Flinging vehement curses, I lurched forward, yanking my phone out to turn the flashlight on. I heard the others call my name, but kept running forward, breath and heart roaring in my ears. The light flickered over the darkened husks of trees, and I slid to a stop, nearly losing my balance. A spot of red stained the dirt and snow on the ground, and I lifted my phone.

There was no sign of Brandon.

Footsteps approached rapidly from behind, a hand clamping down on my shoulder. “Where the fuck is he, Jacey?” Mark hissed into the darkness. I could feel his hand trembling against my shoulder. I shook my head. I didn’t have an answer for him.

We heard a cry from somewhere ahead. The voice was laced with pain and fear, but there was no mistaking it.

“Brandon, shit!” Mark cursed, and then took off into the darkness before anyone else.

“Mark!” Carrie and Jessie snapped out at once, following after him as he took off.

I stood for a moment, the sound of my own ragged breathing echoing like a waterfall. A branch snapped behind me and I turned abruptly, staggering backwards. Something moved in the darkness. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it out there. I heard a haggard sounding breath, and then turned the other way, bolting after my friends. There was no going back- even if I was prepared to abandon my friends to the forest.

The trees closed in suddenly, the path seeming to fade into the forest. Branches snapped against my face, stinging my skin. I could only hear the sound of my own footsteps and heart as I blindly ran through the trees.

Ahead- I heard another sound. This one more like a growl than the ghostly shriek I had heard before. It reverberated through the trees, and then shifted in pitch. The ground seemed to rumble with the force of it; the call of a horn pierced the night.

My heart hammered in my chest as the darkness gave way to a sudden flood of light. A clearing, bathed in the light of the moon, spread out before me. It took me a split second to realize the clearing started abruptly at the drop of the cliff I was racing towards. I skidded to a stop. My foot caught in a root-or something, I couldn’t see- and I fell hard, coming down to the ground, crashing face first into the frigid earth. Pain radiated from my ankle, on up my leg.

I panted, feeling blood and sweat trickling down my chin, and neck. I heard unsteady footsteps behind me and went rigid. Hot breath blew against my neck, a deep breath rumbling. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, every inch of my body screaming at me to run. Instead, I slowly turned, every moment bringing the expectation of death with it.

And yet, it didn’t come.

I rolled to my back, gripping at the dead earth beneath me, and stared into a pair of yellow glowing orbs in the dark eye sockets of a bleached skull.

The creature hovering over me- for it was unlike anything I had seen before- stared down, its great form hunching over the earth and snow around it. Light brown, shaggy fur glistened in the moonlight from above. A red substance clung to the thick fur- it didn’t take much to realize it was blood, fresh and old. It wore the skull of a deer, great antlers pierced the air above it. Some sort of wooden charm necklace was wrapped around its fur, clattering together as it leaned even closer. Blood dripped from the sharpened teeth as it hissed down towards me.

It watched me with an eerie intelligence, letting out a rough breath which fogged the air in a great cloud. The creature’s front legs ended in bird-like claws, shining red in the light from the heavens. My heart lurched in my chest, convinced every second that it would give out as the thing stared at me.

But- it only stared.

I didn’t dare take my eyes off of it, even as- from somewhere else- I heard the growling horn I had heard before. My chest heaved, the sound once again rumbling the earth around me, as if a herd of horses were rolling across the ground.

A gut-clenchingly familiar scream pierced the night, and the creature’s head snapped up, eyes gleaming with razor focus. It hoisted itself to its feet as the horn sounded again. The creature lurched over me, and perched at the very edge of the cliff, just a foot or so away. The root I had fallen on had saved my life.

And the creature hadn’t killed me. I had no idea why- and doubted I would ever find out.

My heart thundered painfully in my chest, and I pushed myself up from the frozen ground. From the forest surrounding me, I heard echoes of ghostly shrieks, and yells.

Slowly, afraid of what I was going to find, I turned my eyes to the clearing beneath the cliff. I crawled close to the edge, feeling the trickle of blood down my neck. Mechanically, I pulled myself closer- close enough to stare down into the clearing.

Hundreds of bones littered the ground below, reflecting moonlight like gems. I saw movement from below, human figures calling out in frightened, familiar voices. A shudder ran through my frame, fingers digging into the frozen earth below, as a wave of calm shock took over me.

I heard soft footsteps- barely a whisper of sound over everything else- approach me, and stand to my right. Elison Skau. A soft, accented voice broke through the strange reverie that had fallen over me. “It is unlucky for your friends that they did not listen to warnings…” she said in a light, airy tone.

Shuddering, I craned my neck up slightly, seeing her dark eyes piercing through me. I grit my teeth, and then cast my gaze back to the clearing. Figures lined the other cliffs surrounding the clearing. And down in the center, I saw more shapes moving on the ground- more people than just my friends.

“What is this…?” I gasped, the pain of my injuries fading away into the pit of my stomach. I felt something sharp touch the back of my neck. The butt of a weapon, perhaps.

The creature wearing the skull let out a ghastly cry into the night, the first to break free from the cliff, and surge into the valley below.

“The great hunt has begun…”