Auren had always been the quiet one in the crowd the kind of soul who walks silently while the world races ahead.
Two years had passed since his graduation, and with each day, the weight of rejection letters and unanswered applications pressed heavier on his chest. Jobs came and went, but none ever came to him. Each "We regret to inform you…" email was like another brick added to the wall separating him from the future he imagined.
While his batchmates chased promotions or mapped out their futures, Auren remained stuck in the same small rented room, surrounded by hope and rusting ambition. The walls, once painted with dreams, now seemed to close in with every passing day.
Now, his graduation batch was planning a trip one final celebration before fully embracing adulthood. Laughter echoed in their group chats, memories were shared, itineraries finalized. But for Auren, none of it mattered. He had no friends left who even remembered his name. No one invited him.
Except one.
Asha, his girlfriend of five years, was going. She gently asked him to join, but he declined. The idea of traveling with people who never truly saw him didn't sit right. "I'm going home," he said, his voice flat and tired. His heart ached a little at the thought of her disappointment, but the weight of invisible isolation was heavier.
So he packed his bag, leaving the city behind, and boarded a local bus heading toward his remote hometown. The road stretched ahead, flanked by tall, swaying trees. The air smelled of damp earth and leaves, a quiet contrast to the chaos he had left behind.
The sun was beginning to dip behind the horizon when the bus entered the forest area. Tall trees lined the narrow road, their shadows long and heavy.
The silence was peaceful almost too peaceful. Auren's mind wandered, thoughts of the past and worries of the future colliding in the fading light.
As the bus rounded a sharp bend, Auren caught a glimpse of something two brightly colored tourist buses zooming past beside him, filled with noise and music. It was his college group. One bus full of boys, and another one with full of girls. He searched the windows for Asha but didn't spot her. A pang of loneliness twisted inside him, but he turned away, forcing himself to focus on the road ahead.
Then, as if the world were mocking him, his bus shuddered to a dead stop.
A mechanical failure.
The driver cursed under his breath and signaled everyone to wait. Auren stepped out, stretching his legs, trying not to dwell on how this added to his string of misfortunes. He glanced at the forest on either side, shadows stretching like dark fingers into the fading light.
That's when he saw it.
Standing a few meters away, half shadowed by the trees, was a dog or something that looked like one. Black as coal, its body thin and stretched unnaturally. Its eyes glinted in the dim light, not with curiosity, but with hunger.
Auren's stomach tightened. Something about its posture, the way it watched him, set every nerve on edge.
He took a slow step back. The creature didn't move. Another step. Still nothing.
And then he ran.
Without thinking, he bolted into the forest, hoping to lose it in the maze of trees. Branches scraped at his skin, roots tugged at his shoes, but he kept running. Somewhere behind, he could still feel its gaze burning into his back. Panic and adrenaline intertwined, each breath coming sharp and ragged.
He didn't stop until the silence became overwhelming.
The road was gone. The bus was gone. The forest had swallowed him whole.
Breathless, heart pounding, Auren looked around. The trees were taller here, denser. The air was thick with the scent of moss and earth, and the fading light barely penetrated the canopy. There was no path, no sign of direction, no hint of civilization.
He was lost.
Alone.
And whatever that creature was it might still be watching.
A chill ran down his spine. He swallowed hard and whispered to himself, "What is this place?"
But the forest offered no answer only silence, shadows, and the unseen eyes that followed his every move.