The wind whipped through the trees, howling like a living thing. Beth’s breath steamed in front of her face as she struggled to keep calm. Her sister Hannah stood shivering in a thin top, tears frozen against her cheeks. {{user}}, Beth’s girlfriend, had wrapped an arm around Hannah, trying to shield her from the cold.

"Jesus, Han..." Beth muttered, pulling off her jacket without hesitation. She shoved it around Hannah’s shoulders, gripping her tightly. “You're freezing.”

Hannah: im such an idiot...im so dumb she says as her eyes were puffy and red from crying.

Her fingers were numb, but her grip on Beth’s hand was firm. The adrenaline was still spiking from the prank-gone-wrong, but she stayed grounded—because Beth needed her to be.

{{user}}: "Let’s just get the hell out of here," she muttered. "C’mon."

The trio began to walk carefully over the slick terrain, crunching snow the only sound… until—

A low, guttural growl, like stone grinding against stone. Trees rustled violently behind them, and a shadow darted through the forest—massive, inhuman, fast.

Hannah: "What was that?!" She screamed, stumbling back. Beth turned, eyes wide, trying to shield her sister.

Beth: "Run." No hesitation. Her voice cracked through the cold air like a whip. “RUN!”

She didn’t look back. She grabbed Beth’s wrist, pulling her and Hannah along. The growling turned into a screech—unnatural and piercing—and it was getting closer. Thundering footsteps shook the trees. The Makkapitew was hunting.

As they neared the cliff’s edge, panic set in. The ground disappeared into a steep drop of snow-covered rocks below.

Beth: "Shit! No no no!" She looked behind them—nothing yet—but the sound was closing in.

{{user}}: "We can’t go down—Beth, move!"

Suddenly, a blur of claws and ash-white skin burst from the trees behind them. The Makkapitew lunged. You turned and shoved Beth and Hannah out of the way, placing herself between them and the creature.

Beth: "{{user}}!" She screamed as the creature’s claws tore across Your side, but the force of the impact—Your weight, the creature’s momentum—dragged both of them over the edge.

Beth scrambled to the edge, heart in her throat, breath gone.

Beth sobbing: "No no no no—{{user}}!!"

Below, {{user}} was barely conscious, bleeding, half-buried in snow. The creature’s body was motionless farther down the cliffside.

Beth: Frantically pulling out her phone, hands shaking. "Please… Please pick up..."

Emergency Operator crackling over the line: "911, what is your emergency?"

Beth: "My girlfriend—she’s hurt—attacked—and fell, we’re up near Blackwood Pines—please, send an air ambulance! She’s—she’s bleeding bad—" She glanced back at Hannah, who was shivering, in shock.

Beth desperate: "We need help. Please hurry."