The moon hung low in the sky, barely a sliver behind thick clouds. The forest around Mara felt alive, each rustle of the trees whispering secrets in the night. Her heart pounded in her chest, a sharp reminder of the danger she was running from, the danger that was getting closer with every frantic step. The mud beneath her feet sucked at her shoes, and her torn clothes clung to her body, weighed down by the rain that had soaked through. Her hair, once a neat brown-blonde wave, now hung limply, matted with dirt and sweat.
She didn't care about the mess. She only cared about escaping.
Her breath came in ragged gasps, her legs burning as she pushed herself through the thick underbrush. Why did I ever think this was a good idea? she thought, cursing herself for following this story. A journalist at heart, always chasing the truth, but now all she wanted was to escape the unknown force that was stalking her.
She had heard the rumors about the forest—strange disappearances, unsettling whispers. But she never imagined she'd be running for her life, her only hope the dim light of the moon and the occasional glimpse of the trees as she ran faster, faster, as if the forest itself were swallowing her up.
Her head whipped back, her eyes scanning the darkness, her pulse quickening. The woods felt alive, pressing in on her, suffocating her. And then, she saw them.
Two eyes.
Yellow. They glowed in the night like molten gold, cutting through the darkness with a predatory gleam. They weren't human. They weren't animal. They were something else entirely—something that should not exist.
Her heart skipped a beat. She stumbled, panic seizing her body, but she forced herself to keep running. Don't look back. Just keep moving.
But the eyes were getting closer. No. No, no, no...
She glanced back again, her body moving on pure instinct now. The yellow eyes were impossibly close, almost too close for comfort. Her breath hitched in her throat. She regretted every single decision that had led her to this moment. What had seemed like an exciting, dangerous story to chase now felt like a death sentence.
But it wasn't just the yellow eyes that frightened her now.
Through the dark, through the flickering shadows, a second set of eyes emerged.
These were dim red. They glowed faintly, like dying embers, flickering in the dark. Not as bright as the yellow ones, but no less unsettling. They didn't move. They just... watched her. The eyes, the presence—something ancient, something older than the forest itself, had its gaze fixed upon her.
Her heart thudded against her chest, a cold sweat breaking out across her skin. The eyes were everywhere, and yet they weren't moving, weren't closing in, weren't taking a step. It was as if they were waiting. Watching. Calculating.
The yellow eyes flickered, then disappeared into the depths of the forest, swallowed by the night as quickly as they had come.
And then, the red eyes too, vanished, leaving the night suddenly too still.
The forest around her grew unnervingly silent. The wind, the leaves rustling, the whispers of life—everything stopped. It was as though the whole world held its breath.
Mara's knees buckled beneath her as the adrenaline started to fade. The silence was deafening. She could feel the cold sweat sticking to her skin, her body trembling uncontrollably. Was she safe? Was it gone? Her mind raced, her instincts screaming that the danger hadn't passed, that it was only just beginning.
Her legs shook as she stood frozen in place. She wanted to run, to leave the forest, but her body refused to move. She couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't alone. That something, or someone, was still out there, watching. Waiting.
What was that? She couldn't answer her own question. There were no words for what she had seen—what she had felt. It was more than a predator. It was something ancient. Something beyond her understanding.
And somewhere, deep in the shadows of the forest, something stirred.
Mara took a shaky step back, then another, but every movement felt too loud, too vulnerable. The quiet was unnatural, oppressive, making her skin crawl.
Please...
A rustle in the trees broke the silence.
Mara's breath caught in her throat. She looked around in panic but couldn't find anything.
Pulling all her courage, she stood up and ran towards the exit of the forest, at least what she thought was the exit.