The ground stopped shaking.

For three seconds, nobody moved.

Then the trees began screaming.

It wasn’t the sound of wood breaking.

It sounded like thousands of people crying at once.

Lena covered her ears.

“What is happening?”

Evelyn stood beside the ruined well.

Her face was completely pale.

“It has awakened.”

Ryan looked around.

“What?”

“The forest.”

Ryan shook his head.

“You said the thing beneath the forest.”

Evelyn looked at him.

“They are the same thing.”

A deep vibration rolled beneath their feet.

The trees bent toward them.

Then, one by one, their branches began pointing toward the north.

Evelyn picked up her lantern.

“We have to move.”

“Where?”

“The village.”

Ryan stared at her.

“The village disappeared.”

“No.”

Evelyn looked toward the darkness.

“It moved.”

---

They followed Evelyn through the trees.

Nobody spoke.

The forest felt different now.

Before, it had been silent.

Now it was watching.

Every few seconds, Lena saw movement between the trees.

A shadow.

A pale face.

A hand.

Whenever she turned to look properly, there was nothing.

Ryan noticed her fear.

“Don’t look into the trees.”

“Why?”

“Because sometimes they look back.”

Lena swallowed.

“That’s not comforting.”

“I wasn’t trying to be.”

They continued walking.

After almost an hour, Evelyn stopped.

Ahead of them stood a wooden gate.

Beyond it were houses.

Dozens of them.

Old houses.

Exactly like the village they had seen earlier.

Lena stared.

“The village.”

Evelyn nodded.

“The real one.”

Ryan looked around.

“Why didn’t we see this before?”

“Because it wasn’t here.”

“Where was it?”

Evelyn looked at the ground.

“Somewhere else.”

---

They entered the village.

The houses were not abandoned this time.

Lights glowed behind windows.

Doors opened and closed.

People walked through the streets.

Children played.

Dogs barked.

A woman carried a basket of bread.

Everything looked normal.

Too normal.

Lena whispered,

“Are these people alive?”

Evelyn shook her head.

“No.”

Lena stopped.

“What?”

Evelyn continued walking.

“They are memories.”

Ryan looked at the people.

A man walked past him.

Ryan noticed something strange.

The man’s feet didn’t touch the ground.

Neither did the woman’s.

Neither did the children’s.

They were all floating slightly above the road.

Lena whispered,

“Ghosts.”

Evelyn shook her head.

“Worse.”

“What could be worse than ghosts?”

“People who don’t know they’re dead.”

---

They reached the center of the village.

A large stone building stood there.

Above the door was a wooden sign:

BLACKWATER SCHOOL — 1947

Ryan looked through the window.

Inside, children were sitting at desks.

A teacher stood at the blackboard.

Everyone was frozen.

Evelyn opened the door.

The moment they entered, every child’s head turned toward them.

At exactly the same time.

Lena froze.

The teacher smiled.

“You’re late.”

Ryan stepped backward.

“We’re not students.”

The teacher smiled wider.

“Everyone who enters this forest becomes a student.”

Evelyn raised the lantern.

“Where is the boy?”

The teacher’s smile disappeared.

“What boy?”

“The one beneath the trees.”

The children began whispering.

One word.

Over and over.

“Oliver.”

“Oliver.”

“Oliver.”

The teacher slammed her hand against the desk.

“Silence!”

The children stopped.

Evelyn looked at Lena.

“You heard that name before.”

Lena nodded.

“Victor’s son.”

The teacher looked surprised.

“You know his name.”

Ryan asked,

“Who is Oliver?”

The teacher pointed toward the back of the classroom.

A blackboard was covered with names.

Hundreds.

Ethan Cole.

Maya Reed.

Ryan Blake.

Lena Hart.

And beneath them:

OLIVER VALE.

The teacher whispered,

“He was the first.”

---

Suddenly, the classroom changed.

The walls became old.

The children disappeared.

The desks rotted.

The windows shattered.

Lena screamed.

“We need to leave!”

The teacher stood alone.

Her body was now twisted.

Her skin hung loosely from her face.

Her eyes were empty.

She pointed toward the floor.

“Look.”

A trapdoor had appeared.

Ryan lifted it.

A staircase descended into darkness.

Evelyn nodded.

“The roots.”

They went down.

---

The staircase seemed endless.

The air became colder.

Water dripped from the ceiling.

Lena looked at the walls.

Names were carved everywhere.

Some were old.

Some were fresh.

One name caught her attention.

MAYA REED.

She touched it.

The wall was warm.

“She’s here.”

Ryan stopped.

“What?”

“Maya.”

The name began glowing.

Then a voice came from inside the wall.

“Lena.”

Lena’s eyes filled with tears.

“Maya?”

“Help me.”

Ryan grabbed her arm.

“No.”

“But she’s alive!”

A second voice came.

“Don’t listen.”

Lena froze.

It was Maya again.

But the first voice sounded frightened.

The second sounded calm.

“Maya?”

The wall cracked.

A pale hand reached through.

Then a face appeared.

Maya.

Her eyes were normal.

She was crying.

“Lena…”

Lena rushed forward.

Ryan tried to stop her.

But Evelyn said:

“Let her.”

Lena grabbed Maya’s hand.

It was freezing.

“You’re alive.”

Maya nodded.

“I’ve been here for hours.”

Lena pulled.

Maya came out of the wall.

She fell into Lena’s arms.

Ryan stared.

“How?”

Maya looked toward Evelyn.

“She saved me.”

Evelyn shook her head.

“I didn’t.”

Maya looked confused.

“Then who did?”

A voice answered from behind them.

“I did.”

Everyone turned.

The boy stood at the bottom of the stairs.

---

Maya immediately stepped backward.

“You.”

The boy smiled.

“You remember me.”

Maya nodded.

“Yes.”

“What did you see?”

Maya’s face became pale.

“I saw the thing beneath the tree.”

The boy’s smile disappeared.

“What did it show you?”

Maya looked at him.

“A face.”

“Whose?”

Maya whispered:

“Mine.”

Silence.

The boy looked at Evelyn.

“It’s beginning.”

Evelyn nodded.

“What is?”

“The forest is choosing its next body.”

Ryan raised his knife.

“Whose body?”

The boy looked directly at Lena.

“Hers.”

Lena froze.

“No.”

The lights went out.

---

Something moved through the darkness.

Ryan shouted,

“Stay together!”

Maya grabbed Lena’s hand.

Evelyn raised her lantern.

The flame flickered.

Then they heard footsteps.

One.

Two.

Three.

Something was walking toward them.

Maya whispered,

“Don’t look.”

Lena looked anyway.

At the end of the corridor stood a gigantic figure.

It was shaped like a person.

But it was far too tall.

Its arms touched the floor.

Its body looked as if it had been made from tree roots.

Its face was covered with dozens of human eyes.

All of them opened.

Lena screamed.

The creature spoke.

Every eye moved toward her.

“Lena.”

Ryan attacked.

His knife struck the creature.

The blade snapped.

The creature didn’t move.

It raised one enormous hand.

Ryan was thrown against the wall.

Maya screamed.

Evelyn shouted,

“RUN!”

They ran.

The boy remained behind.

Lena looked back.

“Come with us!”

He smiled.

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because this is where I belong.”

The creature reached toward him.

The boy turned.

For the first time, fear appeared on his face.

“Not yet.”

The creature grabbed him.

Lena screamed.

“No!”

The boy looked at her.

“Find the tree.”

“What tree?”

“The first tree.”

Then the darkness swallowed him.

---

They ran until they reached another chamber.

At the center stood a giant stone door.

Maya touched it.

Symbols appeared.

Ryan looked at Evelyn.

“What does it say?”

Evelyn read the ancient writing.

“It says…”

She stopped.

“What?”

Evelyn’s hands began shaking.

“It says the forest was created by people.”

Ryan frowned.

“People?”

Evelyn nodded.

“They wanted to defeat death.”

Lena stared.

“And they failed.”

“No.”

Evelyn looked at the symbols.

“They succeeded.”

Silence.

“They created something that could preserve a human soul forever.”

Maya whispered,

“The forest.”

Evelyn nodded.

“But the souls needed bodies.”

Ryan looked horrified.

“So the forest takes people.”

“Yes.”

Lena looked toward the darkness.

“And Ethan?”

Evelyn closed her eyes.

“He is being prepared.”

“For what?”

Evelyn whispered:

“To become the next guardian.”

---

Suddenly, the stone door opened.

Beyond it was a huge underground forest.

Trees grew beneath the earth.

Their roots covered the walls.

In the center stood a black tree.

Unlike the others, this tree had no leaves.

Hundreds of human faces were trapped inside its bark.

Lena recognized one.

“Ethan.”

His face was inside the tree.

His eyes were open.

He was screaming.

But no sound came out.

Maya stepped forward.

“Ethan!”

His eyes moved toward her.

He mouthed one word.

RUN.

Then another face appeared beside his.

Maya’s face.

Lena stepped backward.

“No.”

Another appeared.

Ryan.

Then Lena.

One after another.

The tree was carving their faces into its bark.

Evelyn whispered:

“The forest isn’t trying to kill you.”

Lena stared at the tree.

“Then what does it want?”

Evelyn looked at her.

“It wants to replace you.”

The tree suddenly opened its enormous mouth.

The roots began moving.

And from beneath the earth came the voice of the boy:

“The first guardian is awake.”

The ground split apart.

Something enormous began rising.

The entire underground forest shook.

Ethan’s trapped face screamed silently.

And the black tree began growing toward Lena.

TO BE CONTINUED…