**Title: The Silent Call**
The forest was unnervingly quiet, save for the crunching leaves beneath Lila’s boots. She had been hiking this trail for years, ever since she was a child, but tonight, it felt different. Eerie. The trees seemed to loom closer, their skeletal branches reaching out like claws, and the mist that settled in thick waves felt suffocating.
Lila checked her phone again. No signal. Typical in these woods. She was about a mile from her cabin when she first heard it—a faint, distant cry for help. Her heart skipped. It was too late for anyone else to be out here. The nearest town was a 30-minute drive away. But the voice was unmistakable.
“Help… please…”
It was weak, barely audible over the rustling leaves. Against her better judgment, Lila strained to hear the direction. The voice came from deeper into the woods, off the trail. She hesitated. Everything in her screamed to keep walking, to get to her cabin where it was safe. But someone was in trouble. She couldn’t ignore that.
Gripping her flashlight tighter, she veered off the path and into the thick underbrush. The voice grew louder, but it never seemed to get any closer. Lila’s pulse quickened as the undergrowth seemed to grow thicker, the air colder. She should have been close by now, but there was still no one in sight.
Suddenly, the voice stopped. Dead silence. Lila froze, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. The flashlight flickered once, twice, and then went out completely, plunging her into darkness.
She stood motionless, her heart pounding in her chest. A twig snapped behind her. Someone—or something—was there.
“Who’s there?” she whispered, her voice trembling.
No response. Just the sound of something moving slowly behind her, circling her. She could feel it now—a presence, cold and predatory.
Then the voice came again, this time from right behind her, whispered and distorted, as if someone were speaking directly into her ear.
“Help… me.”
She spun around, her hands outstretched in the dark. Nothing. No one. But the presence remained.
Panic surged through her. She turned and ran, crashing through the trees, branches slashing at her face and arms. The voice followed, growing louder, more frantic, echoing around her. The trees blurred together as she stumbled through the forest, her breath ragged and uneven.
Finally, the faint outline of her cabin appeared through the trees. Lila threw herself at the door, yanking it open and slamming it behind her. She locked it, leaning against the heavy wood, gasping for air.
Silence. The only sound was her pounding heart.
Then, from the other side of the door, the voice returned, clearer now.
“Let me in, Lila… please…”
Her blood ran cold. How did it know her name?
The voice changed, no longer pleading but malicious, filled with a sinister glee.
“You can’t run from me…”
The door rattled violently. Lila backed away, her eyes wide with terror. The windows began to shake, and the temperature in the cabin dropped. She could see her breath in the air now, coming in short, terrified bursts.
Suddenly, everything stopped. Silence once again filled the cabin. The rattling ceased. The temperature returned to normal.
Lila waited, her body trembling. Minutes passed, then an hour. Nothing.
Finally, she exhaled and moved cautiously toward the window. Peeking through the curtains, she saw only the peaceful, still woods under the moonlight. Maybe it was gone, whatever it was.
But just as she began to relax, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out with shaking hands and stared at the screen. One new message.
From an unknown number.
*I’m inside.*
The lights in the cabin flickered.
And then everything went dark.
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