The deeper we walked into the woods, the harder it became to ignore the silence.
It wasn't the peaceful kind.
Not the kind that came with birds singing overhead or insects buzzing through the undergrowth.
This silence…
Felt wrong.
It swallowed every sound we made.
Even our footsteps seemed quieter than they should've been, disappearing beneath the thick blanket of fallen leaves.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
No one spoke.
No one wanted to be the first.
"Anyone else think it's colder in here?"
Jeffrey rubbed his arms.
"It's definitely colder," Kennedy replied.
Parker nodded.
"It feels like we walked into a freezer."
Miss Nilsson glanced around before smiling reassuringly.
"Forests often feel cooler because of the shade."
Her explanation sounded reasonable.
Too reasonable.
Because this wasn't ordinary cold.
It settled beneath my skin.
Like icy fingers crawling along my spine.
I wrapped my arms around myself.
The scar beneath my sleeve throbbed.
Not painfully.
Just…
Enough for me to notice.
I frowned.
It had never done that before.
"D?"
Conrad had somehow fallen into step beside me.
"You alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Liar."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"You've been looking over your shoulder every five seconds."
"I have not."
"You have."
He pointed behind me.
"You literally checked again while I was talking."
I blinked.
He was right.
I hadn't even realized I'd done it.
"I guess I'm just…"
"Nervous?"
I nodded.
He smiled.
"I mean… we're looking for missing students in a creepy forest."
He shrugged.
"I'd be worried if you weren't nervous."
That earned the smallest smile from me.
For some reason…
Having Conrad nearby made the forest feel a little less oppressive.
Not safe.
Just…
Less lonely.
Mr. Martin suddenly stopped walking.
Everyone behind him nearly bumped into each other.
"What is it?" Miss Nilsson asked.
Mr. Martin pointed toward the muddy ground.
"There."
Footprints.
Several pairs.
Fresh.
"They're probably the missing students'," Jeffrey said.
Mr. Martin crouched beside them.
"No."
He brushed a layer of leaves away.
"These are heading deeper into the forest."
He looked back at us.
"The students would've been trying to come back."
Nobody had an answer for that.
Miss Nilsson slowly stood.
"Stay together."
We followed the footprints.
The farther we walked, the stranger the forest became.
The trees grew taller.
Their branches twisted together overhead until very little sunlight reached the ground.
The air smelled damp.
Old.
Almost…
Rotten.
Then Parker stopped.
"Guys…"
She pointed ahead.
Something blue hung from one of the branches.
As we got closer…
My stomach sank.
A backpack.
One of Bailey Girls' Academy's backpacks.
Its straps had been caught on a broken branch nearly ten feet above the ground.
Mr. Martin frowned.
"How in the world…"
"No one could've thrown it that high," Conrad muttered.
"Maybe an animal?" Jeffrey suggested.
"What animal hangs backpacks in trees?" Kennedy asked.
No one answered.
Miss Nilsson carefully lowered the bag using a long fallen branch.
The zipper was half open.
Inside…
School books.
A water bottle.
A phone.
Everything looked untouched.
Except…
There was mud smeared across the front.
Dark reddish-brown mud.
Or at least…
I hoped it was mud.
Mr. Martin zipped the bag shut.
"It belongs to Emily Carter."
Jeffrey frowned.
"She's one of the missing students."
A heavy silence settled over us.
I swallowed hard.
Something wasn't right.
Nothing about this felt right.
Then…
Very faintly…
Someone laughed.
I froze.
Did…
Did anyone else hear that?
It sounded distant.
Almost carried by the wind.
A little girl's laugh.
Soft.
Playful.
Then it disappeared.
Kennedy looked around.
"Did somebody…"
She stopped.
"You heard it too?" I whispered.
She nodded slowly.
"I thought I imagined it."
Mr. Martin turned immediately.
"What did you hear?"
Neither of us answered.
Because we weren't sure.
Maybe it had been the wind.
Maybe our minds were playing tricks on us.
Miss Nilsson looked uneasy.
"We should keep moving."
So we did.
But no one walked as confidently anymore.
Even Conrad wasn't joking.
Minutes passed.
The footprints suddenly…
Stopped.
Not faded.
Stopped.
As though whoever had made them had simply vanished.
Jeffrey frowned.
"Where'd they go?"
Mr. Martin searched the surrounding ground.
"There should be more."
There weren't.
The mud ended.
The footprints ended.
Nothing continued beyond them.
Almost like the earth itself had swallowed whoever had been standing there.
A chill ran down my spine.
Instinctively…
I looked into the trees.
Something moved.
Not enough to see clearly.
Just enough.
A shadow.
Tall.
Standing between two trunks.
Watching.
My breathing caught.
I blinked.
Gone.
"D?"
Conrad's voice sounded far away.
"You okay?"
I couldn't answer.
Because this time…
I knew I hadn't imagined it.
Someone—
Or something—
Had been standing there.
Watching us.
Waiting.
And somehow…
I couldn't shake the terrifying feeling…
That it was smiling.