The Haunting of Hollow Pines

The Haunting of Hollow Pines

The forest was a labyrinth of shadows, the trees leaning closer with every step Emma took. Her flashlight sputtered, casting jagged beams of light. She had followed the sound of laughter--children's laughter--deeper into the woods. Now, silence pressed in, heavy and suffocating.

"Do you need help?" a voice whispered, so close it made her jump.

Emma spun around, her breath catching. A figure emerged from the shadows--a boy, no older than sixteen, with tousled hair and a faint glow about him. He wore clothes that seemed oddly out of place, like something from another era. His eyes were dark, endless.

"I'm Eli," he said, tilting his head. "You shouldn't be here. Not at night."

Emma's voice trembled. "I heard... I heard kids laughing. I thought--"

"You thought wrong," he interrupted, his tone sharp but not unkind. "Come on. I'll take you back."

They walked, the forest air growing cooler. Emma noticed things--the way Eli's breath didn't fog. How his footsteps made no sound, and how the trees seemed to bend away from him. When they reached a clearing, he stopped. "Go straight. Don't look back."

"Wait," Emma pleaded. "Who are you? Really?"

Eli's smiled. "I'm the one who didn't make it out."

Before she could speak, he was gone. Emma ran, the campsite lights in the distance. Her friends greeted her, laughing, but she couldn't shake the chill in her bones.

Later, by the fire, someone asked, "Why are your boots wet?"

Emma looked down. Her boots were soaked. As she sat by the fire, something made her glance toward the trees. There, just at the edge of the clearing, Eli, half-hidden behind a trunk. For a second his eyes locked with hers, and then he was gone.