The forest was silent again. Too silent.
Steve sat on the ground, his chest rising and falling in heavy breaths. The voice still echoed in his skull—save us… save us. He pressed his palms against his ears, but it was useless. The words were not outside anymore. They were inside him.
Liam placed a hand on his shoulder. "Steve. Look at me."
Steve lifted his head. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, filled with something close to madness. "It knows my name. It keeps calling me. It won't stop, Liam. It won't stop."
Maya knelt down beside them, her face pale. "Why only you? Why not us?"
Steve didn't answer. He didn't know. He wished he knew.
Arin muttered under his breath, "Maybe because… maybe because it's not random. Maybe it's connected to him somehow."
Everyone turned to look at him. Arin avoided their eyes, staring instead at the ground.
"What do you mean?" Tom asked, his voice low.
Arin hesitated, chewing his lip. Finally, he spoke. "There's… there's something my grandmother used to say. About this city. She said it was cursed a long time ago. That the spirits of the dead were never at peace. And she told me—" He stopped, swallowed, and looked at Steve. "—that one day, someone would be chosen. Someone who would hear them. Someone who could either save them… or doom them forever."
Steve's heart dropped. His stomach felt hollow. "Chosen? Don't say that. Don't put that on me."
"I'm not saying it's true," Arin said quickly, his voice trembling. "But what if it is? You've been hearing the voices. You've been seeing things. Maybe you're the one they're calling for."
"No," Steve whispered, shaking his head. "No, that's insane."
But deep inside, he remembered the first dream. The shadowed faces. The whispers begging for him. The cold hands reaching out. All of them calling only one name—his.
Steve… save us.
The group walked back to the dormitory in silence. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts, their own fears. The night air clung to them like damp cloth, and every sound of rustling leaves made them flinch.
When they finally reached the campus gates, Maya broke the silence. "If this is true, if Steve really is the one they're calling, then… then what do we do?"
Tom ran his fingers through his hair. "We can't just keep running into the forest like idiots. That thing almost killed us tonight."
Liam's jaw tightened. "No. We don't run. If Steve is involved, then we stand with him. All of us. We're not leaving him alone."
Steve looked at them, his throat tightening. He wanted to argue, to tell them to stay away for their own safety. But when he saw the fear in their eyes mixed with something else—loyalty, determination—he couldn't speak.
For the first time, he didn't feel entirely alone.
The next morning, the campus buzzed with news. Everyone had heard about Raihan and his friends. They hadn't come back. Their dorm rooms were empty, their belongings untouched. The teachers whispered about calling the police again, but the police had already searched the forest and found nothing.
It was as if the ground itself had swallowed them whole.
Steve sat in the cafeteria with his friends. The chatter around them felt distant, muffled, like a dream.
Then, out of nowhere, an old man walked in. He was bent with age, his hair thin and gray. His clothes were ragged, his shoes worn. People stared as he moved slowly, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on Steve.
Steve felt a chill run down his spine.
The man pointed a shaking finger at him. "You," he croaked. His voice was rough, broken. "It begins with you."
The cafeteria fell silent. Every eye turned toward Steve.
Steve swallowed hard. "What are you talking about?"
The old man shuffled closer. His eyes were cloudy, but his stare was sharp, piercing. "The curse… the curse has awakened. And you, boy… you carry the key."
Maya grabbed Steve's hand under the table. Liam stood up, ready to protect him if needed.
"What curse?" Steve forced the words out.
The old man's lips trembled. "Long ago, this land was not what it is now. There was a village here, built on blood. They wronged a woman… a woman in white. They killed her, but her spirit never left. She cursed the ground. She swore she would take the children, one by one, until someone brave enough answered her cry."
Steve's chest tightened. The girl in the forest. The white dress. The crying. It all fit.
The old man's voice dropped to a whisper. "And now she calls your name. She has chosen you. Either you save the lost… or you join them."
With that, the man turned and walked out, leaving a trail of silence behind him.
Steve sat frozen. His friends stared at him, waiting for him to speak. But he couldn't. His tongue felt heavy, his body cold.
The truth had begun to reveal itself. And it terrified him.
That night, Steve lay awake again. The dormitory was dark, his friends asleep around him. But he couldn't close his eyes.
He kept hearing the old man's words. She cursed the ground. She has chosen you.
Steve turned his face into the pillow, whispering to himself. "Why me? Why not anyone else?"
And then it came again.
Steve… save us…
He bolted upright. The whisper was not in his head this time. It came from outside the window. Slowly, his heart pounding, Steve turned his head.
The glass was fogged. But in the middle of it, pressed against the window, was a pale hand. Thin. Delicate. Trembling.
Steve's breath caught. The hand slid down the glass, leaving behind streaks of moisture.
Then came the voice again, louder, clearer.
"Steve… save us… before it's too late."
He wanted to scream. He wanted to wake the others. But something inside told him this was meant for him alone.
With shaking legs, he stood and crept to the window. The night outside was thick with mist, the trees swaying in the wind.
And there, at the edge of the forest, stood the girl in white.
Her face was still hidden, her hair falling like a curtain. But this time, she wasn't just crying. She was pointing. Her arm stretched out, finger trembling, pointing deep into the forest.
Steve whispered, "What do you want from me?"
The voice echoed in the room, though her lips never moved.
"Truth… lies in the dark. Come… or they will never return."
Steve staggered back, his chest tight with fear. He turned to wake Liam, but when he looked back at the window—she was gone.
Only the mist remained.
By morning, he made a decision. He couldn't run from this anymore. The girl wanted him in the forest. The truth was waiting there.
At breakfast, he told the others everything. The window. The hand. The pointing.
Maya looked horrified. "Steve, that's a trap. You can't go."
Liam's eyes were dark, but steady. "If he doesn't go, more people will vanish. Raihan and the others are already gone. Who's next?"
Tom swallowed hard. "Then we go together. All of us. No one goes alone."
Arin nodded reluctantly. "If this is about truth… maybe it's time we finally face it."
Steve looked around at them—his friends, his only family now. Fear was etched into their faces, but there was something stronger beneath it. Courage. Loyalty.
He nodded slowly. "Tonight. We go tonight."
That evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, they stood again at the old tree. Flashlights in hand, hearts pounding.
The forest waited for them, dark and endless. And somewhere within, the truth waited too.
Steve took a deep breath. "No matter what happens… stay together."
And with that, they stepped into the shadows.