Azari had been living in the house for what felt like days, maybe weeks, though he couldn't remember exactly how long. Time had taken on a strange, warped quality in this isolated place, as though the hours were unwilling to let go of him, stretching endlessly in the silence. The house was small, and the surrounding forest was dense. In that stillness, every sound became significant. Every leaf that rustled in the wind, every twig that snapped underfoot, echoed through the walls like a threat.
He had found the house abandoned when he wandered into the woods, tired and hungry. The door creaked open easily, as if it had been waiting for him. But now… now, something was different.
The night was darker than usual. The stars were hidden behind thick clouds, and the wind seemed to have gone still. He had been preparing his dinner when he saw it, just at the edge of the trees.
A figure, barely visible in the shadows, emerging slowly from the depths of the forest. It moved with an unnatural stillness, its shape humanoid, but something about it felt wrong. As it stepped closer, Azari's heart skipped. The figure was naked, its pale skin catching the faint moonlight.
But it was human, wasn't it?
For a moment, Azari felt a wave of relief, as if the stranger might be the owner of the house, someone who had simply disappeared for a time. He had been alone for so long, so the sight of another person, even in such strange circumstances, brought a sense of comfort.
But…
He frowned, watching the figure approach. It was strange. It had been days, maybe weeks, since he arrived, and never once had he noticed anyone return to this house. Not a soul. The figure did not seem quite right, and Azari's unease deepened.
He moved swiftly to the small kitchen, grabbing the bowl of soup he'd been making. It wasn't much it just a simple broth but he thought perhaps it would be a kind gesture. A way to break the silence, to offer something to this lonely, naked stranger.
The door creaked open, and he stepped outside, the warmth of the soup held firmly in his hands. "Hello?" Azari called, his voice unsure. His throat tightened. There was no response, not even a flicker of recognition from the stranger.
The man's head remained down, his face hidden, as if he hadn't heard.
"Are you… lost?" Azari tried again, stepping closer. There was no reaction. He stood before the man now, his heartbeat quickening, his hand still gripping the bowl. Something wasn't right.
He watched, his breath catching, as the stranger's head jerked upward suddenly, only to snap back down again, as though pulled by invisible strings. The motion was too fast. It wasn't human. It didn't move like any person Azari had ever seen.
Azari froze, his grip tightening on the bowl. This wasn't normal. This wasn't human.
Before he could even react, his hand moved without thinking and he poured the soup toward the figure, desperate to see some kind of response, any kind of sign that this thing was… alive.
But then the stranger's head jolted up again faster than Azari could comprehend and their eyes locked.
It wasn't a human gaze. Those eyes were hollow, empty, as if there was nothing behind them at all. Only blackness, like a void that swallowed everything.
The bowl slipped from Azari's hand and clattered to the ground, the liquid splashing across the stranger's face.
The man's body stiffened, and an unearthly scream tore through the night, a shrill, high-pitched sound that should not have come from a human throat. It felt like ice scraping across Azari's skin, like something inside him shattered.
Azari recoiled, his heart hammering in his chest.
Before he could move, the man's head snapped down again, jerking violently like a puppet on frayed strings. The motion was quick, disorienting, and before Azari could process it, the stranger's face shot up again, his eyes now transformed. What should have been human eyes were now two glowing, white jewels, like polished gems buried in his skull.
Azari's stomach lurched. The skin around the man's eyes had been stretched and torn, as if those gems had been forced in, splitting open the delicate flesh. The grotesque transformation made Azari's breath catch in his throat, his mind struggling to comprehend what he was seeing.
The man's face twisted in pain, but those jewels, those eyes glimmered, glowing eerily in the dark. The moment was frozen in Azari's mind, sharp and horrifying. He didn't wait for the next move. His instincts kicked in.
Grabbing his spear and his bag, Azari turned, sprinting towards the bedroom. He could hear the monster's movements behind him, a heavy, unnatural sound, but he didn't look back. There was no time.
He threw himself toward the open window, his hands scrambling to find a hold. With a rush of air, he launched himself into the night, landing hard on the ground below. The cold earth greeted him with a shock, but there was no time to feel it.
He turned his head to the right, ready to run but then he stopped.
The man, no, the thing was there, standing naked in the moonlight, its eyes gleaming like polished jewels. The air felt thick with the presence of something not quite human.
Before Azari could even make a move, the figure lunged toward him, faster than he thought possible, and with a sickening thud, it collided with him.
Azari didn't have time to dodge. The impact sent him sprawling, his spear flying from his grip. The creature's eyes those awful, glowing jewels locked onto his, and in that moment, Azari knew he wasn't facing a man anymore. He was facing something other.
Something that would not let him escape.
Azari's body screamed with pain as he scrambled to his feet. His heart pounded so loudly it threatened to drown out everything else. His breath came in sharp, desperate gasps, his mind racing. Run, the only command that mattered now. But where?
The thing behind him moved with a fluidity that shouldn't be possible, its bare feet silent against the ground despite the wild speed. His blood ran cold as it lunged, its hands reaching for him with inhuman precision.
Azari barely managed to dodge, feeling the air shift as the creature's fingers brushed past his shoulder. A sudden, icy chill crawled up his spine as the realization hit. It wasn't just fast, it was unstoppable. Every move, every twist of its body was too deliberate, too controlled. There was no sense of weariness, no hesitation. It moved like a predator that had hunted for years, every inch of it designed to kill.
His feet pounded against the earth, the dry ground crunching beneath him. His legs felt like they were made of lead, and each stride felt slower than the last, as though the weight of the night itself was dragging him down. But still, he ran.
The woods were thick, dark and too dark. Even with the moonlight seeping through the canopy, the shadows seemed to press in on him, suffocating, like the forest itself was part of the creature's hunt. Azari had no sense of direction anymore. He didn't know if he was running deeper into the woods or heading back to the house. All he knew was that the creature was still behind him, gaining ground.
The monster's breath was uneven but steady, a rasping sound that echoed through the trees like the wind howling through a cracked window. Its footsteps were too close, too fast, and Azari could feel its presence like a weight on his back.
He could hear it now its breathing, heavy and uneven, almost like it was savoring the chase. The thought made Azari's stomach churn.
Suddenly, a sharp snap of a branch underfoot too loud in the stillness and Azari dared a glance over his shoulder.
The creature was right there.
Its body was barely visible in the shadows, but those eyes those horrid, glowing jewels burned through the darkness like twin lighthouses, lighting the path it was about to take. The creature's face was twisted with a grotesque smile, its features contorting in a way that was unnatural, inhuman. Azari could almost hear the wet crackle of its skin as it moved.
With a surge of terror, Azari pushed himself harder, his breath ragged in his throat. A stream of moonlight broke through the trees ahead, illuminating a narrow path. He didn't think, he just moved toward it, praying it would lead somewhere.
Somewhere safe.
But as he sprinted toward the clearing, the world seemed to blur. His legs burned with the effort, his muscles screaming in protest, but he forced himself to keep going. The creature, the thing, was still there, but he couldn't afford to think about it. He couldn't afford to stop.
Just when the edge of the clearing seemed within reach, Azari's foot caught on a root, sending him sprawling forward, face-first into the dirt. His body slammed to the ground with a sickening thud, the breath knocked out of him. His vision spun, darkness creeping in at the edges as he gasped for air.
No, no, no!
He struggled to push himself up, but before he could even lift his head, he heard it. The rustle of leaves. The soft, deliberate crunch of footsteps moving closer.
The thing was right behind him. Too close.
Azari didn't look back. He couldn't.
He managed to crawl to his hands and knees, pushing himself to his feet, but he was slower now, weaker. The wound in his side, a gash from when he'd been thrown from the window, throbbed with every movement. His muscles felt like they were seizing up, his limbs heavy and sluggish.
His heart raced in his chest like it might burst.
The creature's footsteps grew louder, closer. Azari could feel the heat of its breath on the back of his neck, could hear the creak of its joints as it moved closer, closer.
He didn't have time to think.
A moment of desperation flooded him, he reached out, grasping blindly at the ground. His fingers found something cold, something hard, and in his panic, he yanked it free.
A rock. Large, jagged.
It wasn't much, but in that split second, it was the only thing between him and certain death.
Azari swung it behind him with all his strength, not even aiming it was just pure, blind instinct. He heard the sickening crack of stone meeting flesh.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then, a screech. Not a human scream, but something worse. Something that tore through the air like an animal being gutted. The thing recoiled, stumbling back, its glowing eyes flickering with something close to rage.
Azari didn't wait. He bolted again.
His legs barely carried him. His vision was narrowing, his senses dulling. But in the distance, there was movement, something. A clearing, a shadow moving.
A shape.
Is it?
He didn't dare think it. He didn't dare believe it. He ran, faster than before, pushing himself to the limit.
And then, at the edge of the clearing he saw it.
A figure. Another human. But this time, it wasn't the creature.
A man, tall and broad-shouldered, moving with purpose. He had to be real. Azari had to reach him. He was real.
Azari's pulse quickened. His legs burned, but he surged forward, the figure in front of him now almost within reach.
But just as he stretched out his hand to call out, the ground beneath him shifted.
A sudden snap, and Azari's foot twisted beneath him. Pain shot through his ankle, and he tumbled forward into the dirt once more, the world spinning wildly around him.
And then, with a final, chilling scream from behind, the thing was upon him.