A chill ran through Darren's body, goosebumps rippling up his arms.
The scream didn't return.
Instead—
Footsteps.
Fast. Heavy. Wrong.
Something was moving through the forest, tearing across the ground with unnatural speed. Branches snapped. Leaves scattered. Whatever it was, it wasn't circling anymore.
It was coming straight for the cave.
Closer.
Closer.
"Guys… we gotta go, right?" Ava whispered, panic cracking her voice.
Jenna swallowed hard. "If this is its lair… then it's coming back here."
"Yeah—go, go, go. NOW." Charlie said, fear fully in his voice.
Even James nodded, his face pale.
Jenna took a step toward the cave entrance—
"No!" Darren hissed.
They all froze.
He shook his head, eyes wide, voice barely steady. "I—I can hear it. It's too close."
Charlie grabbed his arm. "That's why we need to move. Now. FAST."
Darren looked at him, something hollow in his expression.
"No," he said quietly. "You don't get it."
He glanced toward the darkness outside the cave.
"At this point…" His voice dropped. "It's already here."
A scream ripped through the air—closer than before.
Birds exploded from the trees outside the cave, wings beating wildly as dark shapes scattered into the night. The sound echoed violently against the stone walls.
"What do we do?!" Ava cried. "WHAT DO WE DO?!"
Darren's gaze snapped downward.
There.
Near the cave floor—half-hidden behind a cluster of rocks—was a narrow opening. A passage. Low. Tight. Barely visible unless you were looking for it.
"Turn off the flashlights," Darren whispered urgently. "Now."
"What?" James hissed.
"That thing hasn't seen us yet," Darren said. "If it does—"
He didn't finish.
"Turn them off," he repeated. "And crawl. That passage—right there."
The lights clicked off one by one.
Darkness swallowed them whole.
"Legs first," Darren added quickly. "Head out. It'll be easier when we get out."
James hesitated—but the scream echoed again, closer still.
"Now!" Darren snapped.
That decided it.
Ava went first.
Then Charlie.
Then James.
Jenna followed, her breathing shallow, uneven.
Darren crawled in last.
The passage was tight—too tight. Stone scraped against their arms and chests as they dragged themselves forward, breath shallow, muscles burning. Their ribs pressed against the ground, every movement loud in Darren's ears even though no one spoke.
They kept moving.
Had to.
Darren's shoulders finally slid inside, his head barely clearing the opening—
Then the sound returned.
Not outside.
Inside the cave.
The scream echoed violently through the chamber, so close Darren felt it vibrate through his bones.
Footsteps followed.
Slow now.
Deliberate.
Something heavy crept deeper into the cave, claws—or hands—scraping softly against stone.
Darren held his breath.
So did everyone else.
And then—
Something wet hit the cave floor.
A dull, heavy sound.
Followed by the slow scrape of movement.
Whatever it was…
It had brought something with it.
Darren forced himself to lower his gaze, pressing his cheek closer to the cold stone.
He didn't want to look.
Some instinct—old, animal, buried deep—told him that seeing it might make it aware of him in return. That looking was an invitation.
The sound drew nearer.
Slow.
Whatever it was moved with weight, each step sending faint tremors through the cave floor. Darren's jaw tightened as the vibration traveled through the stone and into his skull.
Thump. Thump.
A pulse.
Low. Steady.
For a terrifying moment, Darren couldn't tell if the rhythm belonged to him or to the thing approaching. His heart was racing—but the sound beneath him was slower.
He pressed his lips together, afraid even breathing might give them away.
Then—
Crash.
Something hit the ground hard.
Wet.
Heavy.
The impact echoed through the cave, sharp and final.
The smell came first—fresh and coppery, thick enough to turn Darren's stomach. It clung to the air, heavy and wrong.
Then came the sound.
A tearing noise. Slow. Deliberate. Not rushed. Not frantic.
Darren's chest tightened.
Something was eating.
He squeezed his eyes shut. Whatever it was, not seeing it felt safer.
Another sound followed—bones shifting. Something cracking under pressure. A low, distorted noise slipped from the creature, not quite a growl, not quite a breath. More like satisfaction.
Minutes stretched. Not because the thing was eating faster—but because being this close to it, hidden in its space, felt unbearable. Like the cave itself might betray them at any second.
And then… nothing changed.
The sounds didn't move closer.
The ground didn't shake.
The thing didn't turn toward them.
It kept eating.
Slowly, carefully, Darren realized something that made his chest tighten in a different way.
They weren't safe—but they weren't being hunted either.
Whatever it was, it didn't know they were here.
Or worse—
it didn't care.
A thought hit Darren hard.
If we make it out alive… who would believe us?
The police? Anyone?
He slowly opened his eyes. His phone was still in his hand, the faint glow of the screen barely lighting the narrow passage as he used it to guide himself forward.
Then the idea struck him.
What if I take a picture?
Just one. Something—anything—to prove this thing existed.
Carefully, Darren dimmed his screen to the lowest setting. He held his breath. Nothing happened.
He eased the phone forward, inch by inch, just past the edge of the passage, and opened the camera app.
Just as his thumb hovered over the button, something tapped his leg.
Darren froze.
It was Jenna. He barely saw her face in the faint screen glow. She mouthed, Are you sure?
Darren nodded.
Everyone behind him was terrified—but trying to stop Darren would mean whispering, moving, making noise. And that felt worse.
Darren angled the phone toward the sound. Counted once in his head.
Then pressed capture.
A flash icon blinked on his screen.
Flash.
Darren's heart dropped.
He knew instantly—he'd made the worst mistake possible. Goosebumps erupted across his skin. His breath caught as the flash fired, bright and violent, lighting the cave for a split second.
He flipped the phone down too late, aiming it toward the stone inside the passage—but the damage was already done.
Silence fell.
The tearing stopped.
Whatever had been feeding had noticed the light.
Darren shut the phone off and pressed it against the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself not to move.
Footsteps followed.
Slow. Heavy.
They crept closer, stopping just outside the passage. Darren refused to open his eyes. He didn't need to.
A sound came then—a growl that wasn't animal or human. It felt wrong in a way he couldn't explain, like something old and hollow had learned how to breathe.
Darren could only lie there and hope.
Hope it wouldn't see them.
The sound came closer.
Closer.
For a split second, Darren opened his eyes.
In the darkness beyond the passage, something shifted. He couldn't see it clearly—only the suggestion of mass, a wrongness in the space where nothing should have been.
Then the breathing stopped.
The growl faded.
Footsteps followed.
Slow. Heavy. Moving away.
Up the cave.
Darren's thoughts slowed, relief creeping in despite himself. Hope sparked, fragile but undeniable.
Maybe this was it.
Maybe they were safe.
They stayed there.
Minutes passed. Then more.
For nearly half an hour, they lay flat against the stone, bodies aching, chests pressed tight to the ground. Muscles burned. Breathing felt too loud no matter how careful they were.
The air was stale, but it moved—faint, cold currents brushing Darren's cheek as if the cave itself were breathing.
Uncomfortable didn't begin to cover it.
But none of them moved.
They had heard the footsteps leave the cave—but that didn't mean anything. What if it was waiting? What if it circled back? What if it was still somewhere nearby, listening?
The silence was worse than the noise.
Finally, Darren shifted just enough to whisper, his voice barely more than breath.
"Jenna… can you ask Ava if this passage leads anywhere?"
Jenna hesitated, then nodded slightly.
She twisted just enough to look back. "Ava?" she whispered. "Does it… does it go anywhere?"
There was a pause.
"Yes," Ava's voice came quietly from the far end. "I think so. But I can't really see."
She swallowed. "Can you pass me the flashlight?"
Jenna carefully reached back. The flashlight moved hand to hand—Jenna to James, James to Charlie, Charlie to Ava—each movement slow, deliberate, silent.
Ava clicked it on.
The narrow beam cut through the darkness behind them, revealing rough stone stretching farther than any of them had expected. The passage sloped unevenly, twisting slightly out of sight.
It wasn't blocked.
But it wasn't wide either.
Ava exhaled shakily. Crawling backward again felt wrong—claustrophobic, dangerous. And she couldn't see what waited farther in.
But staying here?
That felt worse.
"I don't like this," she whispered. "But I don't think staying is an option."
She swallowed hard.
"Alright," Ava said finally. "We crawl back."
No one argued.
Because even without the growl, without the footsteps—
They all knew.
Whatever lived in that cave could come back at any time.