Whispers of the Forgotten Pines

Ethan staggered to his feet, his pulse a wild drumbeat in his ears. His hands dug into the damp earth as he steadied himself, trying to make sense of what had just happened. One moment, he had been running from that thing wearing his mother's face, and the next… he was back.

Or at least, he thought he was.

The trees around him weren't the same. The forest was darker, the trunks gnarled and twisted in unnatural ways. The air carried a strange, metallic tang, and the ground beneath him felt… wrong. Too soft, too alive.

And the whispers.

They hadn't stopped.

They slithered through the air like invisible tendrils, brushing against his ears, never quite loud enough to understand—but enough to know he wasn't alone.

Ethan turned in a slow circle. "Lillian?" he called, his voice hoarse. "Clara?"

Silence.

His stomach twisted. Where were they?

A flicker of movement caught his eye.

In the distance, beyond the line of trees, a figure stood still. Watching.

Ethan's heart lurched. It was her.

The girl from the forest.

Lillian.

Relief flooded through him. "Lillian!" He started forward, but something made him stop.

Something was wrong.

She didn't move. Didn't react.

And then…

She tilted her head, just slightly.

A simple movement. But it sent ice through Ethan's veins.

Because the way she moved—it wasn't natural.

Slow. Too slow.

Like something imitating a human.

A shiver crawled down his spine. "Lillian?" he tried again.

No answer.

Then, she took a step forward.

Ethan's breath hitched.

Her foot barely made a sound on the forest floor. No rustling of leaves, no snap of twigs. Just silence.

Another step.

And another.

Each movement was deliberate, calculated—like a puppet being pulled forward by unseen strings.

Ethan took an unconscious step back.

Then—

She blinked.

And suddenly, she was closer.

Too close.

His breath caught. His body went rigid.

She hadn't walked.

She had jumped.

Or shifted.

Or something else entirely.

Ethan's body screamed at him to run.

But he didn't.

He forced himself to stay still, to look.

And that's when he saw it.

Her eyes.

They weren't Lillian's.

They were wrong.

Too dark. Too hollow.

Like they had been emptied out.

Ethan's pulse roared. "Who are you?"

The girl smiled.

Not a friendly smile.

Not even a human one.

A slow, eerie stretch of lips, as if she was learning how to do it for the first time.

Then she spoke.

"You shouldn't have come back."

A cold fist of fear clenched around Ethan's ribs. His mind screamed that this wasn't real—that it couldn't be real. But every instinct told him otherwise.

He took a step back.

Then another.

And then—

The forest came alive.

The trees groaned and twisted. Shadows moved on their own. The ground beneath his feet shuddered.

And behind the not-Lillian's smile… something else was watching.

Something that wanted him to stay.

Forever.

What has Ethan stumbled into? Where are Clara and the real Lillian? And what is this thing pretending to be human?