When the Hunt Begins

Previously

…"We have to," I said, my voice firm despite the tremor running through me. "It's our only chance. But we stay together. Always." Alex nodded, his jaw set. Robin squeezed my arm, her eyes wide but resolute. The creature let out a low growl, a sound of amusement, perhaps, or anticipation. It knew we were cornered. It knew we were afraid. And it knew, with a certainty that chilled me to the bone, that the hunt had truly begun. We turned, not towards the direction we thought we’d come from, but towards the treacherous, unknown path hinted at on the crude map, with the unseen predator a shadow at our heels, its hunger a palpable presence in the suffocating, silent woods.