After a few hours, everyone finally gathered again in the middle of the village square.
The sun was already sinking behind the distant hills, staining the sky orange and red. Long shadows stretched across the dusty ground, creeping between the old wooden houses like dark fingers. The evening air felt strangely heavy, and no one spoke at first.
Sreyan was the one who broke the silence.
He glanced sideways at Astha before lowering his voice dramatically. "Hey… why is she glaring at you like that?"
Astha did not even bother turning around. He folded his arms casually and answered in the calmest tone possible.
"She likes me."
"You—"
Xingxing's eyes immediately sharpened. The glare she threw at him looked sharp enough to kill.
Sreyan blinked once.
Then twice.
For a moment, he genuinely could not decide whether he should laugh or quietly move away before someone got murdered.
"…I see death in your future," he muttered under his breath.
Astha looked completely unconcerned.
Before the argument could continue, Sian stepped forward and scanned the group carefully.
"Where's Riju?"
Almost as if he had been waiting for his name to be called, Riju appeared from a narrow alley between two houses.
His clothes were wrinkled and dusty. His hair was messy, and there was something strangely unsettled about him. He kept his head lowered as he walked toward them.
Sian frowned immediately.
"What happened to you?"
"Nothing," Riju replied quietly.
He avoided everyone's eyes.
The answer came too quickly.
A brief silence followed, but no one pressed him further. The atmosphere already felt tense enough.
Sian let out a slow breath before straightening his posture.
"Alright. Enough distractions. We need to focus." His voice became serious. "We're here to investigate the missing children. We start asking questions now."
James nodded beside him. "The parents are the best place to begin. If anything unusual happened before the disappearances, they might know."
Everyone exchanged glances before quietly agreeing.
The playful atmosphere from earlier slowly disappeared.
Something about this village felt wrong.
Not just strange.
Wrong.
Like something hidden beneath the surface was quietly watching them.
The group eventually split into smaller teams and spread through the village.
As they walked deeper between the old houses, the uneasy feeling only grew heavier.
The villagers barely spoke to them. Most people avoided eye contact completely. Doors remained half-closed. Curtains shifted behind windows.
Fear lived here now.
Sian and James stopped in front of a small house near the edge of the square.
The wooden door creaked softly when Sian knocked.
A few seconds later, it opened slightly.
A tired-looking woman peeked outside.
Her eyes were swollen and red, as if she had not slept properly in days.
James softened his tone immediately.
"We're here to ask about your child."
The woman froze.
Her lips trembled faintly before she slowly opened the door wider and allowed them inside.
The house was dim and silent.
It smelled faintly of medicine and burnt oil.
"He… disappeared a week ago," she whispered weakly. "No sound. No trace. He was just… gone."
Sian's expression darkened.
"Did anything unusual happen before that?"
The woman stared blankly at the floor for several seconds, trying to remember.
Then she shook her head slowly.
"No…" Her voice cracked. "He was such a cheerful child. Always smiling…"
A painful smile briefly appeared on her face before collapsing almost instantly.
"That evening… he was so excited. He said he wanted to go outside and play…"
Her voice faltered.
Tears finally spilled down her cheeks.
She quickly covered her mouth with trembling hands, trying to stop herself from crying, but the sobs still escaped.
"I told him not to stay out too late…" she choked out painfully. "I told him…"
James lowered his eyes silently.
Even Sian did not know what to say anymore.
The grief inside that tiny room felt suffocating.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Sreyan, Astha, and Yug walked slowly along a narrow dirt path lined with old huts.
Xingxing followed several steps behind them, still clearly irritated.
Sreyan nudged Astha lightly with his elbow.
"So," he whispered dramatically, "are you enjoying this?"
Astha looked at him blankly. "Enjoying what?"
"The fact that she wants to kill you."
"She doesn't."
"She absolutely does."
Astha shrugged calmly. "She likes me."
Behind them, Xingxing's voice instantly rang out.
"Keep dreaming."
Sreyan sighed deeply.
"And here we go again…"
Yug, who had been quietly walking behind them the entire time, stiffened very slightly at Astha's words.
It lasted less than a second.
But Astha noticed it anyway.
Still, he said nothing.
The group eventually stopped near an old man sitting outside a small house.
His hands trembled slightly in his lap, and his cloudy eyes looked unfocused.
The moment he saw them, he suddenly leaned forward.
"Did you see my Jimin?" he asked weakly. "Did you find him?"
The question caught everyone off guard.
Before anyone could answer, a tall bald man hurried out from inside the house.
"Dad," he said gently, placing a hand on the old man's shoulder. "Please…"
Then he turned toward the group apologetically.
"I'm sorry. He's been like this ever since my son disappeared."
His voice trembled near the end.
"My boy was only four years old."
For the first time since arriving in the village, Astha's expression softened slightly.
"It's okay," he said quietly. "Can you tell us what happened?"
The man hesitated.
But before he could answer, the old man suddenly spoke again.
His voice came out low and shaky.
"It's the forest."
Everyone fell silent.
The old man slowly lifted his head.
"It takes them," he whispered. "It always has."
Astha narrowed his eyes slightly.
"What do you mean?"
Fear flickered across the old man's face.
"In the last two years… children keep disappearing." His voice became quieter and quieter. "And the people who go looking for them…"
He stopped speaking for a moment.
Then finally whispered,
"They don't come back the same."
A cold wind suddenly passed through the village.
No one spoke after that.
Not far away, the twin sisters stepped outside another house and exchanged glances.
"Forest again," one of them muttered quietly. "That's the third person who mentioned it."
Zoya slowly looked toward the distant tree line beyond the village.
The forest stood completely silent beneath the darkening sky.
Still.
Watching.
"Then that's where we're going," she said softly.
As evening settled fully over the village, the group eventually regrouped in the square once more.
The sky had turned deep orange now, almost red.
Riju stood slightly apart from everyone else, unusually quiet.
Sian crossed his arms.
"We finally have a lead," he said. "The forest."
Riju stiffened the moment Sian mentioned the forest.
The reaction was small, almost invisible, but Astha noticed it immediately.
"You've already been there, haven't you?" he asked quietly.
Every head turned toward Riju at once.
For a moment, the boy said nothing. His fingers slowly curled into fists at his sides, nails digging into his palms.
"…Yes."
Sreyan frowned instantly. "And you still said nothing happened?"
Riju slowly lifted his head.
The fading sunlight caught his face strangely. For a brief second, his eyes looked darker than before. Not tired. Not scared.
Wrong.
"There's something inside that forest," he said softly. "Something that watches you."
A cold breeze swept through the square the moment he finished speaking.
Several villagers nearby immediately shut their windows.
No one laughed anymore.
Xingxing crossed her arms tightly over her chest, though her voice remained steady.
"Good," she said. "Then we'll go see it ourselves."
Sian inhaled slowly before nodding once.
"We move at dawn."
"No."
Riju's voice came out barely above a whisper.
Everyone paused.
He swallowed hard, his face paling slightly.
"If you go at night…" His voice trembled faintly. "…it comes closer."
Silence spread across the square.
No one asked what "it" was.
Far beyond the village, the forest stood beneath the darkening sky, silent and unmoving.
Waiting.
—
The forest swallowed them whole.
The moment they stepped beyond the tree line, the air changed.
The warmth from the village disappeared completely, replaced by a cold dampness that clung to their skin like wet cloth. Towering trees rose around them endlessly, their branches twisting together high above until even the evening light struggled to pass through.
The deeper they walked, the darker it became.
Every step felt strangely heavy.
Wrong.
Like the forest itself did not want them there.
At first, they stayed close together.
Then little by little, they drifted apart.
One wrong turn.
One moment spent looking behind.
One shadow moving between the trees.
And suddenly, the group was no longer a group.
—
Branches cracked softly under Yug's boots as he pushed aside a curtain of hanging vines.
He glanced behind him automatically.
Astha was still there.
Of course he was.
But instead of paying attention to their surroundings, Astha had somehow picked a pale flower from the side of the path and lazily placed it between his lips.
Yug stopped so abruptly the leaves around him rustled sharply.
"…Don't eat that."
Astha ignored him completely.
Then bit into the flower.
Yug stared at him in disbelief before immediately stepping forward and pulling it out of his mouth.
"I said don't eat it."
Astha blinked once.
Unbothered.
Yug let out a frustrated breath before shoving something into his hand.
"Eat this instead."
Astha looked down.
Chocolate.
Then slowly back up at Yug, who suddenly looked very interested in the trees around them.
"…What?" Yug muttered defensively. "I don't even like sweets. My nephew gave it to me."
A brief silence passed between them.
Then Astha quietly unwrapped the chocolate and placed it in his mouth.
"…Hmm."
He sounded oddly satisfied.
Without another word, he simply continued walking deeper into the forest.
Yug stared at his back for a second, jaw tightening slightly before following after him.
—
Elsewhere in the forest, Zoya froze.
"Help…"
The voice was weak.
Broken.
Barely audible.
"Help me…"
Her breath caught instantly.
"…Riya?"
The whisper came again from somewhere deeper between the trees.
"Zoya… help me…"
Panic hit her chest immediately.
"It's Riya," she whispered to herself before stumbling forward. "Riya!"
Branches scraped painfully against her arms as she pushed deeper into the woods.
"Riya! Where are you?!"
"Zoya…"
The voice sounded closer now.
Smaller.
Weak.
"I'm coming!" she shouted desperately. "Keep talking!"
The forest around her grew darker with every step.
The voice kept pulling her forward.
Further.
Further.
Away from everything else.
"Riya?!"
Silence.
Then—
"Hehe…"
The sound came directly beside her ear.
Zoya froze instantly.
A small icy hand wrapped around her throat from behind.
Her entire body locked up.
"Caught you."
The voice sounded wrong.
Too playful.
Too excited.
Not human.
The grip tightened violently.
Zoya clawed desperately at the invisible fingers crushing her throat, but nothing worked. Her breathing broke apart into painful gasps as panic flooded her chest.
She could not move.
Could not scream.
The forest around her seemed to lean closer.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then—
TWAKK!
Something cut sharply through the air.
A loud crack echoed between the trees.
The hand around her throat vanished instantly.
A horrible shriek exploded through the darkness.
"Aaaahhhhhh—!"
For the briefest moment, Zoya saw it clearly.
A twisted child-shaped shadow crouched between the trees.
Its hollow eyes stared at her.
A wooden stick had pierced directly through one of its hands.
Then the creature disappeared.
Just like that.
Gone.
Zoya collapsed to her knees immediately, coughing violently as she clutched her throat.
Air.
She needed air.
Her lungs burned painfully as tears streamed down her face.
"Are you okay?"
The voice above her sounded calm.
Steady.
Too calm.
Zoya slowly looked up through blurred vision.
Astha stood nearby holding another broken branch loosely in one hand, his expression unreadable as always.
"Haa… haaah… th-thank you…" she choked out weakly.
Astha crouched beside her quietly before placing a hand gently on top of her head.
"It's okay."
His tone never changed.
Not even slightly.
Yet somehow, hearing those simple words made her breathing slowly steady again.
Behind them, the forest fell silent.
Too silent.
As if nothing had happened at all.
As if it was patiently waiting for the next chance.
—
Meanwhile, Sian, Riya, and James continued deeper into the woods.
The silence around them felt unnatural now.
There were no insects.
No wind.
Even their footsteps sounded distant somehow, as though the forest swallowed every noise before it could fully exist.
James slowed his pace slightly.
"Do you hear that?"
Sian stopped immediately.
"…No."
James looked uneasy.
"That's exactly the problem."
A few seconds passed.
Then soft footsteps echoed behind them.
Slow.
Measured.
Riya spun around instantly.
"Who's there?"
Nothing.
Only trees.
James forced out a shaky breath. "Probably one of the others—"
"…James…"
The voice interrupted him softly.
Everyone froze.
It came from ahead.
Faint.
Familiar.
James's face lost all color.
"…Mom?"
Sian's expression sharpened immediately.
"That's not real."
"James…"
The voice cracked weakly through the trees.
"You left me…"
James unconsciously stepped forward.
"Stop," Sian said sharply.
"Why didn't you come back…?"
James's hand trembled slightly at his side.
"I didn't—"
"James." Sian's voice turned firm. "That isn't her."
The trees ahead shifted softly.
A figure stood there.
A woman.
Motionless.
Her head tilted slightly to one side, her face hidden completely beneath shadow.
"…Come closer…"
James inhaled sharply.
Then Sian grabbed his arm hard and pulled him backward.
"Move."
The figure's head snapped upward instantly.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
A massive unnatural smile stretched slowly across its face.
Then it vanished into the darkness.
The forest became silent again.
James let out a shaky breath before dragging a hand through his hair.
"…Yeah," he muttered weakly. "Definitely not real."
Sian said nothing.
But his grip around the knife in his hand tightened.
—
Elsewhere, Sreyan and Xingxing moved carefully through the trees together.
"You notice something?" Sreyan muttered quietly.
Xingxing did not even look at him.
"That you talk too much?"
"No," he replied. "I mean this forest."
He glanced around slowly.
"It feels like this place genuinely hates us."
"…Obviously."
The tension between them had changed completely now.
Before, it had been annoyance.
Now it was survival.
Then suddenly—
A child darted across the path ahead.
Barefoot.
Fast.
Gone within a second.
Both of them stopped immediately.
"…You saw that too, right?" Sreyan asked carefully.
"Yes."
"Good," he muttered. "At least I'm not hallucinating alone."
A soft giggle drifted through the trees.
Xingxing's eyes narrowed instantly.
"Come out," Sreyan snapped sharply.
Another giggle echoed back.
Closer this time.
Behind them.
They turned immediately.
Nothing.
Then suddenly—
Small dirty hands grabbed Sreyan's sleeve.
He jerked backward hard.
"Hey—!"
Three children stood behind them.
Perfectly still.
Perfectly silent.
Their heads tilted at the exact same unnatural angle.
"Do you want to play?" one of them asked softly.
Its voice echoed strangely, like several voices speaking together at once.
The children slowly smiled.
Wider.
Wider.
Far wider than human faces should allow.
"Play with us."
The air around them suddenly changed.
The ground beneath their feet no longer felt stable.
It felt soft.
Shifting.Alive.
Sreyan's expression changed the moment he heard the laughter behind them.
"Run."
His voice was barely louder than a whisper, but Xingxing understood immediately. Neither of them hesitated. They turned and sprinted through the forest, branches scraping against their arms as the sound of childish laughter chased after them.
It echoed from every direction at once.
High-pitched.
Broken.
Wrong.
The laughter didn't sound human anymore. It sounded like something trying to imitate children and failing.
Xingxing's breathing grew uneven as she pushed past another cluster of trees. "Why are they so fast?!"
"I don't know!" Sreyan shouted back. "And I really don't want to find out!"
Another giggle rang out right beside his ear.
Sreyan nearly stumbled.
Something small darted between the trees beside them. Bare feet. Pale skin. A twisted smile that disappeared the moment he looked directly at it.
"Don't look back!" Xingxing snapped.
"I wasn't planning to!"
The forest around them seemed endless. Every direction looked the same. The deeper they ran, the darker it became, as though the trees themselves were swallowing the last traces of light.
Then suddenly—
The laughter stopped.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
That silence was somehow worse.
Meanwhile, not far away, Zoya was still trying to steady her breathing. Her throat burned where the creature had grabbed her, and every breath felt painfully cold in her chest.
Crunch.
A footstep echoed nearby.
Her entire body tensed.
Astha lifted his head slightly, eyes narrowing toward the trees.
Another step followed.
Slow.Careful.
Not theirs.
Then Yug emerged from between the shadows, brushing aside a branch as he stepped into view. His gaze swept across the area immediately, sharp and alert, checking every dark corner between the trees before finally landing on them.
"We need to move," he said quickly. "It's not safe here."
Before Zoya could answer, another voice suddenly cut through the forest.
"Zoya?!"
Her eyes widened.
That voice—
"...Riya?"
Riya stumbled out from the darkness moments later, visibly shaken. Relief flooded her face the second she saw Zoya.
"What happened to you?!" she asked breathlessly.
Zoya didn't even think before running toward her. She wrapped her arms tightly around Riya as if letting go would make her disappear again.
"Riya…"
Her voice cracked halfway through the name.
Riya immediately hugged her back. "I'm fine. I'm okay. But what happened to your throat?"
Before Zoya could answer, more footsteps approached from deeper in the forest.
Sian appeared first, James right behind him. Both of them looked tense, their expressions guarded as they scanned the surroundings.
"Misha. Yug," Sian called quietly. "You alright?"
"For now," Yug answered.
Then Sian noticed Zoya properly.
The tear stains on her face.
The trembling in her hands.
The red marks around her throat.
His expression darkened immediately.
"What happened?"
Zoya slowly pulled away from Riya, though she still held onto her hand tightly.
"There's something in this forest," she whispered. "It can copy voices."
James frowned.
"It sounded exactly like Riya," Zoya continued shakily. "It kept calling me for help, so I followed it and then…"
Her fingers tightened.
"It grabbed me."
No one spoke after that.
The silence felt suffocating.
Zoya tried to stay calm, but the fear finally caught up to her. Her shoulders shook as tears spilled down her cheeks again.
Riya gently pulled her closer and stroked her hair.
"Hey," she whispered softly. "You're okay now. I'm here."
A cold wind passed through the trees.
Along with it came faint whispers.
Soft.
Unclear.Watching.
Waiting.
Sian looked around the forest carefully before speaking in a firm voice.
"We leave now. We find the others and get out."
No one argued.
They moved together through the trees, staying close this time.
A few minutes later, hurried footsteps suddenly approached from ahead.
Sreyan and Xingxing burst through the undergrowth, both breathing hard.
Relief flashed across everyone's faces for a brief moment.
"Beautiful," Sreyan gasped dramatically, bending slightly as he caught his breath. "Truly beautiful. I was starting to think the forest ate you all."
Despite the situation, a faint smile appeared on James's face.
It disappeared almost immediately.
A scream ripped through the forest.
"Aaaahhhhhh—!"
The sound was raw with terror.
Human.
Every single person froze.
Sian's expression sharpened instantly. "That's one of ours."
Yug was already moving before anyone else reacted. "This way."
"No splitting up!" Sian ordered as everyone rushed after him.
They ran through the forest together, branches whipping against their clothes and faces. The deeper they went, the colder the air became.
The forest felt heavier now.
Alive.
As if something was guiding them exactly where it wanted them to go.
Another scream echoed ahead.
Closer this time.
Then suddenly—
Silence.
The group slowed instinctively.
The quiet felt wrong.
Far too wrong.
Sreyan swallowed hard. "This has trap written all over it."
"Stay alert," Sian said.
They pushed forward carefully through the trees.
Then they saw him.
Kiupa hung several feet above the ground, suspended by thick vines wrapped tightly around his body. His arms were pinned to his sides while the vines around his chest continued tightening slowly, almost deliberately.
They moved like living things.
Breathing.
Constricing.
Kiupa struggled desperately, his face pale from lack of air.
"I—can't—breathe—!"
A familiar giggle echoed through the forest again.
The same childish laughter.
Watching them.
Enjoying this.
Sian reacted immediately. He rushed forward and pulled the knife from his belt.
"I've got you!"
He slashed through one vine.
Then another.
Kiupa dropped slightly with every cut, gasping painfully.
But before Sian could cut the rest—
A sharp vine suddenly shot toward him from the side.
Fast enough to kill.
Straight for his throat.
THWACK!
Something slammed into the vine midair.
A wooden stick pierced cleanly through it, knocking it aside before it could touch Sian.
Everyone looked toward Astha.
He stood several steps away, slowly lowering his arm after the throw. His expression remained calm, almost unreadable, as if he had already predicted where the vine would attack from.
Sian immediately took advantage of the opening. He spun back toward Kiupa and cut through the remaining vines.
Kiupa crashed onto the ground, coughing violently as he clutched his chest.
James quickly knelt beside him. "Slow breaths. Calm down. You're okay."
Sian looked up sharply toward the surrounding trees.
"We need to leave. Right now."
But the forest had already changed.
The ground beneath them trembled slightly.
Then the vines began moving.
At first it was slow.
A faint shifting across the dirt.
Then faster.
Much faster.
Vines slithered across the forest floor like snakes. Others uncurled from tree trunks and dropped from above, twisting violently through the air.
One lunged straight toward Astha.
Yug grabbed his wrist instantly and yanked him backward just before it struck.
Another snapped toward Sreyan's face.
He barely dodged in time. "Absolutely not! I reject this entire forest!"
"Move!" Sian shouted.
The forest exploded into motion.
Vines attacked from every direction at once, sharp and relentless. Some wrapped around branches before striking while others burst directly from the ground beneath their feet.
Astha stepped slightly forward, eyes moving calmly through the chaos.
Watching.
Calculating.
Tracking patterns.
"Stay together!" Sian yelled.
Everyone fought to keep moving while avoiding the attacks. James pulled Kiupa upright while Xingxing slashed away a vine reaching for Riya's ankle.
The attacks weren't random anymore.
The vines were coordinating with each other.
Learning how they moved.
Adapting.
And above all of it, that laughter echoed once more.
Closer now.
Right above them.
Something was hiding in the darkness beyond the trees.
Watching them struggle.
Playing with them.
The forest wasn't simply alive.
It was hunting them.
Will they escape??