James Carter woke up in his bed, soaked in mud.
It was packed under his fingernails, smeared across his arms, crusted in his hair. His sheets were ruined, the stench of wet earth thick in the air.
His heart pounded.
What the hell happened last night?
He stumbled to the bathroom, hands shaking.
His reflection looked wrong.
Pale.
Haunted.
Like he hadn't slept in days.
But that wasn't possible. He had gone to sleep last night, hadn't he?
Hadn't he?
James squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to remember.
Nothing came.
Just blackness.
His phone sat on the nightstand.
He grabbed it, scrolling through his messages.
Nothing unusual. No calls, no texts.
Then he checked his photos.
His stomach dropped.
There was a picture from last night.
A single image.
His own face, staring blankly at the camera.
Dirt smeared across his cheeks.
Eyes lifeless.
Behind him—
A dark forest.
James didn't remember taking it.
Didn't remember being in any forest.
But his shoes by the door—
They were caked in mud.
And there was something in his pocket.
A scrap of damp paper.
With three words, scrawled in shaking handwriting:
"You dug it."
Cold fear slithered up his spine.
James grabbed his keys and ran outside, following the half-formed memories scratching at the back of his mind.
He drove until the trees swallowed the road.
Until the air smelled like damp earth.
Until his hands knew where to turn.
And then—
He saw them.
Footprints.
His own.
Leading into the woods.
He followed them, breath ragged, branches clawing at his skin.
Something was waiting for him.
Something he had forgotten.
Then—
A clearing.
A patch of disturbed earth.
And a shovel.
James staggered forward, stomach twisting.
He knew what he had to do.
He dug.
Faster. Harder.
Until the shovel hit something solid.
Until the dirt peeled away, revealing—
His own face.
Mouth open.
Eyes wide.
Dead.
James screamed.
And then—
Darkness.
The next morning, James Carter woke up in his bed.
Covered in mud.
With no memory of where he had been.
And outside, in the woods—
The ground was freshly disturbed.
Again.