Chapter Two: What Did I Just See?
656 Words
Lena didn’t remember deciding to move.
One second she was staring at glowing silver eyes in the dark.
The next—
She was backing away.
Her pulse roared in her ears.
The trees seemed taller now. Closer.
The man standing a few feet away didn’t look threatening.
That almost made it worse.
“You need to stay back,” she said, her voice coming out thinner than she intended.
He stopped immediately.
“I am not going to hurt you.”
That voice.
Calm. Deep. Steady.
Too steady.
“I just saw—” she broke off, shaking her head. “You were—there was something there.”
He didn’t answer.
Which made her chest tighten harder.
“I’m leaving,” she said.
He gave a single nod.
“Alright.”
No grabbing her arm.
No dramatic steps forward.
He just stood there.
Watching.
That somehow unsettled her more than if he’d chased her.
She turned and walked fast toward town.
Not running.
Running would mean admitting she believed what she saw.
And she didn’t.
She couldn’t.
Snow crunched under her boots. Her breathing was uneven.
What did I just see?
It had been large.
Animal-shaped.
But her mind refused to fill in the details.
Stress does weird things, she told herself.
You just found out your boyfriend cheated.
You’re emotional.
It was dark.
Your brain filled in something dramatic.
That’s all.
That has to be all.
She didn’t look back.
Not once.
But she felt it.
The awareness of being watched.
Not hunted.
Just… observed.
Halfway to the edge of the forest, she heard footsteps behind her.
Measured. Not rushing.
She stiffened.
“Stop,” she called without turning.
The footsteps stopped immediately.
Silence followed.
Then his voice, farther away than before.
“I won’t come closer.”
She hesitated.
Part of her wanted to demand answers.
The other part wanted to get home, lock her door, and pretend none of this happened.
“You don’t know me,” she said finally, still facing forward.
“I know enough,” he replied.
That made her stomach twist.
“That’s not comforting.”
A pause.
“I understand.”
She almost laughed at that.
No, you don’t.
She started walking again.
This time, she didn’t hear footsteps following.
After several seconds, she realized—
He wasn’t there anymore.
No crunch of snow.
No presence at her back.
Nothing.
She forced herself to glance over her shoulder.
The forest stood empty.
Dark.
Still.
As if no one had ever been there.
Her heart pounded harder.
Had she imagined the entire thing?
No.
No, she had heard him speak.
She had seen—
Seen what?
Her memory blurred at the edges.
Something large.
Silver eyes.
A shape moving behind the trees.
But the exact moment of change felt slippery in her mind.
Like trying to recall a dream after waking.
By the time she reached the first streetlight at the edge of town, her hands were shaking.
She rubbed her arms briskly.
“You’re fine,” she whispered. “You’re just overwhelmed.”
A car passed down the road.
Normal.
The lodge music faintly echoed behind her.
Normal.
Snow drifted gently from the sky.
Normal.
Her breathing slowly steadied.
She would go home.
Sleep.
And tomorrow this would feel smaller.
Explainable.
She took one more step forward—
And her wrist tingled.
Just once.
Soft.
Quick.
Like a pulse beneath her skin.
She froze.
Slowly, she looked down.
Nothing.
No mark.
No light.
Just pale skin under a streetlamp.
Her throat tightened.
Far behind her—
Deep in the forest—
A low howl rolled through the trees.
Not loud enough for the town to hear.
But loud enough for something else to answer.
Lena didn’t know why…
But for the first time that night—
She was certain of one thing.
Whatever she saw in the forest…
It was not real It was just her hallucinating
- Writer
