The Victim:
The mist flowed around the forest, around great trees and vines, spinning a spider web of vapour inside the dark forest.
When he realised it, he was already deep into the middle of the lifeless forest, as mist gathered around, blocking his visions to the surroundings.
He tried to walk forward, but as he moved, he only found himself in the same position again.
Above the looming trees and dense mist, he could feel the sun beyond them leaving, as the forest grew darker and darker by every second.
He was avoiding being in contact with the mist before then, but after a few turns, he was certain that there was no way out of this mysterious forest in this area.
Was the exit through the mist? He wasn’t sure, but he was left with no choice but to try out his guess.
Making as much sign with stones and rocks as he could, he journeyed through the mist.
As he walked forward, the mist got more and more dense, till the point where he couldn’t see his hands, and his airway felt clogged by the vapour.
Persisting on his way, he continued forward, and all of a sudden, he saw through the mist, there was a road cleared of the vapour, leading through the trees.
Leaving a sign, he immediately turned his way and followed the road, hoping that this would be his route to escape.
As the mist got thinner and thinner, his heart bumped faster and faster. He could see lights that didn't belong to this forest at the end of the road, and at this thought, he increased his speed towards the light source.
As the light grew larger and larger, he walked faster and faster, finally running to the light source, to his way to safety.
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Suddenly, as he almost reached the light, the light source moved. Confused, he lowered his steps, investigating the movement of the light.
As the light source stopped moving, he froze in his place.
It was no light.
That was the glowing eyes of the predator looking at its prey.
He turned over and ran immediately, screams piercing through the silent forest.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The predator chased after its prey.
As he looked backward, all he could see was a gigantic jaw with blood stained teeth.
And that was what he saw at the very end.
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The Daily Reports:
ANOTHER BODY FOUND DEAD
written by Finnick Ferry
In the midnight of 13 July, a corpse was again discovered by the police patrolling around the forest edges. The corpse had only two legs left, the body of the victim unknown. The polices are continuing to investigate on this murder case. The police hereby urge everyone to keep out of the forest for your own safety, and if anyone holds any information about this case, please contact the police immediately.
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Collection of Tales:
The Beast of Merryfare
Legends had it told that in the deep forest of the town Merryfare, a beast lies inside waiting for people to wander in, confusing the intruders with dense and thick mist, and eating them as they walk unknowingly towards it. No living person has ever seen the Beast with their own eyes, but there are rumours of how the Beast is as tall as the oldest tree and as wide as the largest pool of the forest, with a pair of glowing eyes that dispels the mist it conjures. Victims of the Beast mistaken the eyes as the light from the town, walking right into its blood-stained mouth. The remainder of the victim would appear in the edge of the forest then.
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The Crowd:
“Have you heard about the news? They found another body at the edge of the forest.”
“Another one again? That’s already seven this month.”
“This place is becoming dangerous, I say.”
“Do you know that they only ever found the victims’ legs?”
“And how they looked like they were bitten off by some gigantic beast?”
“Precisely. There aren’t any records of a beast that large though, so they were leaning on thinking there’s a murderer out there pretending the victims were killed accidentally.”
“Scary. People are telling their children not to go near the forest now. They are scared that they will be the next one.”
“Who knows how the victims are chosen? We better leave here when we have our lives intact.”
“Right you are. Let’s go.”