Hunted.

Disclaimer; character deaths (Behind The Scenes) and mild language. This is purely a WORK OF FICTION and the use of first person pronoun is purely for storytelling. Any names, places or practices that are heard or seen in daily life are coincidental and happenstance in this fictional narrative.

Two choices lay in front of her. One of two turns that she had to take to catch up to this man in black and grey. She had lost him in the previous turn when some twigs snapped on either of her sprinting path. However, she continued her relentless chase of this man who had a strong magnetic hold over her; a familiar scent? an uncanny likeness to her late husband that she missed dearly? Against her better judgement, she walked almost on autopilot .. Right past the crucial juncture. The other path had a cabin neatly placed amidst a vast clearing which would invoke a sense of uneasy security after the tight clumping of forest trees opened up.

I have to go there. That has to be it. Kathy had gone too far. This clearing and cabin was a trap. She knew it.

A single moderately dusty but well-kept Chevrolet, maybe an early 2000s. The cabin looked good enough. However, she refused to check that 'safer' option...It was all un the feet and the uncanny familiarity with whoever this man was, looked. Her thoughts and her head turned around in gaping horror... looking back in the direction of where she had run from.

"Luke!" She yelled all but to be greeted by the occasional cricket or a crunch of a twig In her pursuit of this enchanting man, she had lost all track and sense of where she was going. What she missed but then had a glass-shattering recollection of, were the signs saying that "BE WARNED" "WARNING" "PLEASE TURN BACK" and where Ali and Sarah looking at each other's faces immediately turned back and sprinted safely to their cars.

" We ain't doing this with ya. Just look at all this. Are you guys numb in the head" Ali said just as they turned back.

"Do us a favor and get lost will ya... get back to your boring lives while Kathy and I" Luke retorted, winking at her.

"I'll be joining up with you guys... have to relieve myself". That is the last time Kathy and Luke would see each other.

With that whiplash and coming back to the present, Kathy attempted to pivot herself away from this supernatural pull but again something was coercing her body to keep on moving... right into the deep-dark woods. She trusted her feet to guide her the right way which made going back

Hideous footage played through Kathy's eyes; claw marks on tree and blood trails. For all practical purposes, She was doomed. The cabin though risky was still far from the only clearing she would have gotten for miles.

Her lips quivered as there they were; grey, shrivelled hands, not like those soft supple ones that the man she was chasing had, wrapping around a bark.

"I must say, it felt tantalising to see someone so helpless. Tsk tsk tsk. Look around you. Look at every turn of the head. Warnings upon warnings yet your delusions of love... foolishness and stupidity got to you before I ever did. " the humanoid creature said, bringing his head into the fray. His claws reached out. His face empty and void; nothing like the man she was chasing after. Black, lifeless eyes and a scantily dressed body was for anyone to see.

Elsewhere

Luke chose the cabin... somehow finding his way at the same juncture (he was behind . The crunch underneath his feet caught his attention. Feeling his hands across the forest floor. What had caught attention about the cabin was not quite the interior, but its striking exterior. Though a dusty shack, it had some warmth to it; an ever so subtle way of invitation

He entered through the unlocked door and immediately was greeted by an odd smell like someone had put a fragrance of musk, jasmine and rose to mask a homicide with fainter and duller undertones of a how murder would smell like. He didn't think much of it. Moving on, he paced about this cozy interior of the cabin; fireplace, teek furniture... it all seemed to good... and safe to be true. This illusion came crashing down when he peaked outside one of the windows facing the backyard. He ducked suddenly at the image; four cloaked figures around a stone figure, singing, ne of them had glanced up just before Luke managed to duck.

" Did they see me... shit... I must warn...Kathy" He gulped, getting interrupted by his own train of thought.. Tears rolling down his cheeks as the group sprinted towards the back window and opened it. That was when the dreadful deliberately and painfully slow footsteps came up the steps; a pack of predators hunting its prey.

Well, these were the tragedies of the two I looked on in both incidents. I was and still am a resident of these woods. I have markings on my forehead and back. Why have they spared me? On reflection, I was dragged here barefoot and shirtless from my sleeping bag... but spared; Was I chosen?. The answer was staying away from the woods The signs were mine. I had placed them before these two turns because that's where the witchraft happened alongside sacrifices which need not be detailed. I could have saved both but I cowered behind a tree or recited my prescribed chants. I am the one that glanced up (saved him enough time). They could have just turned back like the other two. Alas here I am. Building a trench near tthe entrance.... I want to save anyone who comes here by saying please to anyone out there... heed the signs... YOU ARE WARNED. Some evils are not meant to be enticed by. Though part of the Cult, I am still a secret well-wisher and let the story of Kathy Kevinson and Lucas Brevinsky be the reason for enlightenment for mankind to appreciate the small things in life and... never miss any warning flags or signs (literal or figurative) as you hike across jungles, forests or valleys. The cabins, shacks are no strangers to the diabolical and paranormal. keep eyes, ears and brains about you in these places; abandoned means shit is getting real there.