The day started out as fine as it could. I was with three of my brothers, exploring the great Russian wildness in the winter. Some might say that was too dangerous, but we had been doing it since we were kids. This season was actually much nicer than most.

“Hey guys,” my brother Ivan exclaimed in front of me.

“You see those lights in the distance?”

“They look like planes to me,” my older brother Alexander responded.

I looked out in the distance to see what they could possibly be, and low and behold, there were lights dancing across the horizon.

“I don’t think those are planes,” I nervously commented.

“Yeah I think we should head the other direction,” my other brother Dmitry chimed in.

“Come on,” Ivan moaned. “We have to see what those lights are.”

“Are you really going to be that stupid?”

“You always have to be that guy, don’t you Dmitry? It’s not like we are ever going to have the opportunity to see strange lights in the woods again.

“What do you say?”

I could feel my blood turn as cold as ice when Ivan pointed at me. Alexander was staring back at me as if he was having flashbacks to war. Despite my gut violently turning inside of me, I passively agreed with Ivan.

“See, he gets it,” Ivan proudly exclaimed.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“He’s going to be the death of us,” Dmitry signed as we began to follow Ivan.

“For real,” Alexander nervously chuckled.

As we walked to the lights, my head was beginning to tighten. I felt a burning sensation in my stomach, so bad that I asked if I could stop for a second.

“I’ll stay with you,” Dmitry reassured, coming to my side.

“You guys are such panties,” Ivan signed, walking away with a hesitant Alexander.

Dmirty could only give a glare as I walked away with me. Eventually, we reached a rock covered in snow.

“What do you think that light could be?” I asked Dmitry, getting out a water bottle from my pocket.

“I don’t know,” he nervously replied, letting his gaze wander away.

“Are you sure Ivan and Alexander are safe?”

For a moment, Dmitry was as pale as a ghost.

“I’m sure they will come to their senses,” he answered quickly, turning his face away from me.

Despite knowing that he was lying, I refused to further pressure him on the question.

That was until we heard a loud scream.

“What is that!” I screamed as my heart began to race.

“I don’t know,” Dmirty responded, sounding as equally panicked as I was.

In that moment, bright lights began to spark in the distance, almost creating a fake sunrise.

“Wait,” I said.

“Ivan and Alexander are there. We have to go back.”

“No,” Dmirty cried out. “We have to go get help.”

“But they could be already be dead.”

“And we have nothing to fight with against, whatever the hell that light is suppose to be. Come on.”

Despite Dmirty having his back already turned towards me, I stayed in place.

“Please,” he begged.

Unfortunately, I took one last look at Dmitry before running off.

“Come back!” He shouted as I plowed through the snow.

I passed through many frosted trees, with my only guide being the lights.

“Ivan!” I shouted.

“Are you there?” I heard in the distance.

The voice of Alexander was enough to comfort me, even for a second. Unfortunately, that feeling was comfort completely disappeared once I saw what happened to Alexander. He was barely alive, half frozen as he stumbled towards me.

Alexander’s skin was even cracked.

“Alex,” I screamed. “What the hell happened to you?! Where’s Ivan?!”

“It’s the fei,” Alexander mumbled as he fell into my arms. “They took him.”

“The what?”

Just then, everything around me became as bright as day. Looking at the trees, I saw it, a horrifying creature. The creature was a giant, resembling a horrible mixture of a shard of ice and a bear. Its smile was the worst, extending endlessly and marked by sharp bloody teeth.

“Go,” Alexander croaked. “Save yourself.”

Despite hearing Alexander’s pleas, I didn’t follow through with his dying wish. I stood there, as frozen as a tree. The horrible beast came closer and closer to me, with its low growl echoing in my ears.

Eventually, it came over me. Finally, as the creature breathed its wretched breath upon me, I had the courage to drop Alexander and run. Unfortunately, it did me no good as it grabbed my ankles the moment I turned my back. The creature’s cold claws dug into my flesh as it hurled me towards the ground. I tried to grab onto something, anything, but my fate was sealed as it dragged me to the forest.

All I could do is scream for help as I saw Alexander’s corpse becoming farther away from me. If only my fate was as merciful as his. When the creature stopped dragging me, it grabbed my neck and twisted its arm to face me. As I was forced to stare into its vacant eyes, it pushed my back against a tree. That was when I experienced the worst pain I could have ever imagined, with all of the roots suddenly growing around me.

They burned as they caved into my flesh. As soon as it was done, I was frozen cold. The creature was still staring blankly at me, only leaving soon after the tree had stopped growing around me. I don’t know what became of Ivan. I don’t even know if Dmirty is safe.

All I know is that I’m now imprisoned within this wooden prison, with the creature only coming back to mock me. Not even death can free me now. All because those damn lights.