Something metallic glinted among the undergrowth, a trail of snapped branches and crushed leaves led them further away from the already isolated cabin but they couldn't stay put any more. Not when one of their own was missing and the path was still fresh, not when there were enough hours in the day to try and find her, not when they all swore they heard someone scream last night.
They all claimed different times and different pitches to the scream but they all agreed it must have come from their missing friend. Nevermind why she decided to leave the cabin so late at night or if she was kidnapped or if she'd been protecting them. She was their friend and they had to try to get her back.
Four hours into following the trail and one of them finally thought to look back, seeing that there was no trail behind them any more. There were no snapped branches or crushed undergrowth - just a sea of green and hazy movements between the trees in the distance that were hopefully, probably, almost certainly birds.
Instead of mentioning it to their friends they began to covertly leave a trail of their own in the form of pieces of jewellery, beads from a bracelet left one-by-one until they ran out and they were still following the damned trail. They raised the alarm and told the group to look back and see that nothing was there now.
As they looked back, something in the forest looked towards them and the trail they'd been so desperately following dissolved. They turned back and found themselves surrounded by utter silence as the very air itself seemed to hold its breath.
Something metallic glinted on the ground to their left - their friend's braces... teeth still attached.
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