𝖁𝖊𝖓𝖔𝖒𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝕿𝖎𝖊𝖘

Prologue: In the Dark of Night

I strain my eyes to see through the jet black forest around me. I take a deep breath. Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. I recall what my best friend Danny said to me once, he always does know exactly what to say. I inhale again, "get yourself together Jackson" I mutter to myself.

It was the middle of the night, no sane person was out at this time, besides myself of course. There's absolutely nothing to worry about. As I step forward, I feel the dried leaves crumble beneath my shoes. A cool breeze passes through the air, the trees swaying around me. A piercing scream ringing out into the forest, I can't tell which direction it came from. I ignore it, probably just some stray animal.

I shiver, it was fucking cold. I should have brought a warmer jacket. I pick up my pace, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible so I could be back in my warm silk sheets in the comfort of my own home. Again, I take a deep breath and release. Just keep moving.

My eyes scan the damp ground of the surrounding underbrush, desperately looking for what I need. It was so easily identifiable, unmistakable, and yet I still couldn't find it. I can't find much at all, only distorted figures and shapes. The shadows the trees are casting above me make it even more difficult to navigate my way through the forest.

I hear a vociferous howl sound through the night like something out of a horror movie, although it was more similar to a savage roar than a howl. I instantly go still. Maybe it was just a wild dog, no it was much too loud, too angry. Like it was overtaken with grief and horror at the same time.

An outline of something sticking out of the ground catches my eye. Please be it, please be it, I hope to myself with desperation. I'm not sure what it is, if it's what I'm searching for. I lean over to get a closer look, my angle causes my phone to slip out of my pocket onto the muddy ground below. "Son of a bitch" I curse. I reach down and pick it up, then I realise I could simply turn the flashlight on.

Bright light shines from my phone, I look downwards and sigh in disappointment. It was just a weed. The light from my phone cut out. "What the hell" I attempt to power my device back on. That fails to work, so I begin shaking the phone in a small fit of anger. I release a sigh, knowing that's not going to do anything useful. Danny may be the technology guy but I'm not an idiot, plus he actually taught me alot about those things. It doesn't take a genius to figure out if a phone is dead. Which Is exactly the problem. Joy.

Just my luck, inconvenient things just always seem to happen at the most inconvenient times. I put my phone in my jacket pocket and zip it so it doesn't fall out again.

I turn around and begin moving again, when I hear something scurry behind me. I look over only to see a squirrel run right by me. It keeps running until it was out of my sight. Once I decide to continue moving, a flock of birds flies just above my head, scattering in the direction the squirrel ran. They seemed startled. I shake my head annoyed.

Exhausted and fed up I begin to make my way back to my Porsche, by following the lengthy trail of footprints and crushed leaves I left behind. I parked it on the side of the road, where I entered the preserve. As I walk the dry dead leaves crunch beneath my feet. Now that I think about it, the forest is pretty quiet now. The sound of my quickly paced footsteps echo out into the woods around me. Normally there is at least the sound of crickets or birds obnoxiously fluttering around, but tonight it was just cold dead silence.

Puzzling over the odd behavior of the animals, I look up to the sky above me, the full moon illuminates the sky peaking through the trees lighting up my surroundings. At least I can see a bit more clearly now. I hear something resembling a pant behind me. I whip my head around and see nothing there, must just be the wind blowing the trees or something.