And lo and behold, no one was there. Trent incoherently mumbled to himself for a moment and stepped onto the porch, coughing quietly. That was underwhelming. Looks like it snowed while I was inside. Trent was pleased it did not feel as cold as it had earlier. He walked off the porch and through the snow, finding that the area was unnervingly silent today. The sun was not shining since the sky was blanketed by thick, pale grey clouds, and no wind blew through the trees to break the ominous, natural silence. Trent did not dare to go anywhere near his vehicle, and he noticed his footprints from earlier were missing.

Maybe it really didn’t happen after all.

Trent looked down the slight hill he was on and at the road at the base, hoping to see a car drive by. Nothing. Nobody. He walked around the side of the cabin to its backyard, looking for the entrance to a trail he had taken in the treeline. For a moment, he glanced at the backside of the cabin, noticing a sealed door too high above the ground to be usable without a step. Must have been part of the bedroom. He quickly looked back to the treeline, slowly remembering the path Sharon had shown him last summer. Despite the backyard ending where the trees were, a large portion of the forest in the area belonged to the cabin or was at least listed as part of its property. How many acres does the whole property encompass? I don’t remember how much of woodland Sharon told me was included with the place.

Trent figured he’d head down to a nearby spring Sharon had shown him, pinning his rationale onto the hope that being away from the cabin and in nature would calm him down. The spring also had the bonus of being quite far from the field, which made him feel much more at ease. Even if it was just a dream, better to be safe than sorry. For a moment Trent forgot about the unnerving parts of this vacation, and he slipped into a strange disassociation from his fears and an calm awareness of the gentle silence around him.

After a few minutes of brisk walking, Trent arrived at a gnarled tree, a landmark Sharon showed him where the trail took an awkward turn in the direction of the spring. Almost there. Trent continued on, following the semi-visible path of parted trees until he could somewhat see rocks jutting out from under trees a certain distance from him. As he slowly approached, the silence he’d been hearing was replaced with the tiniest sound of flowing water. He walked closer as the sound grew only a smidge louder, and then stood still for a moment on the partially iced spring. Most of the spring is frozen, only some spots still have flowing water. Trent walked over the snow-covered ice to the other side of the spring and sat down in the snow. Not too bad, but I can’t take a nap out here. Trent leaned his back onto a tree behind, trying to get a bit comfortable while he gazed past the spring. The wind had slowly started to whistle through the trees around him. The woods here were thick with tall evergreen trees, not a single barrenless tree was in sight. Trent’s mind was pulled away from the scenery, towards his father.

The car accident… How could anyone have seen such a tragedy coming? And then Mom’s health started getting worse and worse too… It all happened so quickly. One moment I had ended my usual afternoon call to you. How could I have known it’d be our last one? And then the next moment you were gone. Mom called me on the verge of passing out and I had to leave work early without freaking out myself. Ms. Adelaide wasn’t happy about that. Then, I was promising Mom something on her deathbed, something that ended up being in vain. If it had been Mom instead, and you were still around, would you have made me promise you the same thing? Would you have died the same way she did?

A strange whistling dragged Trent out of his mind. He initially thought it was just the wind, but he realized the sound came from behind him.

Where the hell is that coming from?

Trent turned to look behind the tree, seeing a low, bluish fog a decent distance away from him hugged the ground, slowly moving in his direction.

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What the fuck is that? I’ve never seen anything like- oh my god, it’s that thing from the drawing!

Trent recalled the large lupine monster that looked like it was made of mist drawn on the roof of the cabin, and he quickly got up in a bit of a stumble. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as Trent bolted as fast as he could away from the fog.

Need to go, need to run and run and run.

Trent turned around for a moment as sprinted, watching the fog clump together into the wolf-like monster from the cabin sketch.

So it is that thing. It’s enormous and almost see-through-

It was almost dangerously captiviating, but Trent quickly turned his head back forward and narrowly avoided slamming facefirst into a tree.

I should pay more attention to where I’m going.

Unfortunately, Trent instead turned his head again to look behind him upon hearing the monster release its gut-wrenching whistle of a call.

Might have gone deaf if I was any closer!

Despite the distance between them, Trent could see how the monster’s massive jaw opened wide, revealing not saber teeth but silverly needle-sharp teeth.

Wolves don’t have teeth like that!

Trent twisted his head forward to see where he was going, then back again, noticing how the monster tried to dodge the trees around it, though it struggled more since it was far larger than him. Trent could hear tree limbs falling as parts of it slammed into trees.

So despite it seeming mist-like, it’s still somewhat physical. What is it doing?

Suddenly, the monster stopped giving chase, so Trent too paused for a moment, and they stared at each other. Trent noticed the monster seemed to be in a small clearing, and it turned its head upwards, letting out another dread-inducing whistle.

Oh, God. What is it doing?

The large tufts by its shoulders unfolded into massive wings, and Trent watched in abject horror as it flew up out of his vision and above the treeline.

No. I need to get the fuck out of here.

Trent faced forward, running as hard as his legs and adrenaline would carry him. He utilized as much strength as he possibly could before painfully, exhaustion hit him like a truck. The agony worked its way slowly up his legs, burning as it coursed through him and then slamming into his lungs.

Oh my god, I do not exercise enough. If I get out of this alive I should-

Trent slowly stopped his short-lived dash and wearily looked around, struggling to breathe and realizing he was very lost. Where am I? Trent was pretty far from both the cabin and the spring, as far as he could tell. He spun around dizzily, trying to see if any of the trees nearby looked familiar, or if he could spot his own footprints from earlier, but to no avail.

Where the hell am I?

All of the trees around him looked identical, and Trent couldn’t even see the hill where the cabin should be sitting on. He crumpled over, trying to brace himself on a nearby tree, coughing harshly.

Need to fucking breathe, please, I need to fucking breathe.

Trent’s heartbeat, which already had been dully thumping in his ears but was muffled by the panic he felt, accelerated and seemed to grow faster with each passing second.

I need air- I need-

Trent collapsed in the snow flat onto his back, coughing as he fell to the ground with a thud. His coughs became sharp, pained wheezes that made his chest feel as if his lungs were being stabbed with a rusted knife. He stared up at the tree canopy that seemed to be dissolving in his vision, feeling the ground waver under him.

It’s coming.

Trent could hear the monster’s loud footsteps crunching on the snow over his thundering hearbeat, as he weakly struggled to breathe. The dread on his chest and shoulders intensified as the steps grew louder and closer, and finally, Trent managed to summon enough strength to move and crawl away. But it was too late, the monster was already close enough that it herded Trent towards a tree, almost pinning him to it.

There even a way out of this?

Trent looked at the monster, now that it was this close he could stare into its violet-colored eyes, and watch as it let its jaw hang open. He could even count the needles lining its jaws if he didn’t feel like his lungs were about to implode into a bleeding mess. Is this it? His vision blurred again as if he was going to pass out again and for a moment, the pounding sound of blood being forced through his veins was all he could hear.

I’m sorry, Mom.