Whispers of the Forgotten Pines

Ethan stumbled back, his breath ragged, his heart hammering against his ribs. The cavern trembled with an unseen force, dust and tiny pebbles trickling from the unseen ceiling above. The chains on the massive door rattled again, louder this time—almost as if something on the other side had shifted.

He didn't dare move. He barely dared to breathe.

The whispers slithered around him, curling into his ears, wrapping around his thoughts. They weren't words exactly, but they meant something. Something deep, something ancient.

Something hungry.

Ethan forced himself to look at the massive door again. The symbol at its center seemed to pulse, its edges glowing faintly, as if responding to him. His fingers twitched at his sides, his body torn between the overwhelming urge to run and the gnawing curiosity that had brought him here in the first place.

What was this place?

And, more importantly…

What was behind that door?

A sudden voice—clear, sharp, human—snapped him out of his trance.

"Ethan! Move!"

He barely had time to react before something yanked him backward—hard. He hit the ground with a thud, gasping as a rush of air blasted past where he had just stood.

Something black shot from beneath the door, lashing like a shadowy tendril, striking the ground where he had been standing seconds before. The cavern screamed—a sound like a thousand voices crying out in agony before being silenced all at once.

Ethan twisted onto his hands and knees, his mind whirling.

Standing before him, her pale hair almost glowing in the dim light, was Lillian.

She looked furious.

"Are you insane?" she snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling him to his feet. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"

Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but another deep boom thundered through the cavern, shaking the ground beneath them. The tendril of darkness recoiled, slithering back beneath the door, but not before Ethan caught a glimpse of something worse.

For just a fraction of a second, as the shadow moved, he saw it—an eye.

A massive, inhuman eye, staring straight at him from the crack beneath the door.

He staggered backward, his body cold with terror.

"What—what is that?" he choked out.

Lillian's grip on his wrist tightened. "We need to leave. Now."

She didn't wait for him to respond. She dragged him away from the door, her movements urgent, her breaths coming fast. Ethan followed, half-running, his mind a tangle of panic and questions.

Behind them, the whispers rose to a deafening pitch.

And then—

Silence.

They reached the edge of the cavern, where gnarled roots twisted down like ancient staircases leading upward. Lillian didn't slow down. She yanked Ethan toward them, practically shoving him toward the nearest path.

Ethan finally managed to find his voice. "Lillian, what the hell is going on? What was that thing?"

She shot him a sharp look. "I told you. There are things in this town you don't understand. You were never supposed to come down here."

Ethan clenched his jaw. "Then explain it to me!"

Lillian hesitated—just for a moment. And in that moment, Ethan saw something he hadn't expected.

Fear.

Not just fear of the thing behind the door.

Fear of him.

Lillian sighed, rubbing her temple like she was debating whether she should even tell him the truth. Then she looked at him, her dark eyes unreadable.

"That door… it was never meant to be found."

Ethan frowned. "Then why was it buried beneath the town?"

Lillian's gaze darkened. "Because something put it here. A long time ago. To keep whatever's behind it from getting out."

Ethan felt a chill creep down his spine. "And what happens if it does?"

Lillian didn't answer right away. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Then Whispering Pines won't exist anymore."

The words settled like ice in Ethan's chest. Before he could respond, another deep boom rumbled through the cavern. The air grew heavier.

The door was waking up.

Lillian grabbed his wrist again. "Move!"

They scrambled up the tangled roots, dirt and debris raining down on them as the cavern shook. Ethan barely dared to look back, but when he did—

The chains on the door were starting to break.

A final whisper curled through the air, soft, almost… pleased.

"You heard us."

And then—

The ground gave way beneath them.

They were falling again.

What lies behind the ancient door? How is Lillian connected to it? And has Ethan just set something in motion that can't be stopped?