They packed fast.
Too fast.
The forest didn't like urgency.
Branches tangled where there were none before.
Paths bent wrong.
Aditi cried,
"The GPS is spinning!"
Maya realized something terrifying.
The forest wasn't changing.
The monster was.
They heard their own voices ahead of them.
Rohan's laugh echoed from the trees.
Perfectly copied.
"Guys, I found the exit!"
Rohan stopped breathing.
"That wasn't me."
The voice repeated, closer.
Sameer grabbed him.
"Don't answer it."
From the bushes, something rose — wearing the sound of Rohan's voice inside its throat.
Its chest moved like a broken speaker.
It tried to stand like a person.
Failed.
Then learned.
Its legs bent the way humans bend.
Maya backed away.
"It's practicing us."
The creature tilted its head.
And said, in Aditi's voice,
"Help me."
The word dragged wrong.
Like meat learning language.
Then it charged.