Page 4 of Entranced By the Immortal

A twig snapped behind me and I wheeled around, raising my shotgun, prepared to shoot. I froze, hair standing on end, as I searched for the source of the noise.

I was sure I'd heard it.

Wasn't I?

Maybe the silence and adrenaline were playing tricks on me, messing with my mind. I took a deep breath and lowered the gun before turning to follow the path again. The farther I venturedinto the woods, my hairs began to stand on end, a chill clinging to my spine despite the warm air wrapped around me.

Nerves mixed with anxiety, twisting my gut, making me uneasy as I delved deeper into the trees.

I walked.

And walked.

I went slow, listening for movement.

The only sound was the steady throb of my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

As minutes turned into hours, I began to worry I was lost. It didn’t make sense, because I hadn’t strayed from the dirt path, but I should have made it to the manor by now. I should have come across something,anything,other than the monotonous forest around me, but there was nothing. Nothing but trees.

Grumbling, I checked the time on my phone.Four o’clock.

How the fuck had I already been in the woods for two hours? How had I not found the manor yet?

I didn’t have any missed messages or calls, which didn’t surprise me considering I didn’t have service this far out. Slightly annoyed, I tucked the phone into my back pocket and kept walking, hoping I’d find something soon. Worst case scenario, I’d turn around and follow the path back to my truck, but I didn’t want to admit defeat.

I wouldn’t settle until I at least had a glimpse of the old manor. At least that way, my trip wouldn’t be for nothing.

I was debating stopping to dig through my backpack for the bottle of water I knew was at the bottom when I heard it, a twig snap somewhere nearby. Immediately, my senses went on high alert and I froze, raising the shotgun and scanning the area for any sign of life.

Last time, I might have been unsure, but this time the sound was too clear to ignore. Something was lurking nearby.

Come out you fuck, I thought, like the thing would be able to read my mind.

I slowly pivoted, staring down the barrel of my shotgun, looking for anything out of the ordinary. The longer I stood there, the more I began to think I’d imagined the noise like the first one, but then something dark shifted in the distance, moving behind a tree trunk.

My heart skipped a beat, leaping into my throat, and my eyes burned a hole in the tree the shadow had hidden behind. Was it a person? An animal? My throat tightened at the thought of accidentally shooting a nomad living in the woods.

“I’m armed,” I called out, my gaze still laser-focused. “I mean no harm, but I will shoot.”

There was no reply and no movement.

I shifted on the spot, adjusting the shotgun. My finger twitched on the trigger. If I gave a warning shot, it might scare off whatever was lurking in the distance, but it might also get my point across. After a moment of indecision, I decided against it. I had plenty of ammo to waste a round, but I hadn’t trekked for hours just to scare off the first sign of life I saw.

So, I waited another minute, adrenaline burning through my veins, until I saw movement again. This time, it was about twenty feet to the right, behind another tree.

My stomach plummeted.How?

I took a shaky breath.

There was no way it was the same thing I saw the first time. I’d barely blinked over the last few minutes. It hadn’t moved.

Did that mean…there weretwo?

“Show yourself,” I called, knowing that it was probably in vain. I waited with baited breath, finger on the trigger of my shotgun, scouring the trees for more movement.

When the third shadow shifted in the distance, stepping out from behind a tree trunk, I fired. It hit the figure squarein the chest, and before I had a second to contemplate the tall, slender form that clearly walked on two feet, the first two shadows leaped out of their hiding spots and rushed forward with impossible speed.

No, they weren’t shadows. They werepeopledraped in dark robes that reached the ground. The fabric flapped behind them as they darted forward, their faces obscured by dark hoods,

---