The fog was thick and there was an eerie absence of sound that they noticed more and more from the moment they entered. From the outside it looked like any other forest, but the moment they passed the threshold, nothing seemed right about it. The trees were almost unnaturally twisted as if some external force had exerted pressure on them. The bark gave everyone creepy pareidolia and disturbed faces felt like they were popping out at them. There was a nice pine and mild flower fragrance before they entered, now it smelled like musk and as if everything was beginning to rot, and there was a slight undertone of sulfur. They each made hesitant and deliberate steps but each time their foot hit the ground the sound would stop just a fraction too soon.

“I don’t like this” one of the group muttered.

“Shhhh, be quiet” another quickly rebuked.

They continued slowly making their way in the direction the map they received seemed to indicate, but it was hard to truly tell since the moment they stepped in that foresaken place, their compasses seemed to go crazy periodically.

Suddenly, a faint glow emitted from somewhere deeper in the general direction they were trudging. The first to notice it suddenly stopped and in a whispered tone told the others wait. Those that had one pulled out their compasses and checked, but they were all acting as if a strong magnet was running circles around them. After some very hushed and nervous deliberation they decided to head towards the lumination.

Carefully moving forward the glow was getting a little brighter and seemed to reach out behind as if it were trying to embrace them. Visibility was poor and the fog was stifling but the light around them got brighter and brighter the more steps they took towards it.

In a sudden and very digital-like jump, a silhouette appeared in the distance ahead of them. They froze in their tracks, hearts pounding through their chests and breaths heavy, yet no sound seemed to reach them from beyond their own mind.

“What the fuck is that?!” One of them exclaimed, only he couldn’t seem to actually vocalize and the words were stuck in his throat. He quickly noticed that he wasn’t breathing anymore and the hypoxia became apparent and his consciousness began to fade. He quickly took a look at the others but they did not seem to notice what was happening to him. They actually appeared frozen stiff almost as if he were looking at a photograph. The last thing he sees before his vision fades are a series of black strands begin to wrap around the others as they stood motionless in their tracks.

Then…

Darkness