The crisp fall air turned cold and bitter as I rounded an unexpected path on a trail I’d hiked a dozen times. The trees seemed to arch in despair, their sparse dead leaves strewn about the forest floor, black and twitching in the wind as if to serve as a warning. The hairs on my back rose in response as my pace slowed and my icy breath thickened like visible spider webs crystallizing before me.

Suddenly a sound echoed from the distance. I felt relief as I heard laughter and childlike sounds of glee. “Oh thank god,” I said out loud, “…someone to help me make sense of this strange place.”

Hazy damp clouds surrounded me as I pushed through wet sticky branches. I stopped dead in my tracks as the voice became deeper and its laughter grew sinister. Terror filled my body like a rush of adrenaline when I realized it was calling my name. As I slowly cleared the last branch obstructing my view I saw the figure sitting there on an opened tomb in misty white fabric and glaring at me with its empty black eyes it said, “I’ve been waiting for you.”