, but he didn't apologize or move out of the way. Instead, he walked toward the car, his movements slow and deliberate, like he had all the time in the world.
"Are you lost?" He asked, his voice low and smooth.
I blinked. "No. I know exactly where I'm going."
"Then why are you here?"
The question caught me off guard. I opened my mouth to answer, but the words stuck in my throat. Why was I here? To take care of my grandmother, sure, but the way he asked made it sound like there was more to it than that.
Before I could respond, a low, guttural howl echoed through the trees, freezing the words on my tongue. It was close— too close —and it wasn't the sound of any animal I recognized.
The stranger's expression changed in an instant. The smirk disappeared, replaced by something sharp and alert. He glanced over his shoulder toward the woods, then back at me. "You need to leave. Now."
"What?"
"Go." He said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Get back in the car and drive."
I wanted to argue, to demand answers, but the intensity in his eyes made me hesitate. Another howl split the air, this one even closer than the first, and I felt a chill creep down my spine.
The stranger stepped back, his gaze flickering toward the trees as if he was watching for something—or someone. "Don't stop until you're out of the woods," he said. "And whatever you do, do NOT look back."
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. He was so strange.
He didn't answer. Instead, he turned and disappeared into the forest, his dark figure swallowed by the shadows.
For a moment, I just sat there, gripping the steering wheel and staring after him. My heart was pounding, my mind racing with questions I couldn't begin to answer. Who was he? What was out there in the woods? And why did it feel like I had just stepped into a nightmare I couldn't wake up from?
Another howl snapped me out of my thoughts, and I didn't wait to hear if it was getting closer. I threw the car into gear and drove, my hands trembling as I navigated the narrow road.
When I finally reached the edge of Silverwood, the lights of the town flickering in the distance, I let out a shaky breath, struggling to restart my car as my fingers were already shaky.
But even as I parked outside my grandmother's house and tried to settle my nerves, I couldn't shake the feeling that something—or someone—was watching me.
And I couldn't stop thinking about the stranger in the woods. And even though his presence came with an unsettling feeling, I wanted to meet him again.