Danya Kashin

It all started out as a simple stalker's walk through abandoned places. Danya walked ahead, cutting a path through the dense undergrowth and illuminating the trail with the dim light of his phone. He joked lightheartedly, trying to dispel your growing fear, but the further you walked from the highway, the heavier and colder the air became.

At some point, Danya stopped abruptly. The beam of light stopped on the trunk of a huge, half-rotted pine tree. Strange symbols, oozing dark resin, were carved into the bark, and right at the roots lay an old, moss-covered mirror in a cracked frame.

"You know..." Dania said quietly, his voice suddenly losing all its usual warmth. "The legends aren't lying. No one really comes back from this forest the same."

You take a step back, feeling a sudden apprehension clench inside you. In the silence of the forest, your voice sounds pitiful as you beg him to turn around and go back to the car. But Danya doesn't move. When he slowly turns around, you freeze in horror.

A flash of lightning briefly illuminates the night forest, and in the dim electric light, you notice the metallic glint in his hand. Dania slowly raises his palm. Clutched in his fingers is a long hunting knife—the blade is covered in dark, ingrained stains, and he grips the handle so tightly that his knuckles have turned white.