The forest slept once more. The ravens disappeared from the dark night and they left him, the trees, and the monsters.
Everything was quiet. Not naturally quiet, but wrong quiet. As if the entire surrounding was holding its breath.
Levi stood there in the middle of the dead road, blood running down his legs, mace in one hand, phone dead in the other, staring into the darkness beyond the tree.
Something moved again. A slow, deliberate step on gravel.
Not rushed. Not aggressive. Almost… playful.
Then…–
Giggle
High-pitched. Playful. Like a woman flirting in a bar. At least, according to the movies Levi had seen. Sexy. Seductive. But most of all… wrong. Every hair on his arms stood up. He didn't turn to see who it was.
He RAN.
Down the road, breath ripping in and out of his chest, arms pumping like his life depended on it, because it did. The pain in his ribs was gone, and the only thing that could replace it was sheer primal terror.
"Don't run," the voice cooed behind him. Smooth. Sweet. Almost kind."It'll be fun… I promise." He didn't slow. He'd heard that line in horror movies and shows, and most of the time, it didn't end well for the person hearing it. And in this nightmarish place, he knew what came next. And he wasn't dying standing still.
Trees blurred past him. His legs burned. Every breath stabbed his ribs. He didn't care. He'd run until his bones snapped if he had to- until…
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
In the corner of his eyes, he saw figures exiting the treelines slowly and coolly. Almost like they had all the time in the world, and they probably did. It was far more freaky experiencing it than dreaming it. Out in front of him, he saw two more, standing still on the road, blocking his way towards the town. To his safety, or at least, one of them. Both were pale and wrong, and smiling.
For a moment, Levi hesitated and slowed just for a bit, before his posture changed from running like "bat out of a cave". Coming close to them, Levi could see that it was a man and a woman. One in a nursing outfit and the other in a soldier's outfit. Both looked like they came from World War one, with eyes that held no life in them.
"Slow-" Before the soldier could finish, he received a full strength mace to the face by Levi, making it stumble back. Its face caved in and then twisted to the side, its creepy smile was gone. No blood exited the monster's face, no bones cracked and poked out, no screams followed the hit, and Levi had no time for more.
Before the woman monster could do anything, Levi was out of their reach as he ran towards the town.
The town waited ahead, glowing in the darkness like it had been expecting him.
Streetlights buzzed quietly, casting pale yellow halos on the cracked pavement. The rest of the world was swallowed in night, too black, too empty, as if the forest itself refused to follow him any further. The entire place was surrounded by greenery, as if the trees were walls meant to protect the town. Or fuse with it.
Levi slowed to a walk.
Not because he was tired.
Because he knew this place.
Every corner. Every building. Every inch of this road. He had visited this place for years in his nightmares, and it really looked exactly the same. The one thing that might have changed was the number of abandoned cars, but that was all.
To his left, the old gas station.
Rust was eating the sign. One pump hose lay on the ground, nozzle dripping nothing. The office window was cracked in a spiderweb pattern, but the door hung perfectly open. As if someone hadn't been inside for months.
A bit ahead, the diner. The neon sign was still flickering, casting the word "OPEN" on the wet pavement even though there were no cars, no people, no soun- correction, there was someone inside it. A beautiful blonde lady, sitting on the chair, an unnatural smile on her face as she patted the bouquet of flowers.
The inside was dark, but sometimes, the lights inside would flicker. And then the blonde woman would turn into a silhouette.
Ahead on a small hill—the barn.
Its doors were half-open, swaying slowly in a breeze that didn't exist. The darkness inside felt alive. Breathing. Watching. And to prove him right, a man exited it. Dried red hands that it wiped on its clothes.
Every house along the road sat in perfect rows. Curtains drawn. Lights off. Front doors closed. Levi kept moving. Not running. Not yet. His boots crunched gravel louder than they should have in the stillness. Every sound echoed, like the town was amplifying him, making sure he couldn't hide.
And to make it worse-
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
The whole population of the town turned to look at him. Blood left his face, and his body stiffened. Levi acted before they did, but he noticed the smiles widening just a little. The blonde woman who was in the diner was gone, the man by the barn, already making his way towards him alongside dozens of others.
And as if that wasn't enough, lots more revealed themselves from inside the houses and the forest. Outdated clothing clung to their skin like costumes that never changed. Some wore dresses from the 50s. Some wore suits from the 20s. One child wore a tattered school uniform from a decade that didn't exist. Levi was surprised that there was even a child amongst them, and it was hushed beyond the trees.
But for now, he didn't focus on that bit.
He was terrified, more than he'd ever been in his life.
But fear was familiar. It was a company and a friend for years now.
Fear, he could use.
He met their lifeless eyes and exhaled through his nose.
"Yeah…" he muttered, voice dry as sandpaper. "That tracks…"
Their smiles stretched even wider. Skin pulled too tight. Cheeks lifted too high, and if they were human beings, their eyes would water, and they would pull a facial muscle. Instead, they simply walked up to him as he had stopped.
Levi's grip tightened around the mace, and he turned to look behind him. Seeing the ones that were chasing him getting closer slowly. Almost as if they were taking a walk in a park.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
One of them was screaming, and Levi's blood chilled. "Yeah," he breathed, pulse thundering in his ears. "That's what I thought."
He didn't wait anymore. He had enough rest.
So, he ran.
His legs screamed as he tore down the street, every landmark whipping by in a blur, the gas station, the diner, the empty houses with their watching windows. He heard them behind him. Many of them. Their footsteps were wrong. Some were too soft. Some were too loud. Some landed out of rhythm with their movement, as if the sound and motion were from different bodies.
One of them laughed.
It wasn't loud.
It was soft. Gentle. Delighted.
He ran faster. It was terrifying.
The barn loomed again on his right, and as he turned, he saw another monster leave it, looking at him as if he were food. No, he WAS food to them. But the barn- he had an idea.
Glancing behind him, he saw the monsters taking their time.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
With a plan in mind, he ran towards one of the houses by the barn, and to his surprise, an arm shot out. Long, pale, veiny, and disgustingly large dark black nails. But using his short height to his advantage, Levi tilted his head, dodging the snare. His attacker was an old lady, her smiling face contorting for a moment.
Without any hesitation, his mace landed on the monster's knees, and it collapsed on itself. The smiling face was gone, and Levi finally saw their true face. The first thought that came to him was terrifying, and the second closest was 'eww.' But he didn't wait for the thing to attack him again. He ran.
There was a fence in front of him, and without stopping, he jumped, landing on the other side. The ones chasing him stopped by the fence, their creepy smile dropping just a little bit before they turned and went the long way.
"Huh…" Another idea bloomed as Levi paced himself just a little.
Noticing no monsters' eyes on him, Levi decided that he had to hide for the night. He couldn't keep running around. He had endurance, but not that much. Running around all night until sunrise would exhaust him, and exhaustion led to death in his case.
He already knew several hiding places around the town that others were using due to his nightmares. But he couldn't take the risk of choosing one location, only to find out it was locked or filled.
His eyes turned towards the diner's roof. It was flat with lots of space. If he could get on top of it and lie down, he could be safe for the night, as long as they didn't see him climb up there.