The creature in the woods

The final Stand

The moment the creature disappeared, Ethan’s knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the cold forest floor. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat echoing in his ears. James knelt beside him, breathless, both of them shaken by their encounter. The creature had spoken in riddles, but its message was clear: the forest wasn’t going to let them go without a fight.

“We can’t keep doing this,” James said, his voice strained. “It’s getting stronger. It’s only a matter of time before it comes after us again.”

Ethan nodded weakly, still trying to process everything. The creature had mentioned fate, as if their lives were already written—preordained to end in this cursed forest. But he couldn’t accept that. There had to be a way out, and if the creature thought it could intimidate them into giving up, it was wrong.

“We need to go back to Mrs. Bennett,” Ethan finally said, pushing himself to his feet. “She knows more than she’s telling us. There has to be something we’re missing—some part of the story.”

James hesitated but nodded, standing up and brushing dirt from his pants. “If she knows a way, we have to find it. But if not… we’ll have to make a decision.”

The weight of James’s words settled over them both. A decision neither of them wanted to make. One of them might have to pay the ultimate price.

---

The next day, Ethan and James stood on Mrs. Bennett’s doorstep, hearts racing as they waited for her to answer. When the door creaked open, she stood before them, her expression grim, as if she had been expecting them all along.

“You’ve seen it again,” she said, her voice soft but knowing. “The forest grows restless.”

Ethan stepped forward, determination clear in his voice. “You need to tell us everything. There has to be another way to break the curse. You told us about the sacrifice, but we can’t accept that. We won’t.”

Mrs. Bennett’s eyes softened, filled with the kind of sorrow that only comes from decades of holding secrets too heavy to bear. She stepped aside and motioned for them to come in. Once inside, they sat at her cluttered kitchen table, and the old woman poured them tea, her hands trembling slightly.

“I never wanted it to come to this,” she began, her voice a whisper. “But the forest’s hunger has only grown. The creature, the curse, it’s all connected to something ancient—something dark. Generations ago, the town made a pact with the forest. They took from the land, and in return, a life was offered to keep the balance.”

Ethan leaned forward, his eyes wide. “But we didn’t make that pact. Why does it want us?”

Mrs. Bennett sighed. “Because the bloodline continues. You may not have made the pact, but your ancestors did. The creature claims what was promised. And now that the curse has awakened, it won’t stop until it takes what it’s owed.”

“There has to be a way to break it,” James insisted. “There has to be something we can do.”

Mrs. Bennett looked down, her fingers tracing the edge of her teacup. “There is… one way. But it’s dangerous. And even then, the forest will not forgive easily.”

Ethan’s heart raced. “What is it?”

Mrs. Bennett looked up, her eyes tired but resolute. “You can face the creature. Confront it directly. Offer yourselves, not as sacrifices, but as challengers. If you can defeat it, the bond will be broken, and the forest will release you.”

James’s face paled. “Defeat it? How? We’ve barely survived the times we’ve seen it.”

Mrs. Bennett stood, walking slowly to a dusty shelf lined with old books and jars of strange herbs. She pulled down a small, wooden box and brought it to the table. Inside were two old, weathered knives, their blades etched with the same strange symbols as the altar in the forest.