Leo’s breath billowed in shallow puffs, visible by the weak shimmer of his flashlight. The narrow cone of light revealed only fragments of the forest: glistening leaves, twisted roots, the gnarled bark of ancient trees. Each step forward felt like an act of defiance against the suffocating dark. The others shuffled close behind, boots grinding softly over pine needles.
Branches clutched at Leo’s sleeves as if urging him to turn back. The forest swallowed their voices, reducing every exchange to a nervous whisper. “Sam?” Leo called again, and the word seemed to dissolve before it could travel more than a few feet. No answer. Just the rhythmic click—closer now—and the low, rattling growl that seemed to vibrate inside Leo’s chest.
Ethan clung to Noah’s arm, his flashlight beam trembling so badly it flickered among the trees like a frantic firefly. Caleb, usually the loudest, was biting his lip, his eyes scanning every shadow. Only Hubert managed a steady stride, gripping a piece of firewood as a makeshift club, though even he flinched at each snap and rustle.
The group pressed forward, following the faint trail Sam had left. Leo’s mind raced—What if Sam’s in trouble? What if there’s something else out here?
Suddenly, a metallic clang shattered the air. The boys froze. Leo’s heart juddered in his throat. “Was that—Sam?”
A voice, high and panicked, called from the dark. “Leo! Over here!” Sam. Definitely Sam. But the agony in his voice chilled Leo to the bone. Leo surged ahead, the others scrambling after him.
The light from Leo’s torch caught on something up ahead: the twisted, mangled wreck of a hunting trap, its jagged teeth snapped shut and smeared red. Sam lay slumped beside it, clutching his ankle. His face was pale with pain, sweat streaking his brow. But that wasn’t what made Leo’s stomach drop.
Behind Sam, half-concealed by the thick underbrush, something moved.
Eyes—too many for any single animal—glimmered in the darkness, reflecting the erratic flashlight beams. A low, guttural snarl rumbled out, shaking the branches. The boys halted, frozen in the white-hot beam of terror.
In that moment, the forest seemed to draw breath, every leaf and insect pausing, waiting for what would happen next. The thing behind Sam shifted, its shape too large and wrong for any animal Leo had ever seen. Its many eyes blinked in a slow, deliberate rhythm, fixing on Leo and his friends.
Leo’s mind screamed at him to run, to grab Sam and drag him away, to do anything but stand there and stare into that impossible gaze.
The snarl grew louder. The creature began to emerge, the leaves parting around its hulking form. There was no time to think—only time to move.