Chapter Text
The forest was bathed in warm sunlight, the plethora of vegetation and skyscraping trees illuminated in abundant golden rays. The atmosphere was calm, allowing nature to rest in quiet stillness. Occasionally, the flutter of a bug or rustle of an animal could be heard, but those too were soft and gentle as the thicket around them.
Y/n silently snuck around the slew of trees. Her footsteps were mute thanks to years of practice. Readily held in her hands was her precious digital camera, prepared to immortalize moments forever with a single click of a button. The strap was loosely hung around her neck to ensure the protection of the costly device if she were to accidentally drop it.
It was relaxing to bask in the wonderful serenity of nature, even if she was purely out here for another photography assignment. Not that she minded considering photography was one of her passions.
The photographer concentrated on her surroundings, listening for the telltale signs of wildlife. By now, she had gotten used to skulking around while searching. It was critical to be wary of disturbing the fauna since frightening them would cause them to scamper away
Her ears perked up at the sound in the near distance. A dull, rhythmic thumping of some sort of gritty mass. Perhaps a rabbit or gopher burrowing into the ground. However, she noticed the sound seemed more calculated and forceful than what she would have expected of a wild critter burrowing.
She continued tiptoeing towards the noise in hopes of catching a good shot. Animals could be finicky when it came to photographing them, so she had to take extra caution in minimizing the noise produced by her movements.
Peeking out from around a tree, she caught sight of the noise’s source. Her heart stopped. It had not been a burrowing creature after all, but she wished more than ever that it had been.
Standing over a shallow hole in the grassy ground was a tall, masked figure cloaked in green, the dark fabric covering their head and wrapped around their shoulders. A bit of a black turtleneck peeked out from underneath. The black pants pooled at the bottoms and were tucked into a pair of tattered brown boots. A belt with pouches looped around their waist. The black beady eyes painted on their white mask stared down at the man-made hole, paired with a painted joyful grin that radiated menacing pleasure.
Held in their black fingerless gloved hands was a bleak, dingy shovel.
Resting in the pit was a motionless body. The eyes were stuck wide open in preserved terror. A gaping gash of dark ruby red that transitioned into abyss black split the side of the neck wide open. There was no rise and fall of the chest.
Y/n’s throat was screwed shut in horror. She had stumbled across a stranger burying a corpse in the middle of nowhere. The bloodied axe strapped to their belt only deepened her panic. It must have been the same weapon used to chop into the now-deceased person as though they were a tree trunk.
She did not want to be next.
With trembling hands, she raised her camera to her face and clicked the button. A photo of the gruesome scene appeared on her screen. Thankfully she had the flash off so the presumed murderer was still unaware of her presence.
She slowly swiveled around. Then she began slinking away in the opposite direction, back towards civilization where she would be safe and could report whatever the hell she had just witnessed. Never before had she been so thankful to know how to move around quietly to avoid attracting attention.
Suddenly, the silence of the forest was completely shattered by the vibrating and ringing of Y/n’s phone in her pocket. The ringtone blared out from the speakers in the form of Britney Spears’ iconic voice.
“OOPS! I DID IT AGAIN!”
Her best friend was calling her at the absolute worst time.
Y/n felt as though she was about to faint. A raging, stress-induced headache began pounding in her head. She would have wished the ground would swallow her whole at that very moment if it was not for that it was actually very well a grisly possibility considering her current situation.
The head of the killer instantly snapped in her direction. That same sinister smiley face scrutinized her entire being in complete and utter silence, the faux happy stare making her blood run ice cold. Then they bolted in her direction, the shovel long forgotten on the ground and now replaced with the dirtied axe that had once been on their hip.
Y/n, already one step ahead, had wasted no time in dashing away the moment she had been noticed in an attempt to flee the homicidal stranger. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and blood rushed to her ears as her feet fell hard against the ground, no longer concerned about stealth. The forefront of her focus was evading the lethal thwacks of the opponent’s axe.
She scurried along the dirt ground without much thought as to where she was heading, more worried about losing the axe wielder hot on her trail. The heavy footfall of their boots was obnoxiously loud behind her.
She clutched her camera against her chest in an attempt to provide her with some much-needed comfort. Her mouth had long gone dry. The world passed by in a whirl of colors and forms akin to a kaleidoscope in her eyes, barely processed by her adrenaline-spiked brain.
Up ahead, a poppling river came into view. The rapids were flowing with a sporadic scattering of varied-sized rocks created a makeshift path across the gushing chasm.
Y/n had two choices: turn to either side and continue running along the forest ground or continue straight forward and cross the river by rock hopping.
Peering over her shoulder as she sprinted, she could see that the pursuer was closing in on her. That starkly blank stare of the smiling mask penetrated her soul, sending a shiver down her spine. The person was oddly quiet.
At the rate things were going, the chaser would catch up any moment. The loss of distance between the two could mean a potential game-ending blow from the axe.
She had to do something to expand her lead.
Y/n took a deep breath as she turned her head to look back forward. Her muscles ached and her lungs screamed for rest, but her brain ignored the discomfort as it calculated her next course of action. She focused intently on the river, examining every slippery rock that arose from the surging stream. It was almost the same as when she had been younger and crossed rocky rivers with her friends, but the waters were not nearly as calm this time around.
When she got to the edge of the river, she did not switch directions.
Instead, she slowed down to ensure stability. Then she leaped onto the first boulder protruding from the rushing stream. The surface was slippery but she managed to solidify her landing.
She was at a loss of breath from both running and fear, but she continued onward. Rest was not allowed when monsters were nearby.
Without hesitation, Y/n bounded forward, bouncing from boulder to boulder. The loud gurgle of water pounded in her ears- a constant reminder that one wrong step and she would be swept away to a sodden demise.
Behind her, she heard the shuffling of the killer. The heavy, dull thuds of footfall signaled that they had followed her onto the rocky pathway- persistent in their mission to catch her.
Her eyes went wide in disbelief at the sight before her, legs still pumping beneath her without halting.
The very last rock that stood between her and the other side of the river was fairly tiny and appeared unstable. But it was too late to turn back. She had already committed to this method of passage.
She pushed any regret to the back of her mind and concentrated on the rock that determined the result of her risky endeavor across the coursing rapids.
Y/n took one last inhale before soaring across the gaping gorge toward the misshapen stepping stone.
Her feet smacked against the hard surface, causing it to quiver beneath her.
The unanchored rock gave way to her forceful weight colliding against it. The momentum combined with the dampness caused the soles of her shoes to slip forward as well, further propelling her. Losing purchase on solid ground stripped her of any stability.
Y/n launched forward, arms flailing in a wild panic. Her heart shot up into her throat and her eyes squeezed shut in absolute horror. A blood-curdling screech erupted from her chest.
For a split second, she was convinced this was how her life ended.
However, the world literally crashed onto her shoulders as her body smacked against the river bank. Numerous stray pebbles sticking out from the ground dug into and scraped against her skin. Blood sprang out and trickled from the stinging wounds. Coarse dirt grated against her as well, causing irritating burns to her limbs. The camera that was still wrapped around her neck pressed agonizingly hard into her chest, knocking the wind out of her lungs.
In a state of pure adrenaline, she was miraculously able to ignore the pain and feverishly scrambled to her feet. Her head whipped towards the river to assess where the enemy was located.
Her eyes met with the vacant stare of the porcelain-masked stranger, positioned on the rock just before the one that had collapsed beneath her and caused her to tumble. They had stopped moving and stood there, observing her silently. She had no clue why they had paused their pursuit.
Her attention flitted downward in bewilderment. The answer came in the form of the yawning gap between the rock they were on and the edge of the riverbed. Where there had once been the tiny, unsteady rock now remained nothing but the pulsing burst of the vicious rapids. It must have been swept downstream after being abruptly unsecured from its spot.
The almost fatal slip-up had incidentally obstructed the path across the river. Y/n was successfully separated from the raging determination of the murderer and their axe.
Her head shot up at the sudden bumping noise. She was met with the sight of the stranger retreating back across the river, probably in search of a different way to cross it.
Y/n knew she should not stay planted in one place for too long. A person like that had both the will and motive to be dead set on eliminating her. Yet, she allowed herself to pause for a moment and recuperate.
She shuddered as she bent over and placed her excoriated hands on her knees in fatigue. Laborious pants fell from her open mouth, drawing in as much air as humanly possible. She swallowed thickly from time to time, mouth uncomfortably parched. Her heart raced so quickly it threatened to beat out of her chest. Every muscle of her being throbbed from exertion and smoldered from excessive body heat.
Drowsiness weighed down on her eyelids but she kept them wide open, alert of everything around her. She wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep so badly, but there were much more pressing matters to be dealt with right now.
After collecting herself, she reconstructed her composure. She scanned her surroundings with a now mostly cleared head. None of what she saw was recognizable.
Y/n was hopelessly lost in the middle of a forest with a murderer lurking about.
She reached for her phone, hand digging into her pocket. Nothing met her fingers except for the fabric of her clothing.
“Fuck,” Y/n cursed under her breath.
It was not difficult to assume the phone had fallen out sometime during the chase. All the jumbled and jarring movements must have dislodged it somewhere along the line. Whether or not the device would have had service out here was questionable anyway, but she did not even have the capability to find out since she lost it.
“God fucking damn it!” she cried out, exhausted and petrified.
Her mind began to race with the possible outcomes of her situation. She was trapped alone in a foreign part of the woods, out of touch with everyone. The only other person she knew was most likely nearby was a murderer who wanted to make her their next victim. It was a race of if she could find help first before being caught by the killer. She was at a severe disadvantage since she did not know the area at all. She could only hope the same could be said for them.
She sighed deeply, glancing back at the river. It was impossible to trek back across it because part of the route was now missing. Her only option was to head deeper into the foreboding woodland.
It was around late afternoon time which meant that the sun would be setting in a few hours. It seemed like she was going to be spending a night in the woods. All she had to her name was her camera and a backpack packed with some water, a few snacks, and some miscellaneous items. She put the camera back in its case and then plopped it inside of the backpack, way too worn out and concerned to care about completing her photography assignment.
Steeling herself one last time, Y/n centered her attention on the forest ahead of her. Then she began hiking forward in search of shelter or any sort of help from the outer world. She made sure to listen carefully to her surroundings in case the murderer returned to finish what they started.