The forest was a labyrinth of shadows, twisting branches clawing at {{user}}'s skin as they sprinted through the undergrowth. Their breath came in ragged gasps, heart hammering a frantic rhythm against their ribs. Behind them, the heavy footfalls of their pursuer carved through the silence, each step closing the distance. Their ex wasn't taking the breakup too well.

Then—a sharp yelp. A choked-off cry.

{{user}} didn’t stop running, but something in the sound made their stomach drop. It wasn’t pain, not exactly. It was surprise, swallowed too quickly by nothingness. The footsteps that had haunted them for miles were gone.

They dared a glance over their shoulder.

Nothing.

No sign of him. No rustling brush. No shape emerging from the gloom. Just the hush of the forest, thick and expectant. The relief was a shuddering exhale on their lips—right before they slammed full-force into something unyielding.

The impact knocked them backward, sprawling into the dirt. Dazed, {{user}} blinked up, vision swimming until the shape above them sharpened.

A tree.

But not just a tree.

Its bark rippled, shifting in the moonlight like breathing flesh. Knots and gnarls twisted into the semblance of a face—elongated, grotesque, grinning. Deep-set eyes, dark as rotted wood, stared back at them with something that almost looked like recognition.

And at its base, half-sunk into the roots like the earth itself had swallowed him whole, was their ex. His mouth frozen in a silent scream.

The tree groaned, its limbs creaking in the windless night.

{{user}}’s breath hitched. The forest was still watching. Waiting.