Chapter Text
The forest was unusually still that morning. No rustling of wind through the trees or the melody of birds chirping. The only sound was the constant thump of Evan Reed’s shoes against the dirt path as he jogged through the statuesque trees. It was cold for early October in California, but the branches of the trees were hardly barren. Instead, the brightly colored leaves painted the canopy above in a mosaic of reds, yellows, and golden browns. The picturesque forest would have been serene, had it not been for the unsettling nervousness Evan couldn’t seem to shake.
Evan had grown accustomed to the lonely atmosphere of the Beacon Hills Preserve, as not many people ran its trails before sunrise like he did. But there was something off about the preserve this morning. Something different. Something wrong. The nearby sound of a twig snapping brought Evan to a halt; he looked behind him, searching for the source of the noise.
“Hello?” Evan called, despite knowing there was likely no one to answer him—except the wind or maybe a deer. A chill ran down Evan’s spine, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as the unease in his stomach grew.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was not alone as he continued jogging through the woods.
By the time Evan convinced himself that it was all in his head—that he had imagined the noise and the chill was simply the cool October air—the sun had begun to rise. That’s when he heard it: a second set of footsteps echoing his. Evan stopped again, and so did the footsteps. Still, he saw no one else in the forest. Heart racing, Evan headed toward town, turning his leisurely jog into a hurried dash. He was approaching the old bridge when something cold grabbed his arm.
It was a girl.
She couldn’t have been alive, and yet she wasn’t dead. Her skin was pale with a sickly gray tint, cold and clammy, and unmistakably rotting. She held Evan’s wrist in a grip like iron chains. He screamed in terror at the sight of her. The girl’s chest was torn open, a gaping hole of shredded flesh and mangled organs, her cracked ribs protruding grotesquely from the wound.
She reached an icy hand toward Evan’s chest. He cried out in pain as her nails pierced the fabric of his shirt and clawed at his skin. It took all his strength and sheer adrenaline to break free from the surprisingly strong, undead girl. Clutching one trembling hand against the bleeding gashes on his chest, Evan willed his legs to move and sprinted toward town.
“Help! Somebody, help me!” Evan yelled desperately, hoping anyone would hear him.
He couldn’t hear footsteps behind him anymore, but he didn’t dare slow down. With tears streaming down his face, Evan raced over the rickety wooden boards of the old bridge. Suddenly, a pair of lifeless hands wrapped themselves around his ankles, wrenching his feet out from under him. He collided with the rough wooden planks of the bridge, the impact knocking the wind out of him and leaving a nasty gash on his temple.
Evan threw his arms out in front of him, scraping his hands against the splintered wood and digging in with his nails, trying in vain to hold on to something. He kicked and thrashed despite the immense pain and fear, but his attempts at escape were futile. She was too fast. Too strong.
Evan cried out for help once more as the girl’s living corpse crawled over him. Paralyzed with fear, he realized he was going to die. He realized he was going to be murdered alone in the woods. He felt it as her nails scratched across his skin, drawing blood and digging through his flesh. Evan didn’t even notice he wasn’t screaming until he began choking on his own blood.
Mercifully, he passed out as the girl broke through his breastbone and cracked his ribs. She gripped his heart and ripped it out of his chest. The girl inspected the still-warm heart she held in her hand, watching the boy’s blood ooze down her decaying arm. She glanced at the now-lifeless body of Evan Reed before crushing his heart between her fingers.
This was not the right boy. Not the one she was hunting.
The girl dragged Evan’s limp body into the frigid water of the stream beneath the bridge and dropped the crushed heart into the water beside it. Finally, she retreated into the forest, where she would wait for her next victim. Where she would wait for Theo.