The forest outside Hollow Creek had always been strange.
Even during the day, sunlight barely touched the ground beneath the tall trees. The air felt heavy, as if the forest itself was breathing slowly.
People in town had a rule.
Never walk into the forest after midnight.
Most people followed that rule.
Except Lucas Hale.
Lucas walked quietly along the narrow dirt path, holding a small flashlight in his hand. The beam of light moved across the trees, revealing twisted branches and wet leaves.
Somewhere in the distance, something moved.
A branch snapped.
Lucas stopped walking.
He slowly turned his head toward the sound.
For a moment, everything became silent.
Then the wind started again.
Lucas exhaled softly.
"Just animals," he murmured.
But the forest felt different tonight.
Almost… alive.
A faint smell reached his nose.
Iron.
Lucas followed the smell deeper into the trees.
A few minutes later, the light from his flashlight stopped on something lying on the ground.
A body.
A man in his mid-thirties lay motionless in the dirt, his clothes torn and covered in blood. His eyes stared blankly into the darkness above.
Strange symbols had been carved into the soil around him.
Lucas crouched beside the body.
His face remained calm.
Too calm for someone who had just discovered a corpse.
He examined the symbols carefully.
A triangle.
A circle.
And a line cutting through both.
Lucas tilted his head slightly.
"Interesting," he whispered.
Suddenly, the sound of distant sirens echoed through the forest.
Someone must have called the police.
Lucas slowly stood up.
His flashlight moved across the trees again.
For a brief moment, the beam revealed something strange on a nearby tree.
A fresh scratch.
Three deep claw-like marks.
Lucas stared at them silently.
Then he looked back at the body.
The sirens were getting closer.
Soon the police would arrive.
Lucas wiped a small drop of blood from his hand and rubbed it into the dirt.
No one would notice.
No one ever did.
By the time the police reached the forest, Lucas was already standing at the edge of the path, looking frightened like everyone else.
"Did you find him?" one officer asked.
Lucas nodded slowly.
"Yes," he said quietly.
"Something killed him in the forest."
The officer frowned.
"Something?"
Lucas looked back at the dark trees.
The wind moved through the branches, making a whispering sound.
Lucas smiled faintly.
"Or someone."
But deep inside the forest…
Something else was still awake.
Watching.
Waiting.
And Lucas Hale knew exactly what it was.