The first thing Ethan Cole noticed about Blackthorn Forest was the silence.

Not ordinary silence.

There was no wind moving through the trees.

No insects buzzing.

No birds singing.

Not even the sound of small animals moving through the leaves.

Nothing.

Ethan stood beside the old forest road and listened.

For almost a minute, he heard only his own breathing.

Then Ryan Blake shut the engine off.

The jeep became completely silent.

Ryan looked through the windshield.

“We should turn back.”

Ethan laughed.

“You said that three hours ago.”

“I meant it then.”

“And now?”

Ryan stared at the forest.

“Now I mean it more.”

Ethan smiled.

“You’ve been guiding people through forests for ten years.”

“Not this one.”

Maya Reed stepped out of the jeep.

She carried a camera and a large backpack.

She looked at the enormous trees surrounding them.

“This is exactly why we’re here.”

Ryan shook his head.

“No. This is exactly why people disappear here.”

Lena Hart climbed out behind Maya.

She adjusted the camera hanging around her neck.

“How many?”

Ryan didn’t answer immediately.

“Seven people in the last eighteen months.”

Lena looked toward the trees.

“All missing?”

“Yes.”

“Any bodies?”

“No.”

“Any evidence?”

Ryan pointed toward the forest.

“Nothing.”

Ethan smiled.

“Then we find out why.”

Ryan looked at him.

“And if we don’t come back?”

Ethan picked up his backpack.

“Then make sure someone finds the camera.”

Ryan didn’t laugh.

---

Blackthorn Forest had been closed for almost twenty years.

Officially, the reason was unstable ground.

Unofficially, the villagers had another explanation.

They said the forest moved.

Not the trees.

The forest itself.

Paths changed.

Rivers appeared where there had been dry land.

Trees seemed to move overnight.

People who entered sometimes walked for hours and somehow returned to the exact place where they had started.

Others never returned.

The government had placed warning signs around the area.

DANGER — NO ENTRY.

Most of them were old.

Some were covered with moss.

One had been scratched with deep lines.

Ethan stopped beside it.

“Look at this.”

Maya came closer.

“What?”

“Someone scratched something underneath.”

She cleaned the moss away.

There were four words.

IT KNOWS YOU ARE HERE.

Lena filmed it.

Ryan immediately turned around.

“Enough.”

Ethan frowned.

“What?”

“We go back.”

Maya looked at him.

“Ryan.”

“No.”

He pointed at the forest.

“That sign wasn’t here when I came six months ago.”

Ethan stared.

“You’re sure?”

“I remember it.”

“Maybe you missed it.”

Ryan shook his head.

“I don’t miss signs.”

Nobody spoke.

Finally, Maya stepped forward.

“We came here to find the missing hikers.”

Ryan sighed.

“Fine.”

He picked up his backpack.

“But we stay together.”

---

They entered the forest at 9:18 in the morning.

The trees swallowed them almost immediately.

The sunlight disappeared behind thick branches.

The temperature dropped.

Ethan looked at his phone.

No signal.

Maya checked hers.

“Nothing.”

Lena laughed nervously.

“Of course.”

Ryan continued walking.

“Stay close.”

They followed an old trail.

For the first twenty minutes, nothing happened.

Then Ethan noticed something strange.

“Maya.”

She turned.

“What?”

“Do you hear that?”

Everyone stopped.

Silence.

Ethan frowned.

“Exactly.”

Lena looked confused.

“What?”

“The forest.”

Ryan nodded.

“It shouldn’t be this quiet.”

Maya looked upward.

There were hundreds of trees above them.

Yet not one bird.

She whispered,

“Where are all the animals?”

Ryan didn’t answer.

They continued.

---

At noon, they stopped beside a small stream.

Ryan filled their bottles.

Ethan looked into the water.

Something moved beneath the surface.

He leaned closer.

A face appeared.

Ethan jumped backward.

“What the—”

The water became still.

Maya rushed toward him.

“What happened?”

“I saw someone.”

“Where?”

“In the water.”

Ryan immediately grabbed Ethan’s arm.

“Don’t look again.”

Ethan stared at him.

“Why?”

Ryan’s face had gone pale.

“Because there isn’t supposed to be anyone here.”

Ethan looked at the stream again.

Nothing.

Just clear water.

Lena crouched beside it.

“Maybe it was a reflection.”

Ryan pulled her away.

“Don’t.”

She looked annoyed.

“Why are you acting like this?”

Ryan lowered his voice.

“Because two years ago, a rescue team found a backpack beside this stream.”

“Whose?”

“A missing woman’s.”

“What happened to her?”

Ryan looked at the water.

“They found her reflection.”

Lena frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“They found her reflection in the water.”

“And?”

“She wasn’t there.”

Nobody spoke.

---

They left the stream.

The trail became narrower.

Trees grew closer together.

The forest floor was covered in wet leaves.

Then Maya stopped.

“Wait.”

Everyone turned.

She pointed toward the ground.

Footprints.

Bare feet.

Small.

They went across the trail.

Ethan crouched.

“Maybe a child?”

Ryan shook his head.

“Too fresh.”

Lena looked around.

“Where would a child be?”

Ryan didn’t answer.

Maya followed the footprints with her eyes.

They disappeared between the trees.

Then she noticed something.

“There are more.”

Everyone looked.

Footprints were everywhere.

Hundreds of them.

All pointing in the same direction.

Into the forest.

Ethan stood.

“That’s impossible.”

Ryan’s voice was barely audible.

“They weren’t here before.”

---

They followed the footprints.

Nobody said why.

Perhaps curiosity.

Perhaps fear.

Perhaps because something inside them wanted to know where they led.

After twenty minutes, they found an abandoned campsite.

A torn tent.

A broken lantern.

Empty food containers.

Maya recognized the equipment.

“This belonged to the missing hikers.”

Lena filmed everything.

Ryan searched the area.

“Ethan.”

Ethan walked toward him.

Ryan was holding a backpack.

Inside was a notebook.

Maya opened it.

The first pages were normal.

Weather.

Location.

Food supplies.

Then the writing changed.

The final entries were short.

Day 3: We keep hearing footsteps.

Day 4: The footsteps stop when we stop walking.

Day 5: We found another camp.

Day 5, later: It was our camp.

Maya turned the page.

The next sentence was written repeatedly.

DO NOT FOLLOW THE BOY.

Again.

DO NOT FOLLOW THE BOY.

Again.

DO NOT FOLLOW THE BOY.

The final page contained only one sentence.

HE IS WAITING FOR US.

Lena swallowed.

“Who is the boy?”

A child’s voice answered from behind them.

“Me.”

Everyone froze.

Slowly, they turned.

A boy stood between the trees.

He looked about ten years old.

He wore an old gray shirt.

His feet were bare.

His skin was extremely pale.

And his eyes were completely black.

Nobody moved.

The boy smiled.

“You came.”

Maya whispered,

“Who are you?”

The boy tilted his head.

“You know me.”

Ethan shook his head.

“No.”

The boy smiled wider.

“You will.”

Ryan grabbed his backpack.

“We’re leaving.”

The boy looked at him.

“You can’t.”

Ryan stopped.

“Why?”

The boy pointed behind them.

“The road is gone.”

Everyone turned.

The trail they had followed was no longer there.

There were only trees.

Thousands of them.

Lena’s breathing became faster.

“That’s impossible.”

The boy laughed softly.

“The forest closed.”

Ethan looked at Ryan.

“What does that mean?”

Ryan didn’t answer.

He was staring at the trees.

Maya whispered,

“Ryan?”

He finally spoke.

“It means we’re trapped.”

---

The boy walked closer.

Ethan noticed something around his neck.

A small metal pendant.

It looked familiar.

He stepped forward.

“Where did you get that?”

The boy touched it.

“This?”

“Yes.”

The boy smiled.

“You gave it to me.”

Ethan froze.

“I’ve never seen you before.”

The boy laughed.

“You haven’t.”

“What does that mean?”

The boy leaned closer.

“It means you haven’t given it to me…”

His black eyes seemed to grow darker.

“…yet.”

Suddenly, every tree around them creaked.

Not from wind.

The trunks moved.

Slowly.

As if turning toward them.

Maya screamed.

The boy smiled.

“Run.”

Nobody needed to be told twice.

They grabbed their bags and ran.

Branches scratched their faces.

Roots caught their feet.

Behind them came the sound of footsteps.

Hundreds of footsteps.

Running.

Ethan looked back.

The boy was gone.

But something else was following them.

Something tall.

Something moving between the trees.

They ran faster.

Then Ethan heard Maya scream.

He turned.

She was gone.

“MAYA!”

No answer.

Lena stopped.

“Where is she?”

Ryan grabbed them.

“Keep moving!”

“We can’t leave her!”

“We can’t stop!”

“But—”

Ryan shouted,

“THE FOREST WANTS US TO STOP!”

They ran.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Twenty.

Finally, they reached a clearing.

They stopped.

Everyone was breathing heavily.

Ethan looked around.

“Where’s Maya?”

Ryan’s face became pale.

Lena pointed toward the ground.

A camera lay in the leaves.

Maya’s camera.

Ethan picked it up.

The screen was still recording.

He pressed play.

The last video appeared.

Maya was standing in the forest.

She looked frightened.

She whispered:

“Ethan…”

Then the camera turned.

Something was standing behind her.

A tall figure.

Too tall.

Its head nearly touched the branches.

Its face was hidden beneath long black hair.

Maya screamed.

The camera fell.

The video ended.

Ethan stared at the screen.

Then he heard a whisper behind him.

“Ethan.”

He turned.

Maya was standing between the trees.

Alive.

Smiling.

Ethan almost cried with relief.

“Maya!”

He stepped toward her.

Ryan grabbed him.

“Don’t.”

Ethan stopped.

Maya tilted her head.

“Why won’t you come to me?”

Ethan stared.

Something was wrong.

Her eyes were black.

Completely black.

Just like the boy’s.

Maya smiled.

“Don’t you recognize me?”

Ryan whispered,

“That’s not Maya.”

The thing wearing Maya’s face smiled wider.

Then it whispered:

“Not yet.”

The forest suddenly went dark.

And from somewhere beneath the trees came a deep, slow sound.

Like something enormous breathing underground.

Whoooooosh.

Whoooooosh.

The trees moved.

The ground trembled.

And every tree around them began whispering the same word.

“Welcome.”

TO BE CONTINUED…