I was running.
And I didn't even know why.
The forest wasn't just alive anymore—it was angry, thrashing, tearing itself apart around me. Trees bent and snapped like they were trying to slow me down, roots lashing out as if they had minds of their own. Every step I took sent leaves and dirt flying, every breath was a scream in my lungs.
Then I saw it.
Or at least, I realized what it was.
Eight eyes. Gigantic. Teeth that probably could crush a car. The kind of size that doesn't even make sense in the real world—like a three-story building decided to eat everything in its path and added another hundred meters for fun. And it was coming at me, moving at a speed that made my brain short-circuit. Nothing that massive should move that fast. Nothing.
I couldn't think.
I tried to rationalize it. "Okay… it's probably just a really big lizard… or a mutant… or—" My voice didn't even reach my ears. I couldn't breathe past the adrenaline screaming through me.
Then it roared.
The sound ripped through the forest, shaking the air, rattling my teeth. I wanted to turn and see what it was, but I knew stopping was death. Stop, see it, maybe get eaten. Run, maybe live. Clear choice.
I ran harder.
Branches whipped my face, thorns tore at my arms, and every step felt like the forest was trying to swallow me. My stomach flipped when I heard water ahead. Finally. I thought maybe I'd made it back to the stream near the house. Relief hit, fleeting, until I barreled past a bush and realized—oh no. Not a stream. The waterfall. The same one I saw driving in. My stomach sank, my legs screamed, and I prayed for a good burial.
Then I heard it again.
A whizzing, massive, terrifying whoosh. Something was flying through the air behind me.
I looked back.
The forest and darkness no longer hid it. Its full size hit me in a gut-punch of awe and terror. The mouth hung open like some grotesque invitation to death, jagged teeth glinting even in the moonlight. My brain screamed: You should have listened to the rules.
And then, in classic fashion, I wondered: Could my grandparents have known something like this lived here?
No time to dwell.
I stumbled, slipped, and fell into the waterfall. Cold water slammed over my head, dragging me down like the forest itself wanted to wash me from existence. I swallowed water, gasped, and scrambled toward the riverbank. Behind me, the thing hit the water, a massive splash that rattled the earth, sending waves in all directions.
I ran.
Faster than my body could comprehend. Faster than my lungs thought possible.
Then—pain.
My foot hit something, and I screamed as I tumbled into a pit. Darkness swallowed me whole. The slide down a manhole felt endless, rock and dirt scraping me raw.
I looked up.
The eye. Eight eyes, and one of them now stared straight down the pit. My chest froze.
Flip it off? I considered it, briefly.
No. Smart animals. Books told me smart animals remember things. I didn't want whatever the hell its was to hold a grudge that could end my life.
And just when I thought I'd survived the slide…
My head hit a rock.
Black.
Silence.
---
I woke up.
Cold. Damp. The kind of cold that crawls under your skin and refuses to leave.
My head throbbed. My arms and legs ached in a symphony of bruises and scratches. The faint sound of water trickled somewhere in the darkness.
I sat up, blinking. The cave was jagged, walls slick with moisture. Shadows pooled in corners like they had weight.
Water.
I stood, careful, and followed the sound. My shoes squelched against damp stone. "Springs… yeah, mountains have springs," I muttered aloud. "Physics, hydrology… nothing unusual here." Talking to myself was comforting. Foolish, but comforting. Especially when it was about stupid things I never understood.
My phone beeped.
Signal. Full bars. Every bar.
Relief hit me so hard I almost laughed. Almost.
Then reality struck. The creature was still out there. And now I had service.
What was I going to do with it?
911. I dialed.
Rang once. Twice. Three times.
Static.
I cursed. Out loud. Loud enough to echo against the cave walls.
Then I saw it.
A skeleton. Sitting by a stone, book in its bony hands, like it had been reading when death claimed it.
Something cold clenched my gut.
I froze.
I might actually die.
I collapsed beside it. I didn't care about pride, or rules, or trying to be brave anymore. I cried.
"I miss Mom… I miss Dad…" The words came raw, unfiltered, echoing against the stone walls. "Why am I here? Why does everyone get to go on living and I…" My voice cracked. "…I just got thrown here!"
I vented everything.
My Nana, sick at the worst possible times. My Mom, supposedly caring but never noticing when I needed her most. The world. Friends. Everyone. They all… didn't care. Didn't care how it felt to be uprooted, stranded, powerless, no Wi-Fi, no electricity, bugs, forests—everything I hated in life, all at once.
And then I noticed the book.
It was small, leather-bound, fragile-looking. I hesitated. "Uh… sorry. Can I borrow this?" My voice was shaking, hoarse.
I touched it.
The skeleton collapsed into dust at my fingertips. I jumped back, heart hammering, breaths short, eyes wide.
The book stayed in my hand.
It was padlocked.
Of course it was. Nothing easy ever happened.
Another beep. My phone.
Message. From a Jude, my closest friend.
Something about getting a girlfriend online. My brain hadn't calmed enough to fully register it.
I frowned. Not only was I still a virgin, I was middle class, terrified, and running from… whatever the hell was out there.
Alpha males don't die in caves… right? Not me. Not now. And especially not to whatever that was. I reminded myself.
I shoved my phone into my pocket, gritted my teeth, and rose.
I followed the sound of the stream.
Somewhere, out there, survival still existed. And maybe, just maybe, I could reach it.