Evelyn fired first.The gunshot cracked through the cabin like thunder, loud enough to rattle the broken windows and send a shower of ash drifting from the ceiling beams. The bullet struck Cropsy square in the chest.
And Cropsy didn’t fall.
It barely even flinched.
The creature’s torso jerked slightly, as if the impact was more irritating than painful. Then it took a slow step forward, the floorboards groaning under its weight. Ash clung to its body like dead skin, and the smell rolling off it was unbearable—burnt wood, wet earth, and something rotten beneath it all.
Delaney shouted, “Ev, move!”
He grabbed her arm and yanked her backward, just as Cropsy’s hand swung out.
The creature’s fingers weren’t fingers anymore. They were thick, split things, like roots or claws fused together. Its swipe missed Evelyn by inches, but the force of it smashed into the wall behind her, splintering charred wood like it was cardboard.
Evelyn stumbled, heart hammering, and fired again.
Another shot.
This one hit Cropsy’s shoulder.
The creature turned its head slowly, as if trying to understand why she kept bothering.
Then it opened its mouth.
The sound that came out wasn’t a roar.
It was a laugh.
Dry, broken, and bubbling, like air forcing its way through mud.
Outside the cabin, the fog churned. It pressed into the doorway, thickening until it looked like pale smoke pouring inward. The air dropped colder, and Evelyn felt her skin prickle like she’d stepped into a freezer.
Delaney shoved her toward the door. “We’re leaving! NOW!”
They bolted.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the fog hit them full force. It swallowed their flashlights, their vision shrinking to a narrow tunnel of grey. Evelyn could barely see Delaney’s silhouette beside her.
Behind them, the cabin groaned.
A deep crack echoed as Cropsy stepped out.
Evelyn heard the dragging sound again—slow, patient, certain.
Like it didn’t need to chase.
Because it already knew where they’d end up.
They ran down the path, boots slipping in wet mud. Evelyn’s lungs burned, her pistol shaking in her grip. She tried her radio again.
“DISPATCH! DISPATCH, COME IN!”
Nothing but static.
Delaney’s voice was sharp with panic. “Phones won’t work either! We’re dead-zone.”
Evelyn forced herself to keep moving, her mind racing. They had to reach the road. The truck. The cruiser. Anything.
But the forest didn’t feel like it was letting them go.
The trees seemed closer together now. The branches hung lower. The path twisted when she was sure it should have gone straight. Every time Evelyn looked ahead, she expected to see the yellow tape barrier and the entrance sign.
Instead, she saw only more fog.
More trees.
More darkness.
Then Delaney stopped abruptly.
Evelyn nearly slammed into him. “What are you doing?!”
Delaney pointed, trembling.
Through the fog, the road emerged.
The entrance road.
Evelyn’s heart surged with relief—until she saw what was waiting there.
Their cruiser sat exactly where they had parked it.
But the doors were open.
The headlights were on.
And the interior light glowed softly, like an invitation.
Evelyn stepped closer, slow and cautious. “Delaney… we didn’t leave it like that.”
Delaney shook his head. “No. No, we didn’t.”
They approached the cruiser, weapons raised.
The radio inside the vehicle crackled to life.
A voice came through the speaker.
Not dispatch.
Not human.
A whispering rasp, stretched and distorted by static.
“Come… back…”
Evelyn’s blood ran cold.
The voice sounded like Cropsy, but it also sounded like something else—like the forest itself was speaking through the radio.
Delaney leaned into the cruiser, eyes wide. “That’s impossible.”
Evelyn grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t touch—”
Too late.
Delaney’s fingers brushed the radio controls.
The static exploded into a scream of sound.
And the cruiser lights shut off instantly, plunging them into darkness.
The fog thickened around them like a closing fist.
Evelyn spun, raising her pistol.
A shape loomed behind the cruiser.
Too tall.
Too close.
Cropsy stepped forward, emerging from the mist as if it had simply appeared there.
Its mask glowed faintly, pulsing red like embers in a fire.
Delaney backed up, voice shaking. “How… how did you—”
Cropsy’s head tilted.
Then, from the trees, came another dragging sound.
And another.
And another.
Multiple.
Surrounding them.
Evelyn’s flashlight beam flickered on for a moment, and in that split second she saw them—dark shapes in the fog, moving between the trunks.
Not animals.
Not people.
Burned figures, shambling and wrong, with pieces of melted mask clinging to their faces like disease.
Evelyn whispered, horrified, “It’s not just one…”
Delaney’s breath came in sobs. “We’re trapped.”
Cropsy stepped closer.
Its voice was soft now, almost pleased.
“No… way… out…”
And the fog swallowed the road.
Swallowed the cruiser.
Swallowed the world.
Source: Some or all of the content was generated using an AI language model
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