CHAPTER 3: HE ESCAPED THE TREE... BUT THE FOREST FOLLOWED HIM HOME
The eyes disappeared.
Then... silence.
Without warning, Ethan's brother grabbed him by the arm and shoved him through a narrow crack in the wooden wall.
"RUN!" he screamed.
The tunnel exploded behind them.
Massive roots burst from the walls like giant snakes, crushing everything in their path. Two members of the search team vanished into the darkness before anyone could reach them.
Their screams lasted only seconds.
Then there was nothing.
Ethan and the remaining survivors stumbled through twisting passages until they saw daylight.
They threw themselves out of the tree just as the entrance sealed shut behind them, leaving only solid bark.
It was over.
Or so they thought.
The rescue helicopters arrived an hour later.
When the authorities searched the area, they found no giant tree.
Only an ordinary clearing.
No tunnel.
No footprints.
No evidence that anything had ever existed there.
The officers exchanged worried glances.
They assumed Ethan's team had suffered hallucinations caused by exhaustion.
Even worse...
Security cameras from the rescue helicopter showed only four people entering the forest.
Not six.
According to every official record...
The two missing teammates had never existed.
Their names had disappeared from government databases.
Their family photos had changed.
Their social media accounts were gone.
It was as if the forest had erased them from history itself.
That night, Ethan returned home carrying only his brother's notebook.
He couldn't sleep.
At exactly 3:33 a.m., the lights in his house went out.
A slow scratching sound echoed from the living room.
Scratch...
Scratch...
Scratch...
Thinking someone had broken in, Ethan grabbed a flashlight and walked downstairs.
The front door was still locked.
Every window was closed.
But across the wooden floor...
Fresh mud led from the hallway to the wall beside the fireplace.
And carved into the wood—deep enough to expose the brick beneath—were the same glowing symbols from inside the tree.
Then his phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
No caller ID.
He answered.
For several seconds...
Only breathing.
Then a whisper.
"You escaped the tree..."
A long pause followed.
"...but the tree never lets its Keeper leave."
The call ended.
At that exact moment, Ethan looked toward the hallway mirror.
His reflection was still standing there.
Smiling.
May you like
Even though he wasn't.
End of Chapter 3.
