Blood Ties

Into the Woods

The wind howled through the cracks in the cabin as Gabriel and Eve made their way down the creaking stairs, the unsettling knock echoing in their minds. Eve's pulse raced as she followed Gabriel, her breath coming in shallow bursts. The storm outside had reached its peak, a swirling mass of rain and wind, yet neither of them hesitated as they reached the front door. The world outside was dark, swallowed by the thick fog that had settled over the woods like a blanket of dread.

Gabriel yanked open the door, and the tempest greeted them with a ferocity that almost pushed them back. The trees swayed in the gale, their bare branches clawing at the sky as if trying to reach down and pull them into the earth. The smell of wet soil and decay hung in the air, and beneath it, a far more disturbing scent lingered—something sharp, metallic, like the promise of blood.

"I don't like this," Eve muttered, her voice barely audible over the roar of the storm. "But we have no choice, do we?"

Gabriel glanced back at her, his face hard, eyes scanning the perimeter of the cabin. "No. We don't. If we don't find whatever this is, we're all dead. The woman... she said we need to find the place where it all started. Where the blood was spilled."

Eve nodded, her hand instinctively tightening around the grip of the knife she'd taken from the cabin. She wasn't naive enough to think they were going to find safety by staying put. If someone—or something—was hunting them, then they needed to take the fight to it. The stakes were clear now: this wasn't just about family secrets anymore. This was about survival.

Gabriel stepped out into the storm, his figure swallowed by the fog as he moved toward the woods. Eve hesitated for a moment, casting a glance back at the cabin, the only place that had ever felt like a semblance of home. It felt as though it had already been abandoned, not by the people inside, but by something more ancient, something that had long claimed ownership over this land.

"Come on," Gabriel called, his voice cutting through the wind.

Eve took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders, and followed. They didn't speak as they made their way into the woods, the terrain uneven and treacherous. Gabriel led the way, his familiarity with the land guiding them through the thick underbrush. The dense trees towered over them, casting long, shifting shadows in the dim light. The further they ventured, the more oppressive the atmosphere became, as though the forest itself was closing in around them, wrapping them in its dark embrace.