Tall. Thin. Wrong.
Its limbs were too long. Its head tilted at an unnatural angle. Its skin looked like stretched shadow, flickering at the edges like static.
Lilly gasped. “Oh my god…”
Madison grabbed a stick off the ground. “Stay back!”
The creature didn’t move.
It just watched them.
Silent. Still. Waiting.
Bear barked — a fierce, protective roar — and the creature twitched.
Not like a person.
Like a glitch.
A flicker.
Then it stepped backward into the trees… and vanished.
Just gone.
Like it had never been there.
The woods fell silent again.
No one spoke for a long moment.
Finally, Lillie whispered, “We need to get out of here.”
No one argued.
They ran.
Branches whipped past them. Roots snagged their shoes. Bear stayed in front, guiding them, barking whenever something moved behind them.
They didn’t stop until they burst out of the woods and onto the street behind Jamie Carter’s house.
Everyone bent over, gasping for breath.
Lilly wiped tears from her eyes. “What was that?”
Theo shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Madison stared back at the tree line. “But it wasn’t human.”
Lillie looked at Bear — who was still growling softly, staring at the woods like the creature might step out again.
“We’re not dealing with a blackout,” Lillie said quietly.
“We’re dealing with something else.”
Theo nodded. “Something that’s been in Jedburgh for a long time.”
Madison whispered, “And now it’s awake.”
ns216.73.217.85da2
and then Add to home screen.