Hylophobia - Paranormal Thriller

Part 1: The Hunt Begins

South Korea, Saturday, May 2015

Forests are never entirely silent. When you listen closely, you can hear all the sounds that nature can produce. Birds are chirping, snakes hissing, some mice or rabbits rustling in a bush, a deer screaming, and the wind howling. However, there are moments when the forest can go completely silent. This often indicates that the prey animals can sense a big predatory threat. Something that you might want to pay attention to since it could be a threat to you as well. Kangdae and his sister are in the forest near his and Shion's house. They are hunting, while Kangdae is trying to investigate a strange case of a dead black deer in the ditch. Now is a moment when the forest has gone completely silent. Haneul is standing still, gazing through the scope of her rifle. BANG! The sound of her firing a shot disturbs the dead silence and all the birds nearby are flying away. She lowers her rifle and proudly flips her hair over her shoulder. She had just shot down a beautiful young female deer who was wandering alone in the forest. It didn't take long before the forest was soundly back to normal. Kangdae had heard her gunshot as he was a few meters away and decided to return to her. He was empty-handed. No successful hunt and no successful findings. He approached the deer with his sister and looked down at it.

- "Not bad", he said and smiled slightly.

- "I know, right. Where is your hunt though?", asked Haneul and looked at her brother.

- "I couldn't find anything. Not even tracks. I guess I'm way out of my league today", saidKangdae.

- "Hmm", hummed Haneul and looked down at the deer. "I was surprised when you texted me about joining you for a hunt in the woods. I thought you hated forests, ever since, that incident when you were little".

A troubled look flushed over Kangdae's face. A bad childhood memory that he had tried to forget was coming back to him. He was about four years old, as he was playing in the forest, and ended up lost. He was wandering for hours alone. As the sun set, he began to see things that he couldn't tell if they were real. Shadowy figures would chase him around. His father had to call the police and he would join them in a search party. They found Kangdae hiding under some big rock around 1 am. The poor kid was dehydrated, dizzy, cold, hungry, tired, scared, and shocked. Kangdae suffered years of nightmares after that event and has developed a fear of wandering deep into forests, regardless if they are familiar or not.

- "We should just leave", sighed Kangdae. "Good hunting".

- "For me, yeah. You got nothing", said Hanuel.

- "That's alright. Better luck next time", said Kangdae and shrugged.

Same Time, One Year Later

Missing person's report.

Name: Jeong So-Hee

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Height: 160 cm

Hair: long, straight, dark brown with bangs

Wearing: high school uniform and leather bag.

Last seen: two weeks ago in school.

Police report: Jeong So-Hee was last seen at Seoul Girl's High School. According to family and friends, Sohee is a well-behaved bright girl with a lot of potential. When asked about what could have led to her sudden disappearance, no one seems to know why. Sohee had no reason to disappear. Before her disappearance, she was acting normal and it has been confirmed that nothing in her personal life would have impacted her disappearance. Family and friends began to notice her disappearance when she was no longer answering her phone. The police have not been able to locate her device. This could be just another random kidnapping case, as those are not unusual. If you notice anything that could help with this girl's search, contact the local police department. Update: Sohee's bag has been found outside Goli forest.