The Devil's Forest ✔️

"She wandered into the forest, with all of the flickering lights hovering around her body. There was a man there, his skin was red, pocked with deep cracks and grisly scars, he was right behind the first line of trees. He took her hand, because she was paralyzed by his eyes, they were the color of blood and rust left to stew, and he led her deep into the woods. Legend has it, he kills all of his victims and feeds them to the trees in the shadowy heart of the forest!" Richard finished his story with an exaggerated flourish of his hands. He'd always had a flair for the dramatic.

The single flashlight's dim light illuminated his face, elongating his features and illuminating them with shadow. The small tent was filled with creeping shadows that reached their long fingers towards the three of us as we shivered, chills creeping eerily along our spines.

We all unconsciously leaned closer to the light. A twig snapped outside of our tent, breaking the heavy silence. Olivia jumped, letting out a light gasp, her breath fogged in the crisp air. A set of footsteps echoed through the silent night, all of the joy of the previous moments seemed to have been sucked from the air.

As they drew up beside the tent, we all held our breath, and we let out screams as something started beating on the tent, sending streams of light flickering wildly around. The sudden onslaught was cut off with a light chuckle, and something started unzipping the tent's door. We remained paralyzed with fear until we saw a familiar blond head poke its way inside.

"Lucas!" Olivia screeched, her voice shaky. "You scared the living daylights out of us!"

"Telling ghost stories again?" Lucas asked scornfully.

We all just bowed our heads in discomfort.

"Which one was it?" he asked, creeping closer to us in the small interior of the tent. "The goatman?" he took another step. "The clown killer?" and another. "Or the Devil's Forest?" he whispered right into Olivia's ear, making her scream and jump away.

"Stop it, Lucas!" Richard said pulling a trembling Olivia into his arms, crooning to her softly. Lucas cackled, throwing his head back.

I just sat back on my hands, watching my friends quietly.

"That stupid story is so fake," Lucas said scornfully. "There's no devil in that old forest! And definitely no human-eating trees! You don't believe this crap, do you Anabelle?" He shot at me. I sent him a glare and ignored his taunt.

Something changed behind Richard's coffee-brown eyes. "If you're so sure there's nothing in that forest, then why don't you go and prove it?" he said coldly.

Lucas's face paled considerably, and he shook his his head back and forth, as if looking for an escape.

"I bet you won't, you're too chicken," said Richard. I kept watching silently as he continued to provoke Lucas, who looked visibly shaken. Olivia had buried her pale face into Richard's shirt.

"Fine!" Lucas finally said, after being stared down by Richard.

He abruptly stood up and unzipped the tent's flap, walking into the frigid air beyond. We stood up, following behind. The moon shone down coldly from its perch high above.

I stood with Richard and Olivia, and we watched as Lucas transversed the large field separating us from the Devil's Forest.

As he got closer, he slowed down. He was just a tiny outline against the menacing shadows of the tall trees, which seemed to be stretching their dark branches high into the sky, peppered with ice-cold stars.

He slowed to a stop. Then, with a sense of finality, he stepped into the dark trees, which seemed to swallow his form immediately.

We stood there for a few minutes, the wind scraping against the far-off trees the only sound surrounding our isolated forms. But Lucas did not reappear.

The wind keened, reaching its highest pitch. It sounded like a drawn-out shriek. Our bodies trembled. In a single second, the wind's wailing turned into a blood-curdling human scream.

"Lucas!" I shouted, voice breaking. His scream abruptly cut off, and the wind kept on howling.

I started running towards the far-off trees, Olivia and Richard close behind. The forest looked ominous and dark, and the shadows seemed to come alive as we drew closer, reaching out to drag us into their clutches.

We didn't slow as we barreled into the trees, underbrush dragging at our clothes. We eventually stopped in a small clearing to catch our breath.

The trees around us seemed to hold their own light, it was just enough to make out each other's' dim outlines.

"Lucas?" Richard yelled. There was no response. The forest went silent, even the wind had stopped its terrible howl. Richard's voice faded into the forest.

Suddenly, an eerie singing started up among the trees. There seemed to be several voices, rising and falling, singing unintelligible words. Their rhythm was broken, it didn't seem to follow any pattern.

We drew closer together in the center of the clearing as the voices crept closer. They got louder and louder, surrounding us on all sides. Olivia's knees buckled, and she tumbled from our small circle.

The voices cut off. The only sound in the forest was our harsh breathing. Olivia curled up on the ground, shaking silently.

Balls of mulitcolored light floated from the trees, they were all different sizes and they all seemed to emit slight vibrations into the air. Olivia started shaking harder. Richard seemed frozen in time, I looked over at his unmoving form. His eyes stared blankly ahead.

The lights drew closer, merging into a cloud of dim color and crackling vibration. They converged on Olivia's shaking form, hiding her slim body from view. They lifted her into the air, the vibration in the air increased.

For just a second, the color became clear. I saw Olivia, suspended in the cloud. Her hair long floated around her face, and her eyes were gently shut. She looked almost ethereal. The colors returned, hiding her from view, and she was carried away into the dark trees.

The vibrations ceased, and Richard collapsed. I just stared silently at the places where Olivia had just been.

Richard moved, slowly dragging himself from the dank ground.

"We have to find her," he said, voice cracking.

I just stared at him as he yanked at the ends of his hair, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Olivia!" he screamed into the silence.

"Richard, maybe that's not the best idea," I told him. He ignored me and continued screaming her name.

I followed him as he set off in the direction that she had been carried, following a small trail that cut through the dense underbrush. His voice got scratchier as he continued screaming, until he eventually stopped. We continued walking in silence.

As we got deeper into the forest, the trees got bigger and taller, looming high overhead and blocking any light from the moon. I felt uneasy, chills crept their way up my spine. The hairs on my arms stood up, I felt like we were being watched.

"Richard," I said quietly, grabbing his arm and dragging him to a stop. He stared at me with bloodshot eyes, and then pulled free of my grip, continuing down the trail. I snapped my head around, glancing through the shadows. I thought I saw a flash of red.

I shook off the thought and jogged to catch up to Richard.

We walked for what seemed like hours, following twists and turns through the dark trees. Richard was determined, and I didn't want to walk back through the miles of forest all alone.

The uneasy feeling stayed in my mind, and it kept me on the edge. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught another flash of red, and the scent of rotting meat washed over me, the sickening sweetness made me gag.

I slowed to a stop, putting my hands on my knees and looking around.

I gasped as I saw a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at me from the shadows of the forest. The smell got stronger.

I stood up quickly and ran to Richard, who hadn't stopped to wait for me.

"Richard, stop. Someone's following us!" I whispered harshly, futilely pulling at his clothes. He didn't respond, and continued walking steadily through the trees.

I saw light towards the end of the path, and I took a breath of relief. I sped past the unresponsive Richard, who kept walking with his head down.

The trees blocked my view, but I kept running towards safety.

The rotten smell got more potent as I ran, but I just ignored it, dragging my tired feet along the forest floor

The trees opened up, it was a large clearing. Six trees stood like sentries in the very center, they were bigger than any trees I had ever seen before. They looked menacing, just setting eyes on them made my skin crawl.

I heard Richard enter the clearing behind me, each of his steps snapping twigs. The trees kept my attention. There were few leaves, the only remaining ones were black and shriveled, barely hanging on to the branches high in the sky.

I listened as the footsteps drew closer, but they suddenly stopped. The sickeningly sweet smell washed over me once again. I slowly turned, putting the trees at my back. The figure in front of me was definitely not Richard. An arm shot out and grabbed me around the waist, dragging me close.

I screamed and thrashed, red, wrinkly skin filled my sight and the smell of death was suffocating. I managed to get my arm loose and swung a wild punch at the thing constricting me. I heard a loud grunt, and it disappeared.

"Anabelle!" I heard from the trees. It was Richard's voice, sounding frantic. I ran towards the voice, my breath coming in harsh gasps. Suddenly, the red figure appeared in front of me, and I crashed headlong into it. It caught me in its arms, then disappeared again, leaving me to collapse onto the ground.

I looked ahead of me, gazing into the silent trees. I heard a twig snap behind me. Standing in the center of the six trees stood Richard. He looked dazed, and reached out a single weak hand to me. I just watched in terror as the demon materialized behind Richard, restraining him.

Two terrifying words carried across the distance between us, spoken in a voice the sounded old and scratchy. It sounded evil. "Lights out," it whispered into Richard's ear. Then he snapped his neck.

I stood and watched in a state of shocked terror as the demon dropped Richard's body onto the ground. He lifted his scarred arms towards the sky as the trees stretched their dark branches towards the ground, concealing the figures from view.

Terrible crunching sounds came from beneath the blanket of branches, and a howling cackle carried across the clearing, ringing around in my skull.

My body felt weak as I started running, away from RIchard and the horrifying red demon, away from this cursed forest.

I ran faster than I ever had before, the underbrush tore through my clothes as the shadowed trees flew by. The wind started blowing again, sending its keening song through the dark forest.

I gasped as I saw the same lights that had carried Olivia off start floating through the trees around me, but I kept my head down and kept running.

The eerie chorus floated all around me, magnified by the howl of the wind.

I broke through the line of trees, running all the way back to the small tent far from the tree line. I stole a quick glance back, and could have sworn I saw a pair of glowing red eyes staring at me from the shadows between the trees.

I shivered and started the long walk home.