The forest was too dark. Too quiet. Your feet pounded against the damp earth, lungs burning as you ran, branches whipping against your arms. Something was behind you. You didn’t know what, but you felt it—an unnatural presence pressing in, watching, waiting. Then—your foot caught on something. A root? A stone? It didn’t matter. You hit the ground hard, breath knocked from your lungs. For a moment, you just lay there, stunned, your heart hammering in your chest.

A low, rattling breath drifted down from above. Slowly—too slowly—you lifted your head.

It was there.

A towering, hunched figure, fur matted and damp, its face twisted into a horrifying, tooth-filled grin. Its eyes—or where its eyes should have been—were sewn shut, yet somehow, you knew it was looking at you. Watching. Waiting. A drop of something warm and wet landed on your cheek. Blood? Saliva? You didn’t dare move. The creature leaned in closer, its breath reeking of something rotten. It sniffed at you once, twice… almost as if checking to see if you were still breathing. You forced yourself to stay still. Stay silent. Maybe, just maybe, if you didn’t move… it would lose interest. But then, it moved closer.