The sharp CRACK of the branch echoed in the night, and Alex flinched so violently he almost dropped the flashlight. He stumbled backward, away from the window, his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. The forest, which had been silent moments before, was now alive with a terrifying presence.
"Alex! What was that? What's happening" Elara's voice was a frantic lifeline through the radio's static.
"It's here," he whispered, his voice trembling. He forced himself to look back outside, raising the flashlight with a shaky hand. "It's right below me. It knows I'm watching."
He swept the beam of light across the treeline, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. The beam landed on the aspen tree with the strange symbols, then moved past it, into the deep darkness of the woods. He saw nothing. But he could feel it. It was heavy, suffocating feeling, the instinct of a prey animal that knows predator is nearby.
Then, he heard another sound. It was the soft crunch of leaves and twigs under a heavy weight. It was slow, deliberate. It was moving.
"It's moving," he whispered into the microphone, his eyes wide. "It's circling the tower."
He followed the sound with his light, but the creature was clever. It stayed just beyond the edge of the beam, in the shadows. He could hear its progress—a soft crunch here, a rustle of ferns there—as it made slow, calculated circle around the base of his tower. It wasn't attacking. It was observing him. It was letting him know it was there, that he was in its territory, and that it could get to him if it wanted to.
"Can you see it?" Elara asked, her voice hushed with terror.
"No," Alex breathed. "It's staying in the dark. It's smart."
The sounds stopped directly south of his tower, where the stairs leading up from ground were located. Alex's blood ran cold. He held his breath, listening. He heard a soft, metallic scrape.
The sound of claw on steel. On the support beams of his tower.
"It's touching the tower," he said, his voice cracking. "Oh god, it's right at the stairs."
For a terrifying minute, there was only silence. Alex imagined the creature looking up at him, its glowing red eyes fixated on his small, fragile cabin in the sky. He was trapped, a bug in a jar, and something was tapping the glass.
Then, he heard the heavy footsteps again, this time moving away, retreating back into the woods toward the north. He listened until the sound faded completely, replaced once more by the chirping of crickets and the whisper of the wind. It was gone.
He sank to the floor, his back against the wall, his legs too weak to hold him. He and Elara stayed on the radio for hours, talking in low tones, trying to process the encounter. It hadn't been a fleeting glimpse; it had been calculated, intelligent display of dominance. The creature had been watching him as he found its symbols, and it had made its presence known as a warning.
When the sun finally rose, casting the forest in the gentle gray light of dawn, Alex felt no relief. He was exhausted, but he forced himself to his feet. He had to look.
He focused his binoculars on the aspen tree, his hands shaking slightly. The symbols he had seen last night were still there, carved deep into the pale bark. But they were not alone.
Just below them was a new mark. It hadn't been there before. It was a perfect circle, just like one of the others, but this one had a crude drawing of a tower inside it. And a single, jagged line was scratched through the top of the tower, right where his cabin was.
Alex lowered the binoculars, a cold dread seeping into his very bones. It wasn't a warning anymore.
It was a promise.