The heavy leather boots clicked one last time as the gear shifted.
And the motorcycle's roar suddenly died into a whisper.
In the vacuum of silence that followed.
The only sound was the rhythmic 'tick-tick' of the cooling metal engine.
Around her, the darkness was a thick, velvet curtain.
That the fading glow of the headlight could barely pierce.
The rider flipped up the helmet's visor.
A gust of biting cold air struck her face.
Making the weight of her exhaustion feel even heavier.
She pulled off her gloves and rested them on the fuel tank.
Her fingers remained stiff.
Locked in the shape of the handlebars after hours of gripping the road.
She kicked the side stand into the dirt and dismounted.
The crunch of damp grass and snapping twigs under her weight echoed sharply.
Through the desolate woods.
As she shrugged the massive backpack off her shoulders.
A brief sense of relief washed over her.
The white beam of her flashlight began to dance across the trunks of towering trees.
Whose shadows stretched across the ground like distorted, reaching limbs.
With practiced, steady movements, she selected a patch of level ground.
There was no hesitation in her actions—unzipping the bag.
Driving the stakes into the earth, and stretching the nylon fabric taut.
The silence was so absolute.
That the sound of her own rhythmic breathing felt loud.
Filling the space between the trees.
Within minutes, a small blue tent stood as a solitary island in the middle of the void.
She pulled the key from the ignition, unzipped the flap.
And stepped into her cramped sanctuary.
Outside, the lone machine stood guard against the endless, whispering forest.
The clock struck 2:00 AM.
Inside the cramped sanctuary of the tent.
The sharp vibration of a phone shattered the silence.
The blue light of the screen illuminated the rider's tired face.
She pressed the device to her ear.
"Where are you? We got separated," a voice crackled through the static.
Sounding distant yet urgent.
The rider looked at the thin nylon walls separating her from the void outside.
"I'm in the middle of the forest," she replied.
Her voice steady despite the exhaustion.
"The fatigue hit me hard, so I pitched camp right where I was."
"I couldn't go any further."
"We're almost there. We should be reaching your stretch of the woods soon."
"Can you come out and wait for us by the road?"
She tucked the phone away and unzipped the tent.
The night air was even colder now, pressing against her skin like ice.
As she stepped out, her flashlight beam cut through the mist.
Landing on something small and shivering near the edge of the clearing.
It was a tiny puppy.
It looked impossibly small and fragile.
Against the backdrop of the ancient, towering trees.
How could something so young survive out here alone? she wondered.
Its presence felt like a glitch in the dark reality of the woods.
Moved by an instinctive urge to protect the helpless creature, she reached out.
She intended to scoop it up and keep it safe within the warmth of her camp.
But the moment she moved, the puppy stiffened.
It didn't whimper or wag its tail; instead, it began to retreat.
As the rider took a step forward, the creature turned and bolted in the opposite direction—
Away from the road, away from the camp.
And deeper into the lightless heart of the forest.
It kept glancing back over its shoulder, its eyes reflecting the flashlight's glow.
Beckoning her to follow it into the mouth of the shadows.
The puppy moved like a pale ghost through the oppressive dark.
Each time the rider paused to catch her breath, the small creature halted too.
It would turn back, its wide, terrified eyes locked onto her.
Ensuring she was still following.
The moment she took another step, it vanished once more into the thick underbrush.
But at the other end of the silent forest, near the spot where her tent stood alone.
The stillness had turned predatory.
Two massive silhouettes emerged from the gloom.
These were no ordinary wolves; their shoulders were unusually high.
And a hungry, yellow luminescence flickered in their eyes.
They tilted their heads back, muzzles twitching.
As they caught the sharp, fresh scent of the girl in the cold air.
Their paws hit the dried leaves with a terrifying silence.
Moving like liquid shadows.
The rider remained oblivious to the two executioners tracking her scent from behind.
Her focus was entirely on the puppy—on the raw, vibrating fear in its tiny frame.
The creature kept glancing past her, its eyes darting toward the darkness she had just walked through.
As if it could see the monsters that she had yet to encounter.
The density of the forest was now closing in on her.
The puppy had vanished into the shadows.
As if it were a mere fragment of the dark that had served its purpose and dissolved.
Her leg muscles began to seize with cramp.
She stumbled, collapsing onto her knees over a bed of dry, decaying leaves.
Each breath she took was a ragged gasp.
Visible as a plume of white mist in the freezing air.
She spun her head to look back, but the darkness offered no landmarks.
Her sense of direction had completely withered.
With trembling hands, she pulled out her phone.
But seeing the 'No Service' icon made her grip loosen.
A bead of cold sweat traced a path down her neck.
She closed her eyes tight, clenched her fists.
And forced a long, deep breath into her lungs.
She suppressed her racing heartbeat, forcing herself back to her feet.
She moved forward with extreme caution, her footsteps silent.
Suddenly, the trees vanished.
And she emerged into a clearing where the ground was unnervingly flat, dry, and barren.
Not a single tree or blade of grass grew there.
In the center of this void stood a mountain-sized shadow.
As her flashlight beam climbed its rusted flanks, the rider's feet froze in place.
It was a massive ocean liner.
Its towering iron hull was a map of thick rust and decay.
Smelling of ancient, corroded metal.
Strangely, there was no water for miles—no river, no lake.
The gargantuan structure sat in the dry forest dust, silent and brooding.
As if it had been dropped there directly from the sky.
To be continue...