Oskar's lower half lies splayed across the forest floor, legs bent awkwardly as he was still walking, his shoes scuffed and torn from the undergrowth. His arms are frozen outward, reaching, as though he's still walking toward something he cannot reach

  The trees above us catch the moonlight, reflecting off the wet, darkened earth beneath him, his body still frozen as if paused in mid-animation, a character who forgot the script. His glasses lie a few inches from his body, cracked, lens fogged, tilted as though still peering at the thing he so fearlessly he walked towards

  There was no scream. No time for anyone to react. Only the silence that follows a snap, a clean, horrifying ending. The forest is still. The monster still remains there in the same position just watching

  Adrian stumbles back, pale. Sofia shudders, hand pressed over her mouth. Lukas falls to his knees, unable to breathe for a moment. And I? My chest tightens, my mind trying to comprehend what has just happened

  Oskar is gone. Not missing, not hiding. Gone

  A deep, guttural laugh echoes through the trees, low and mocking, vibrating through my chest. The creature isn't still anymore. Its massive form shifts above us, limbs swinging with impossible speed, each movement deliberate, cutting through the shadows as it moves from behind the trees it's massive body casting a vast shadow among anything beneath it.

  "Move! Run!" I scream, grabbing Adrian's sleeve. The others react instantly, stumbling over roots, branches clawing at our clothes and skin as we tear through the undergrowth

  The monster follows, and the sound of its laughter never stops, echoing between throughout the forest itself clearly mocking us. Every step we take feels futile; it moves faster than thought, limbs reaching down, its head looming impossibly high, obscured by the leaves

  Sofia trips over a root, and I quickly throw an arm out, grabbing her just in time, pulling her back to her feet. Lukas yells something, but I don't hear the words, how could I, the only thing important right now is to escape and survive!

  I cock my head back just for a moment. Just to try to gauge the distance between us. But why is it smiling, it's fucking enjoying this! My stomach twists at the thought, but I shove it down. I can't think about that, Just run. Just keep running. I have to survive!

  The ground shakes with each step the creature takes. It's massive, towering over the trees, and its white eyes glint in the dim light. The smile… that grotesque, unchanging smile stretches wider and wider becoming more inhuman as it advances toward us

  We can't stop. We can't hide. The forest seems endless, the trees blurring together as we sprint blindly forward, branches whipping our faces, mud and leaves kicking into our eyes. And all the while, that laugh echoes behind us, growing louder, closer, unstoppable, continuing to taunt us of the terror that's yet to come

  Pale streaks of light pierce throughout the leaves above us illuminating the path ahead. I can feel it before I see it. The air shifts, the weight of the presence as if vanishing almost instantly, the very constitution of the air transforming

  Is it letting up?!? My thoughts flicker in disbelief, scanning behind me for any sign of the towering figure. Its laughter has faded, replaced deathly silence.

  We stagger to a stop, breaths ragged, hearts pounding, eyes wide with disbelief. The forest is quiet now, the laughter gone, leaving only the rustling of leaves and the same eerie silence of the forest

  D-Did we survive? I think, still frozen, my pulse slowly returning to something manageable. The danger hasn't passed—it's still out there. But for now, the monster has let us go

  We slow to a staggered halt, breaths ragged, hearts hammering, the forest strangely silent now. The monster's laughter has faded, but how can we relax yet, if that thing was just marginally quicker all of us would have been dead right then and there!

  "I-I can't believe Oskar…" Adrian's voice cracks, trailing off. He presses his hands against his face, shaking

  "Don't talk about him like that," Elena snaps, her jaw tight. "He… he's gone. Gone because he was stupid. Because he—" She swallows hard, shaking her head. "Never mind"

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  Vera's fists clench, white-knuckled. "He thought he was some stupid hero. That idiot! Now he's just…" She trails off, glaring at the empty trees. "Dead"

  Sofia whispers, almost to herself, "I keep seeing it… that smile. That stupid smile. It's still there in my head, I can't unsee it"

  Lukas shifts uncomfortably, avoiding all our eyes. "I-I can't even imagine what it felt like. His head gone, ripped of his body like that'' His voice breaks

  Soren raises his voice, frantically pointing around, ''That thing is fucking hunting us! We need to get the hell out of this forest right now! There's a reason none of those monsters chased us in here and we found the reason out too late, because of that Oskar's dead!''

  Elena faces her body towards me looking downwards matching my frantic gaze, ''Are you forgetting that there's a reason we ran into here those monsters are still outside''

  I look up at her blood rushing to my head, veins bulging out above my temple, ''So what do you propose then! Staying here being hunted like livestock! Even if the chance is small if we make a run for it. Even if we are dead. Either way I'd risk everything knowing there's even a fraction of a chance better we survive that way''

  Elena's hands shake as she pulls at her sleeves, eyes darting around the dense trees. "I don't know, everything we do seems to be destined with all of our deaths so I don't know!"

  Sofia's voice cracks, but she glares forward, teeth clenched. "We can't just stay here and wait to die! I saw what it did to Oskar! I'm not going to be next!"

  Adrian runs a hand through his hair, panic mixing with frustration. "I don't even know if running will help, but staying here isn't an option either! That thing will kill all of us if we stay here! We need to get out of here! I can't stand being here a second longer I fell like I'm going to throw up"

  Luka's hides his face in his hands, panicking, ''L-Let's leave now I don't want, No I can't stay here any longer, Ah god save us''

  Vera exhales sharply, glancing between us, her jaw tight. "Fine. Then we go. Right now. No arguing. Every second we waste is a second closer to our death"

  I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Right. We leave. Immediately. Stick together, don't stop, and don't look back"

  The decision is made. No more debate. No more hesitation. Together, we turn toward the thinnest path we can see, every step heavy, the forest pressing in around us. We sprint, the air whistling in our ears, hearts pounding, lungs burning, and eyes locked on the distant light breaking through the trees

  We push forward, branches clawing at our arms and faces, roots threatening to trip us with every step. My lungs burn, my legs scream, but we don't stop. Every instinct screams that we need to escape, but the forest refuses to give us a way out

  "Elena… I think we're going in circles," Vera pants, her hair plastered to her face with sweat. "I swear we passed that same tree three times already!"

  I glance around, heart hammering, trying to recognize any landmark, recognise anyhing. But everything looks the same. Same trees, same rocks, shadows stretching in every direction. "No… no, it's not just exhaustion. Something's wrong," I mutter

  We stop for a moment to catch our breath, and Adrian suggests, "Let's mark a tree and try to head in a straight line. That way we'll know if we're looping back." We all agree, grabbing rocks, carving marks into the nearest trunk. One by one, we move forward, pushing through the dense undergrowth with renewed focus

  Hours pass. Branches tear at our clothes, roots snare our feet, and sweat stings our eyes. Each time we glance back at the marked trees, the carvings are there. They are always there! But after what feels like another hour, we realize the trees we marked appear ahead of us again, as if we've been led back to the same spot

  "We are going in circles again," Lukas mutters, disbelief and exhaustion thick in his voice. "No matter which way we go, it's like the forest is moving or it's keeping us here''

  Elena bites her lip, looking around the dense green maze. "We can't be trapped, can we? There must be a way out of this god dammed forest!"

  Sofia shakes her head, shoulders slumping. "We've tried everything! Every direction! Every marker! Nothing changes. We're stuck"

  I clench my fists, the adrenaline fading into a cold, heavy realization. "The forest it's not letting us leave. No matter what we try. We are trapped"

  A heavy, uneasy silence settles over the group. We continue walking for a while longer, trying out different angles, different paths, but eventually the truth sinks in. Each tree we mark, each direction we attempt, brings us back to the same spot. Again and Again and Again. Nothing changes

  Adrian mutters under his breath begging, voice tight, "So we are stuck. No no no please. Let's try again, if we keep trying we have to find a way''

  I laugh manically hands clawing at my face, my cheeks contorting ''hahaHAHAH, why did you think it let us escape, because it spared us! No no no no it knew! It knew, that we couldn't leave this place, that's why you me everyone on us are still alive, it's toying with us!''

  The forest fell silent for a moment, as if it had paused to listen to my laughter. Branches creaked in the wind, shadows stretching longer, twisting unnaturally between the trunks. The others stared at me, wide-eyed, faces pale in the fading light, but no one spoke

  And then I felt it movement above us. A presence so vast it could block the sky, yet hidden in the leaves. The forest seemed to lean closer, watching, waiting. My chest tightened, and for the first time, I realized the game wasn't over. It had only just begun

  Somewhere, deep within the trees, a low, guttural laugh echoed, almost like the forest itself was amused

  We were never leaving the moment we got here

  The hunt has just begun