The forest was silent, buried under a thick blanket of snow.
White trees stretched endlessly into the night, their branches sagging beneath the weight of winter.
I crouched low in the bushes, breath shallow, trying not to disturb the frost that clung to my coat. My heart pounded—not from the cold, but from what I was seeing.
Two figures darted through the woods ahead of me—a boy and a girl, about my age, crashing desperately through the snow. Behind them, a man and a woman followed at a steady pace, not frantic, but confident, like hunters closing in on prey.
"Don't let them get away." The woman's voice cut sharp against the frozen air.
The siblings stumbled toward a narrow road, where an old car waited. The boy shoved the girl inside, slammed the door, and floored the engine. Tires screeched, throwing up slush.
For a moment, I thought they'd escaped.
Then— CRASH.
The car slammed into a tree. Metal groaned. Snow exploded into the air.
I winced, my breath catching in my throat. The boy's body slumped against the wheel, blood streaking the shattered glass. Motionless.
The girl crawled weakly from the wreck, but before she could rise, the hunters were already there. The man's boot pressed her down into the snow.
"Found you." His voice dripped with amusement.
The girl struggled, snow clinging to her hair as she tried to push herself up.
The woman sighed, almost bored.
"Sleep."
With a swift motion, her hand sliced down like a blade; thwack!— striking the girl at the base of her neck.
The girl's eyes widened for a split second before her body went limp, collapsing into the snow.
That's when the man's gaze shifted toward me.
"...Well, well. What do we have here?"
I froze.
He smirked. "You've seen too much, kid. If you don't want to die out here… you're coming with us."
The woman tightened her grip on the unconscious girl and gave me a quick glance, as if to say resisting wasn't an option.
My legs moved on their own. The snow crunched under my boots as I stepped out of the bushes. Against every instinct screaming to run, I followed them.
We walked for what felt like hours. The wind howled, stinging my face, until the trees finally opened into a clearing.
A village lay ahead, half-buried in snow. Smoke curled from chimneys. Lanterns flickered in the dark, casting orange glows across the crowd that filled the square.
And the people… they were kneeling. All of them. Heads bowed. Faces pale with fear.
At the front, a hunched elder raised his arms to the sky.
"Tonight," he rasped, "the prophecy will be fulfilled. The Winter Demon shall descend."
My stomach twisted.
I didn't know why, or how… but in the deepest part of me, I already knew the truth.
The one they were waiting for…
The demon whispered about in their legends…
It wasn't out there in the mountains.
It was me.