Dark Woods

Prologue The night cuts through me like a blade, thick snow crunching beneath me as I stir. Each breath comes sharp and painful, the air heavy with something that makes my chest tight. I close my eyes, forcing my lungs to work in slow, measured draws. When I open them again, recognition strikes like a slap. Everdeen Woods. The realization sends ice through my veins. How did I get here? More importantly—why? Moonlight filters through the pine canopy, casting skeletal shadows across the forest floor. I know this place, have walked these paths before, but the memories of how I arrived feel wrapped in fog. Then the scent hits me—metallic and sharp, unmistakable. Blood. My gaze drops to my clothes. Dark stains spread across the fabric like spilled ink. When I raise trembling hands, dried blood crusts my split knuckles. The questions crash over me in waves. What happened to me? What have I done? An unnatural stillness settles over the woods, yanking me from the spiral of panic. The silence is absolute—no rustling leaves, no scurrying creatures, no night songs. Every living thing has fled from some unseen terror. The quiet presses against my eardrums until an uneasy certainty takes root: something is watching me. The hair on my neck rises. A twig snaps in the darkness. I spin toward the sound, pulse thundering. From the impenetrable shadows between the trees, two crimson eyes burn like embers. I stand frozen, caught between the desperate need to run and legs that refuse to obey. The creature behind those eyes releases a low growl that promises violence. Then it charges. My scream tears through the silence as I throw my hands up, bracing for whatever nightmare is about to consume me.