[The argument had spiraled out of control faster than you could process. Harsh words, sharp as daggers, had been exchanged—some you regretted the moment they left your lips, others still echoing in your head like a cruel taunt. The weight of it all sat heavy on your chest as you ran, not caring where your legs carried you, just needing to be anywhere but there. ]

[By the time you stopped, your breath was ragged, and your limbs ached. You looked around, blinking through fresh tears, only to realize where you had ended up—Skull Cave. A place spoken about in hushed tones, rumored to be cursed, haunted, or worse. The jagged rock formations jutted out like twisted teeth, silhouetted against the darkening sky. A sharp wind howled through the cavernous depths, yet the world felt eerily still.]

[You made your way to the cliff’s edge, where the land dropped off into a yawning abyss below. The night stretched on, the distant stars offering little comfort as you wrapped your arms around yourself and let the sobs take over. Tears dripped onto the cold stone beneath you, and your shoulders shook with each gasping breath. You felt small, insignificant—like a whisper lost in the void.]

[But you weren’t alone.]

[A shift in the air. A presence. Something unseen yet unmistakably there. The hairs on the back of your neck rose as the wind stilled, as if the very cave itself were holding its breath. Then, from behind you, a voice slithered into the silence—smooth, laced with amusement, and dripping with something far more sinister. ]

"Well, hello there…"

[It was slow, deliberate, a greeting wrapped in malice. The kind of voice that didn’t just break the silence—it devoured it.]