The evil forest
925 Words
No one in Blackridge spoke about Hollow Pine Forest after sunset.
If someone disappeared there, the town didn't organize search parties for long. They simply nailed another weathered cross beside the old dirt road and whispered the same warning:
"If the forest wants you... it never lets you leave."
Most people dismissed the stories as old legends.
Lucas and Ethan did too.
Both were experienced hikers looking for a weekend adventure. They had heard about Hollow Pine's untouched trails and strange history, but ghost stories only made the trip sound more exciting.
"We'll be back before dark," Lucas laughed as they crossed the old wooden bridge leading into the forest.
The moment they stepped beneath the towering trees, the world became unnaturally quiet.
No birds sang.
No insects buzzed.
Only the sound of their boots crunching across dead leaves echoed through the endless woods.
Hours later, Ethan frowned.
"We should've reached the lake by now."
Lucas checked the GPS.
"No signal."
They pulled out a paper map.
It made even less sense.
The trail they had been following simply... disappeared.
Trying another path, they eventually stumbled onto a lonely dirt road.
At the end of it stood a small town.
Old houses.
An abandoned gas station.
A church with broken stained-glass windows.
A faded sign read:
WELCOME TO ASHWOOD
Neither of them had ever heard of it.
An elderly woman sitting on a porch watched them silently.
"You shouldn't have come here," she said.
Lucas smiled awkwardly.
"We're just trying to find the highway."
"You won't."
The woman introduced herself as Margaret.
She explained that everyone in Ashwood had once entered Hollow Pine Forest.
Tourists.
Campers.
Families.
Drivers.
Every single person had become trapped.
There was only one road leading into town...
And somehow...
It always led back.
Lucas didn't believe her.
"There has to be another exit."
Margaret only sighed.
"We all said that."
They borrowed a truck from one of the townspeople.
The road stretched for miles.
Finally...
A sign appeared.
Leaving Ashwood
Lucas smiled.
"We made it."
Five minutes later...
The exact same welcome sign stood before them.
WELCOME TO ASHWOOD
The same broken gas station.
The same church.
The same porch.
The same old woman waiting.
Lucas's smile disappeared.
That night everyone rushed indoors before sunset.
Every window was covered.
Every door was locked with strange wooden symbols hanging above them.
"What are those?" Ethan asked.
"Protection," Margaret whispered.
"Protection from what?"
No one answered.
At exactly midnight...
Knocking echoed through the streets.
Soft.
Gentle.
Friendly.
A little girl's voice floated through the darkness.
"Mommy... can you let me in?"
Lucas looked through the curtain.
Standing outside was a smiling child wearing an old white dress.
She looked perfectly normal.
Until she smiled wider.
Far wider than any human should.
Her jaw stretched unnaturally.
Her eyes turned completely black.
Then she stared directly at Lucas.
Even though the curtains were closed.
She knew he was watching.
A loud crash echoed from another house.
Screams followed.
Then silence.
Morning revealed shattered windows.
Blood covered the walls.
The family inside had vanished.
Only claw marks remained.
Margaret whispered,
"They always pretend to be someone you love."
Days became weeks.
Every attempt to escape failed.
The forest shifted constantly.
Trees moved overnight.
Trails changed.
Compasses spun endlessly.
Sometimes they found strange carvings on trees.
DON'T TRUST THE VOICES.
Other times...
They found backpacks.
Old cameras.
Human bones.
Evidence that many had tried to escape before them.
None had succeeded.
While exploring deeper into Hollow Pine, Lucas and Ethan discovered an underground stone tunnel.
Inside were ancient drawings.
People trapped inside circles.
Creatures with smiling faces.
A giant tree whose roots wrapped around an entire town.
Beneath the drawings, a single sentence was carved into the wall:
THE FOREST DOESN'T TRAP PEOPLE.
IT FEEDS ON HOPE.
The more people believed they were close to escaping...
The stronger the forest became.
Ashwood wasn't the prison.
Hope was.
That night Ethan heard his mother's voice outside.
She had died years earlier.
"Sweetheart..."
"I'm cold."
"Please open the door."
Tears filled Ethan's eyes.
"It can't be her," Lucas whispered.
The voice became softer.
"I forgive you."
Ethan reached for the lock.
Lucas grabbed his arm.
"It's lying!"
The knocking stopped.
For several seconds...
Silence.
Then something scratched across the wall outside.
Long.
Slow.
Patient.
Waiting.
The next morning Ethan disappeared.
His footprints led into the woods...
Then simply ended.
Lucas searched for hours, calling his friend's name.
Finally he heard Ethan answer.
"I'm over here!"
Lucas followed the voice.
It led him in circles until sunset.
When he finally found Ethan...
His friend stood perfectly still between the trees.
Smiling.
His eyes were completely black.
"You should've left me," Ethan whispered.
Then his smile stretched across his face.
Lucas ran.
He never looked back.
Years passed.
Lucas became one of Ashwood's oldest survivors.
His hair turned gray.
His hope faded.
One rainy afternoon he watched two young hikers cross the old wooden bridge into Hollow Pine Forest.
They laughed exactly as he once had.
Lucas stood at the edge of town.
He wanted to warn them.
He wanted to scream.
Instead...
He realized the forest had already decided.
The hikers eventually walked into Ashwood, confused and exhausted.
One of them asked,
"Can you tell us how to get out of here?"
Lucas stared at them with tired eyes.
Then repeated the same words Margaret had once spoken to him.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Far beyond the trees...
Something smiled.
Waiting for nightfall.
Waiting for the next knock.
- Writer
