"I'm fine! There was a rat!" you shout.


"OK!" Mason replies.


Ant continues whimpering, as a gloved hand runs through your hair.


"Good girl... I don't recognize you in the dark. Let's see who you are... don't scream, by the way."


Your hear the flick of a lighter before a flame splutters to life in front of you, illuminating all three of you. Then, you get the first sight of the Dead Man. His skin is grey and dead, his eyes cold, lifeless and pure black. His mouth has been carved open, the cuts carving upwards into a smile. Blood stains his rotting skin and his shirt. He wears a classic cowboy hat and leather duster, and his neck is covered in the deep bruises caused by a noose. Ant tries to scream, but can't find the air to do so. You freeze, immobilized in terror, as the Dead Man grin.


"Well look who we have here. A Ceder and a wanderer."


You stare at him as he caresses the side of Ant's face."


"What's your name, boy?"


"Anthony Ceder."


"I remember you. I remember your people. I remember seeing your great-great-grand mama. A little Jewish girl who ran the store and didn't have shit. You're one of the few families that didn't string me up in this town. I ain't got no feud with you."


He turns to you, and presses the knife to your lips.


"Darlin', you should smile more. It'd make you a hell of a lot prettier."


He traces the path of a smile along your face with the cold blade.


"Don't hurt me."


"Ah, I'd never hurt a woman 'less I had a reason. I don't recognize you. You're a wanderer, ain't ya? You ain't from Dawnwoods originally,"


"I'm from New York."


"Hell, might cut you up for that if I weren't as nice a guy as I am."


"Are you sure you're OK?" Becca shouts, and the Dead Man presses the knife to your throat.


"What's her name?" he hisses.


"Becca," you whimper.


"I fuckin' know that voice! I fuckin' know that voice! I fuckin'... Becca Montgomery. The great-great however fuckin' many greats grand daughter of Horton J. Montgomery. That bitch..."


The Dead Man is clearly quite distracted by his vengeful rant. If there's a time to do anything, it's now.

You elbow him and run

You slam your elbow into his face and he drops you with a grunt.


"Fuckin' bitch!" he grunts.


You grab Ant's arm and yank him down the stairs, you turn, yelling at Mason to move the plywood as you sprint towards it. The Dead Man appears in front of you.


"Hiya, darlin'," he chuckles, blood spurting out of his throat.


He begins walking towards you, as Ant lets out a whimper. The Dead Man grins, his skin tearing open as blood trickles down his chin.


"I'm going to..." he says, before pausing.


There's a crunch as a large piece of plywood is pulled away by Mason. A beam of moonlight comes in, hitting the boot of the Dead Man. There's a sizzle as he boot begins to fade, and the Dead Man snarls. In the blink of an eye, he's gone. You don't know where he's gone, but you're not waiting around to find out.


"Come on!" you shout, grabbing Ant running towards the gap in the boards.


You scamper through, collapsing on the cool grass outside.


"What the fuck happened?" Mason asks.


"The Dead Man was there! He was there, and he was so mad, and he..."


"Ant, calm the fuck down!" Lucy shouts, grabbing Ant and shaking him. 


"You're d-d-drunk as fuck, Ant. You d-don't know w-what you saw," Carter says.


"I did! Ask Hazel!!"


The group turns to you, and you nod.


"There was a ghost in there. It had it's throat slit and...!" you say in a nervous panic.


"Alright, calm down," Mason says, pulling you in and squeezing you in a hug.


You feel your heart flutter as you take deep breaths, your head nestled in your chest.


"G-get a room," Carter says.


You blush as Mason lets go of you.


"In fairness, you've drunk a fair bit as well. You're more pissed than I am. Maybe you were just seeing things in the shadows that weren't there," Mason suggests.


You shrug whilst shaking your head.


"I don't know."


"Come on, let's head back to Kyle," Becca says.


You walk back through the field and back into the woods, heading towards the trucks.


"S-s-so, this w-was a bad id-idea," Carter says. "We just p-panicked Ant and H-Ha-Hazel."


"We risked our lives to annoy what could have been a harmless old man," Ant says.


You arrive at the camp, and Mason swears loudly.


"FUCK! Where the hell is Kyle?" he asks.


The camp is empty, with no one in sight.


"R-r-remember last time we lost Kyle when he was drunk?"


"Oh dear God, he ended up pissing in my garden. He wasn't pissing into the garden. He was standing in the garden, pissing on my house," Becca says.


"That was funny," Ant says, still shaken up from his experience.


"We need to find him. Is anyone not sober enough to find this place again?" Mason says.


There's silence.


"Good. We'll split up and try find him. Ant, you head towards the Rotten Trees, Lucy, go towards our old tree house, Becca, towards the old drinking point, Carter, back towards town. Hazel, you're new here. There's a stream just over there," Mason says, pointing. "Just walk along there, and keep your phone on. If you can't find him, follow the stream back here."


You nod. Time to find Kyle.

You walk along the stream

You walk alongside the stream, your shoes squelching in the wet mud. You walk along to the drier earth, but they're already ruined.


"Fuck," you sigh, walking along. "Kyle! Kyle! Are you there?!?"


You hear what sounds like twigs breaking behind you, and quickly twirl around. Must've been your imagination. You continue walking along the stream.


"Kyle! Kyle! I don't care how drunk you are, do something! I'm getting sick of looking for you!"


You hear the rustle as leaves as the wind picks up, and what was earlier a hot, humid night is now turning bitterly cold, as the light that the moon was provided dims considerably. For the first time, you realize that you're walking in the middle of  a place you've never been, late at night, with no one around. You consider turning around and heading back, but you know if Kyle's passed out somewhere, you need to find him.


"Hello!" you call.


Your voice carries out across the trees. Then, the silence resumes. There's a silence so deadly quiet it's painful. There's no birds, no small mammals scurrying among the trees or undergrowth, not even a cricket. You take deep breaths in an attempt to calm yourself down, before you here a low growl. You turn around, flicking your head around desperately to find the source of the noise, desperately wanting to run but not knowing which direction to do so.


"Kyle? Is that you?" you whimper.


The growl stops, and the silence resumes. You stand perfectly still, not wanting to disturb whatever's out there. Then, it lets out a roar. The roar's incredibly loud and you scream in pain as the sound like shattering glass as concrete scrapes against each other. You feel pure, unadulterated terror, which is amplified when you spot the beast. 


The Beast stands on four legs, the shape of a bear but the size of a large truck, covered in thick fur that's so dark it consumes what little moonlight makes it through the trees. It's eyes are pure red, the all-consuming crimson of fresh blood that peer through your eyes and bore into your soul. As it roars, it revels a mouth filled with hundreds of teeth the size of daggers, pure white and sharp enough to drill through solid steel. It stands, blocking the route back towards your friends. You need to do something, now.

You run

You turn, and run as fast as your legs will carry you. Trees are torn up and sent flying away behind you as the beast gives chase. Thankfully, its size means that navigating past the trees is impossible, so it needs to tear them up and throw them away to follow you. You have enough of a lead to know you have two options: You could head towards town, getting help from the many armed residents of Dawnwood who have enough combined firepower to invade a small nation, which would easily be enough to scare away or kill the beast. Hell, the need for that is unlikely, as since there's been a lack of reports about this creature, it probably wouldn't venture out and follow you if you escape the confines of the trees. On the other hand, if you head towards the caves, you might be able to find a place to hide and escape this terrible beast.

You run towards the town

You run towards the town, letting out a desperate scream for help. It charges towards you, the gap between the pair of you lowering. It sprints towards you faster than a truck, and finally manages to catch you, batting you with its paw with incredible strength. Your bones break and crack as you're sent spiraling through the air. You land in a heap by the soft earth and let out a shriek as your limbs twist at incredible angles that they're definitely not meant to go. The creature walks slowly towards you, and you try to crawl away but find yourself unable to move. You see the flash of the beast's teeth and a spurt of crimson before it finishes off its prey.