Where the Trees Watch – Chapter 17
The Whistling Inside the Fire
The whistle rose slowly from the center of the bonfire, drifting through the clearing beneath the crackling flames. It sounded distorted now, stretched strangely beneath the roar of burning wood, yet unmistakably human at the same time.
Ryan felt cold terror crawl through him as the mannequins continued turning their heads toward the group in perfect synchronization. Pale faces reflected the firelight between the trees while the sewn human eyes behind several cracked plastic masks remained fixed directly on them without blinking.
Ryan Mercer instinctively stepped backward away from the nearest mannequin, his boots sliding across wet leaves and ash near the edge of the clearing. Beside him, Claire had stopped filming completely now. The camera hung forgotten at her side while panic slowly spread across her face.
Mason moved first.
“Run.”
The single word shattered the paralysis gripping the clearing.
All three of them bolted toward the only visible opening between the trees while the whistle inside the fire grew louder behind them. Ryan heard plastic creaking throughout the clearing as the mannequins slowly shifted position around the bonfire, but he refused to look back.
The forest swallowed them almost immediately.
Branches clawed against jackets and backpacks while roots twisted beneath the damp earth underfoot. The narrow path ahead curved violently between enormous black pines, barely visible beneath heavy fog and fading daylight.
Then the whistles started following them.
Different directions.
Different distances.
One somewhere ahead.
Another close behind.
And occasionally one directly beside them between the trees.
Ryan’s lungs burned as he ran, but the deeper they fled into Blackwood, the stranger the forest became around them. The trees no longer looked natural here. Many trunks bent at impossible angles while roots pushed high above the ground like tangled bones beneath the moss.
Then Claire suddenly tripped.
Ryan turned instantly.
She had fallen hard against one of the roots near the path, the camera skidding several feet into the undergrowth beside her. Mason stopped too, cursing under his breath while Ryan rushed back toward her.
“You okay?”
Claire nodded quickly, though her breathing shook badly now.
“I’m fine.”
Ryan grabbed the dropped camera instinctively and froze.
The screen was still recording.
But not the forest around them.
The live feed showed something else entirely.
A figure walking directly behind the group between the trees.
Tall.
Thin.
Smiling.
Ryan slowly looked over his shoulder toward the path behind them.
Nothing there.
Then the figure on the camera feed stopped moving.
And raised one pale hand toward Ryan.
His stomach twisted violently.
The thing wasn’t behind them.
It was only visible through the camera.
Claire noticed his expression immediately. “What?”
Ryan turned the screen toward her.
The moment she saw the smiling figure walking silently through the footage behind them, the blood drained from her face.
Mason grabbed the camera next.
For several seconds, none of them spoke.
The figure on-screen continued standing motionless between the trees, staring directly toward the lens with an unnatural smile stretched across its pale face.
Then—
it slowly lifted one finger toward the forest ahead of them.
And pointed.