Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The cabin stood at the edge of a dying forest, its windows hollow and dark. The surrounding ground was littered with corpses, but they didn't move like the other undead—they were torn apart, as if something had feasted on them.

Draven stepped forward, shotgun ready. "This place reeks of death."

Mira shivered. "More than usual."

Elias, gripping his revolver, eyed the open doorway, where the wind howled like a voice trapped in agony. "This is a bad idea."

Draven ignored him and stepped inside.

The air inside was stifling, thick with rot and something worse—something ancient. Shadows slithered across the wooden walls, moving when they shouldn't.

Then, a sound. A whisper.

Mira spun around. "Did you hear that?"

Draven didn't answer. He was staring at the far corner of the room, where a girl sat, knees hugged to her chest. Her skin was ashen, her hair tangled. Chains clung to her wrists, but they were broken.

Mira swallowed. "The Forsaken Girl."

The girl slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were black voids, endless and hungry.

"You shouldn't be here," she said, her voice layered—as if something else spoke through her.

The floor creaked behind them.

Draven whirled, shotgun raised. The walls bulged, the wood splitting open like flesh. Something crawled from the cracks—elongated limbs, eyeless faces, mouths stretched in silent screams.

The Hollow Man had followed them.

Elias cursed and fired. The bullet passed through the thing, leaving it untouched. It grinned—a grotesque, jagged expression that sent a shiver through the room.

Draven fired a shotgun blast, but the creature absorbed the impact, its body rippling like liquid shadow.

"Run!" Mira yelled.

They bolted toward the door, but the cabin twisted around them, shifting into a maze of endless hallways. The girl's voice echoed through the walls—soft, sorrowful, knowing.

"He's always hungry."

Elias skidded to a stop. "We're trapped."

Mira turned, locking eyes with the girl. "How do we stop him?"

The girl hesitated. Then, she lifted her hand—revealing a tattered book, its pages burned and shifting with ghostly text.

Draven's breath caught. The Cursed Book.

"The answers are inside," the girl said. "But once you read it…"

The shadows screamed. The Hollow Man lunged, its mouth splitting open—an abyss of writhing hands reaching for them.

Draven grabbed the book.

The world shattered around them.

Everything went black.