Abby My heart’s practically pounding out of my chest as we park the car, hidden behind a veil of trees. The forest feels even more thick and suffocating now than it did on the day that we came here to go mushroom hunting, now that I know what actually lies behind the mist. Karl takes a moment to study the map I had snatched from him last night, his fingers tracing the uneven, ink-smeared lines. “Ready?” he asks, his eyes meeting mine. “As I’ll ever be,” I reply, grabbing my bag from the backseat. Karl locks the car, and we head off, stepping into the dense foliage, guided only by the soft morning light filtering through the trees. For a few minutes, we walk in complete silence. The stillness is comforting in its own eerie way, but I’m too focused on our mission to let my mind wander t

