The canopy was so thick he had to use his torch to make sure he was still on the path. It was only supposed to be a ten minute shortcut that would lead him to the fields just outside of town but by his watch he'd been walking for almost an hour and it was only getting darker.
The birdsong had changed at some point, gradually morphing from the standard tweets and trills to something more akin to breathy gasps if mock surprise that sounded so very close by. There was never anything in sight though, not that he could really tell anyway.
Something he prayed was only leaves crunched underfoot which did well to disguise the slightly out-of-time steps that someone else was making behind him. By the time he noticed he felt too afraid to turn around or even attempt to stray from the path to head back.
It was probably safer to keep waking and wait for the canopy to thin out, let in some more light and before he knew it he'd be in town and this would all be a funny story to tell his friends later. Of course, this was thought just before the footsteps behind him started to speed up.
He sped up too, keeping pace with who, or what, ever was behind him. They continued to walk faster and faster and faster until they were both sprinting along a path he could barely see and just as natural light began to shine through from above he looked up and froze.
There was no sky up there, just the path perfectly mirrored.
It was like looking in a pond but the person standing above him was not his reflection.
It wasn't remotely human and it was moving closer still.
The birdsong had changed at some point, gradually morphing from the standard tweets and trills to something more akin to breathy gasps if mock surprise that sounded so very close by. There was never anything in sight though, not that he could really tell anyway.
Something he prayed was only leaves crunched underfoot which did well to disguise the slightly out-of-time steps that someone else was making behind him. By the time he noticed he felt too afraid to turn around or even attempt to stray from the path to head back.
It was probably safer to keep waking and wait for the canopy to thin out, let in some more light and before he knew it he'd be in town and this would all be a funny story to tell his friends later. Of course, this was thought just before the footsteps behind him started to speed up.
He sped up too, keeping pace with who, or what, ever was behind him. They continued to walk faster and faster and faster until they were both sprinting along a path he could barely see and just as natural light began to shine through from above he looked up and froze.
There was no sky up there, just the path perfectly mirrored.
It was like looking in a pond but the person standing above him was not his reflection.
It wasn't remotely human and it was moving closer still.
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