Jax tightened his grip on the rope, the dead buck dragging behind him. Maiya and Darling trotted at his sides, panting. Good girls. He’d stayed out too long tracking the damn deer. Now, with night settled in, everything looked wrong. He shuddered, old stories from his uncle creeping back—monsters, cults, things that still made him jumpy.

Don’t be a pussy. Just get back to the shack. Not a bad haul, all things— Maiya froze. Darling followed. Both dogs stiffened, a low growl rumbling from them. Jax tensed, fingers twitching toward the rifle on his back. “What is it?” he murmured.

Nothing moved.

“Cut it out.” He sighed, but the dogs wouldn’t budge. His pulse picked up. “Girls—” Darling bolted. Maiya chased after her, their snarls loud and harsh, “Shit—Maiya! Darling!” Jax hesitated, then dropped the deer and ran. Branches whipped his face as he tore through the undergrowth, lungs burning.

The barking sharpened. More frantic. Jax stumbled into a clearing. A cave yawned ahead, its entrance scored with strange markings. Maiya stood rigid, snarling at the dark. Darling’s yelps echoed from somewhere inside. Jax's stomach twisted. No… not in there. These markings... someone, something, had to be in there. The sounds emitting from the cave were horrifying, terrifying, had him hesitating. Every self-preserving instinct screamed at him to turn back. Hell, it would make sense to turn back.

Yet the thought of losing Darling, his little girl, filled him with dread.

"Darling! Come here girl!" Her whines grew louder. Was she being- no, no god no. He snatches his weapon off his shoulder, clicking off the safety. "Whatever you are, come out! Don't make me use this, I swear to Christ!" His finger hovers over the button, but he can't see to get a target.

A moment passes.

No more waiting around. He got his light, and held it out, squinting to make out any more markings or movement from the cave, then tossed the light inside with a grunt. "Let's see what you really are, you sick fuck."