chapter 1
No one believed the old legend.
For decades, hikers whispered about a giant tree hidden deep inside Black Hollow Forest—a tree so massive that sunlight never reached its roots. They called it "The Living Giant." Anyone who walked too close either disappeared... or came back refusing to speak about what they had seen.
When former rescue ranger Ethan Carter received a desperate message from his missing brother, it contained only five chilling words:
"Don't let them open it."
By the time Ethan reached the forest, the signal was gone.
Against every warning, he assembled a small search team and followed the coordinates. Hours later, they froze in disbelief.
Standing before them was a tree unlike anything they had ever imagined.
Its trunk was wider than a house.
And carved into its bark was a perfectly round opening... almost like a doorway.
No animal tracks.
No birds.
No sound.
Only silence.
One member of the team wanted to leave immediately.
Another insisted it was just an abandoned tunnel.
But Ethan noticed something that made his blood run cold.
Fresh footprints.
Someone had entered only minutes earlier.
Without another word, he switched on his flashlight and stepped inside.
The tunnel wasn't natural.
The walls were impossibly smooth, twisting downward in a perfect spiral. Strange symbols glowed faintly beneath layers of ancient wood, pulsing as if the tree itself had a heartbeat.
The deeper they descended, the colder the air became.
Then they found it.
A rusted backpack.
It belonged to Ethan's brother.
Inside was his old compass... but the needle spun wildly in every direction.
There was also a notebook.
Only one page remained.
Written in shaky handwriting were the words:
"The tree isn't growing from the earth... it's growing around something."
Before anyone could react...
A deafening rumble echoed through the tunnel.
The entrance behind them slammed shut.
Every flashlight flickered at the exact same moment.
Then, from somewhere far below...
They heard slow...
Heavy...
Footsteps.
Not coming toward them.
Coming up.
Ethan gripped the notebook, his hands trembling.
Because whatever his brother had discovered...
May you like
It was finally coming to meet them.
End of Chapter 1...
