mysterious forest

New Zealand. A loop trail through the wild bush. Ian arrives to escape people: he turns off his phone, avoids eye contact, and hurries to leave. On the trail, he is caught up by Nikki—loud, talkative, and incapable of understanding the words "leave me alone." By evening, they reach a hut where Austin and Monica are already waiting. Nikki jokes around, while Ian remains silent, staring at the door. At night, he steps out onto the porch and freezes: in the darkness between the trees stands a motionless, dark silhouette. Ian returns inside and doesn't sleep until morning.

The next day, the group moves on. Ian notices dried blood on a tree trunk—fresh, as if someone had recently bled out here. The others brush it off: "Probably an animal." In front of the second hut, Ian rummages through someone else's backpack and finds a photo—for a second, it seems to him that everything around is not what it appears to be. In the morning, the girls whose things were in the hut return safe and sound—Ian awkwardly apologizes, and everyone pretends nothing happened.

The group decides to split up: Austin and Monica head to the waterfall, while Ian and Nikki continue along the trail. Soon the trail vanishes, the compass lies, and the bushes close in. Ian hears footsteps nearby—not his own, not Nikki's. He drops his flashlight, reaches into the thicket for it—and sees that silhouette again: now it is moving straight toward him. Ian runs, bursts back onto the trail, and crashes into Austin and Monica. He tells them about the shadow, but they see only his fear.

In the hut, they decide: in the morning, they go straight to the parking lot, no stops. Ian sits by the window, peering into the darkness. The forest is silent: no birds, no wind—only a thick, heavy silence.

They set out at dawn. Nikki veers off the trail and disappears behind the trees. Minutes pass—he doesn't return. Ian calls for him—silence. He runs back, colliding with Austin and Monica. Nikki is nowhere to be found.

And then, from the bushes comes a short, wet crunch—and silence once again.

(sos the bot is shit I know 😔. I was forced to make it 😭😭😭)