Whispers of the Forgotten Pines

Ethan's pulse roared in his ears as he sprinted after Lillian, their footsteps echoing through the cavern. The ground trembled beneath them, the cracks spreading like veins of lightning across the stone figures.

Behind them, a sound slithered through the air. Not a voice. Not a whisper.

A grinding.

The scraping of stone shifting.

Moving.

Waking.

Ethan dared a glance over his shoulder.

The statues—the people—were breaking apart. Limbs twitching. Mouths opening, lips splitting as their silent screams turned to ragged, gasping breaths.

And their eyes—oh God, their eyes.

Dark, hollow pits of something not quite human.

"We have to go faster!" Lillian shouted, barely dodging a falling chunk of rock.

Ethan forced himself to move, his muscles screaming. The tunnel narrowed up ahead, an opening barely wide enough for them to squeeze through. The cavern behind them rumbled, as if the earth itself was waking up.

The first scream came from behind them.

Not human.

Something else.

Ethan's chest tightened. He shoved Lillian forward. "GO!"

She didn't hesitate. She ducked into the tunnel, pulling herself through the gap. Ethan followed, twisting his body to fit through the jagged opening.

But just as he got halfway—something grabbed his ankle.

Ice.

That's what it felt like. An unnatural cold that burned through his skin like fire. Ethan choked on a breath, twisting violently, his fingers clawing at the dirt.

He looked down.

A hand.

Thin. Gray. Cracked like broken marble.

And it was pulling him back.

Ethan kicked hard, his boot connecting with brittle fingers. They snapped—but more hands emerged from the darkness.

They were crawling.

Dragging themselves out of their prison of stone, their jagged movements sharp and unnatural. Limbs jerking like puppets on broken strings. More eyes opened. More mouths gaped.

And then—they started whispering.

The same voice.

The same echoing chant.

"Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."

A new, more violent tremor shook the cavern. The roots in the ceiling groaned, dust and debris raining down on them.

Lillian grabbed Ethan's arm. "Don't stop! MOVE!"

With one last desperate kick, Ethan freed himself and lunged forward. Lillian yanked him through the gap just as the tunnel behind them collapsed, sealing the creatures inside.

A wave of dust and dirt billowed around them, the force of the cave-in knocking Ethan onto his back. He coughed, his lungs burning.

Silence.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Then—Lillian staggered to her feet. "We can't stay here."

Ethan pushed himself up, his body aching. "What the hell were those things?"

She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she pressed a hand against the cavern wall, her expression dark. "Not things."

Ethan swallowed hard. "People."

She nodded, her voice barely a whisper. "But not anymore."

A heavy silence hung between them. Ethan ran a shaky hand through his hair. "They were… alive in there? This whole time?"

Lillian exhaled sharply. "It's worse than that." She turned to him, her eyes sharp with something that looked almost like fear.

"We didn't just wake them up." She glanced back toward the now-sealed tunnel.

"We started something."

Ethan's stomach dropped. "What does that mean?"

Lillian hesitated. Then, quietly—

"It means we might not be able to stop it."

A sharp crack echoed through the cavern.

Ethan froze.

Slowly, he turned his head.

One of the walls—the one leading back to town—was splitting open.

And behind it…

Something was moving.

What has Ethan and Lillian unleashed? Can they escape before it reaches them? And if the statues weren't the real threat…