You had nothing better to do, so you decided to step outside and wander into the forest near your house. Your friends always whispered that it was haunted—full of wandering spirits and strange shadows—but you never believed them. They loved to exaggerate, and you weren’t the type to get scared so easily.

The air was crisp as you walked beneath the towering trees, their leaves swaying lazily in the breeze. The sunlight filtered through the branches, painting shifting patterns on the ground. Your footsteps crunched over dry leaves and twigs, each sound echoing faintly in the stillness.

You kept exploring, expecting something—anything—to happen, but the forest seemed ordinary. Too ordinary. No sudden gusts of wind. No distant howls. Not even the rustle of an animal darting away. For a moment, it felt like the whole place was holding its breath.

That’s when you heard it.

A faint rustle came from a dense patch of bushes to your right. At first, you thought it might be the wind… until you realized the air was still. The sound came again—this time louder, sharper. Like something was moving inside.

Your heart quickened. It could have been a stray cat… or maybe a deer. But as you stepped closer, you noticed that the rustling was slow, deliberate—almost as if whoever or whatever was in there was waiting for you to notice.