November 1, 2025
10:00 PM CDT

The wind had picked up just as the sun dipped below the horizon, carrying with it a chill that made the bones ache. The trail ahead wound through the woods like a serpent, a narrow path bordered by scrub and thorns. Emily pulled her shawl tighter, her boots crunching on the frost-coated ground, and quickened her pace. The village was only a mile ahead, but the night felt colder than she remembered.

She hadn’t meant to leave so late, but the sudden storm had caught her by surprise. She’d taken shelter in the abandoned cabin, hoping to wait it out. Instead, she’d fallen asleep by the hearth. Now the sky had darkened, and she was alone in the wilderness, the storm thinning, but the air heavy with a strange, oppressive quiet.

Then she saw it.

A flicker of light up ahead. She paused, heart leaping in her chest. A lantern? Who could be out here in this weather?

She squinted into the murk, and there, just at the edge of her vision, the light bobbed—growing nearer. It was a steady, almost methodical motion. Whoever was carrying it was walking slowly, but deliberately. Emily took a breath, trying to steady her nerves.

She wasn’t alone, after all.

The light drew closer still, the figure now just a shadow against the darkness. Emily could make out the silhouette of a man—a tall figure, his features hidden by the hood of his cloak, the lantern raised high in one hand, its light spilling in a circle around him. The faint glow illuminated his face, but only for a moment, and what she saw made her freeze.

His face was not… quite right. Not human. Not fully. His skin seemed too pale, his features too smooth, too still, like some forgotten thing from a dream long lost to time.

Emily’s breath caught. What was this?

The man came closer, his footsteps echoing like the ticking of an old clock. He stopped just a few feet away. The lantern’s light flickered, casting the dark forest in a ghostly haze. She could almost hear the wind whispering through the trees, but the silence between them was deafening. The figure remained motionless.

The lantern swung, and she saw it again—the face, pale and vacant. His mouth didn’t move when he spoke. “You shouldn’t be out here, miss. Not tonight.”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Fear had choked her throat.

“Come closer,” the man said, stepping forward, his lantern lighting up the space between them. “It’ll be warm by the fire.”

Emily didn’t move.

His head tilted, and for a moment, it almost seemed like he was smiling. But there was no warmth in it—just an emptiness, like the shadow of something that never quite belonged.

“Come closer,” he repeated, his voice as cold as the winter night.

Emily’s legs refused to move, rooted to the ground like an old tree. Every instinct screamed at her to run, to escape, but her body wouldn’t obey. It was as if the very air had thickened, pressing in on her, holding her in place.

The figure before her seemed to grow taller, the lantern’s light casting strange shadows that danced like figures from a forgotten nightmare. The wind moaned in the trees, but all she could hear was the slow, rhythmic ticking of his footsteps. Tick. Tick. Tick.

“You can’t leave now,” the man whispered, his breath cold and sharp. “Not after you’ve seen me.”

Emily blinked. Had she seen him? Had she really?

Her vision blurred for a moment, and when it cleared, the man was closer. Too close. His face, if it could even be called a face, was a smooth, featureless mask. No eyes, no nose, no mouth—just the pale expanse of skin stretched impossibly thin over hollow bones. A face that should not exist.

She wanted to scream, but no sound came. The lantern light flickered again, and the man’s smile deepened.

“There’s no need to be frightened,” he said, and his voice now seemed to come from everywhere at once—above her, behind her, beneath her feet. “I’m not here to harm you. I’m here to guide you.”

Emily’s heart hammered in her chest, her body trembling as if it had forgotten how to function. But still, she couldn’t move. She couldn’t even breathe properly.

The man stepped closer, the darkness of the trees behind him shifting, folding in on itself like a living thing. It wasn’t just the air that felt heavier now; the world itself seemed to be bending under the weight of something vast and ancient.

He reached out, his hand—pale and cold as the moon—hovering just inches from her face.

“Come with me,” he said, his voice like a chant. “The lantern always guides.”

Without thinking, without knowing why, Emily stepped forward. The ground beneath her feet felt soft and wet, as if she were sinking into the earth with every step. The lantern’s light flickered again, casting a faint glow on her path. She walked, her mind numb, her body obeying the figure’s call. The world around her had faded, leaving only the hollow light of the lantern and the pale man who held it.

The last thing she saw before everything went dark was his smile. And then, nothing.