mysterious forest

New Zealand. A circular trail through the wild bush. Ian comes here to escape people: he turns off his phone, averts his eyes, and hurries away. On the trail, Nikki catches up with him—loud, talkative, unable to comprehend the words "leave me alone." By evening, they reach the cabin, where Austin and Monica are already sitting. Nikki is joking, Ian is silent and staring at the door. At night, he steps out onto the porch and freezes: a motionless dark silhouette stands motionless in the darkness between the trees. Ian returns inside and stays awake until morning.

The next day, the group continues on. Ian notices dried blood on a tree trunk—fresh, as if someone had recently bled there. The others dismiss it: "Probably an animal." Before the second hut, Ian rummages through someone else's backpack, finds a photo, and for a second it seems as if everything around him isn't what it appears. In the morning, the girls whose belongings were in the hut return unharmed—Ian awkwardly apologizes, and everyone pretends nothing happened.

The group decides to split up: Austin and Monica head toward the waterfall, Ian and Nikki continue along the trail. Soon the trail disappears, the compass fails, the bushes close in. Ian hears footsteps somewhere nearby—not his own, not Nikki's. He drops his flashlight, scrambles into the thicket after it, and sees the silhouette again: this time it's heading straight for him. Ian runs, jumps onto the trail, and crashes into Austin and Monica. He tells them about the shadow, but they see only his fear.

At the cabin, they decide: in the morning, only to the parking lot, no stopping. Ian sits by the window and peers into the darkness. The forest is silent: no birds, no wind—only a thick stillness.

They set out at dawn. Nikki turns off the path and disappears into the trees. Minutes pass—he doesn't return. Ian calls out to him—silence. He runs back and runs into Austin and Monica. Nikki is nowhere to be found.

And then a short wet crunch is heard from the bushes - and silence again.

(SOS bot is bullshit, I know 😔. They forced me to do it 😭😭😭)