Morning comes without warmth

  Vera avoids Soren not even looking in his direction constantly keeping her distance from him. Every step he takes behind them feels wrong now. Too measured. Too controlled. She notices things she never paid attention to before, the way he scans the trees not just for the monster, but for advantage. The way he positions himself slightly off to the side instead of in the middle. The way his breathing steadied far too quickly after Lukas died

  He isn't shaking anymore

  That's what unsettles her most

  She remembers the moment clearly, the shove wasn't frantic. It wasn't accidental. It was deliberate. A choice made in less than a second, but still a choice. She saw the angle of his arm. The way his foot hooked forward. The look in his eyes right before he did it. 'Murderer, that's what he is. A murderer! It doesn't matter what his reasons were! He killed one of our friends. He can't be trusted I need to tell Adrian. I need to tell him what he did! He's dangerous!'

  He doesn't look guilty. Not really. There's tension in him, yes, but it's not remorse that sharpens his posture. It's calculation. His eyes flick between her and Adrian like he's measuring something invisible. That's when it settles fully in her chest. Soren survived last night and she's not sure that's a good thing

  Soren's walk forwards squeezing his hands so hard you can see the whites of his knuckles

  'She saw'

  He doesn't need to look at her to know that. It hangs in the space between them, thick and suffocating. Vera walks ahead, but not too far. Not far enough to leave. Just far enough to remind him that distance can be deliberate

  'She saw'

  The memory replays whether he wants it to or not, the exact angle of his arm, the push, the split-second calculation. He tells himself it was instinct. Reflex. A body reacting to imminent death

  But instinct doesn't aim that precisely

  He exhales slowly, keeping his breathing even. Panic is dangerous. Guilt is worse. Both cloud judgment

  Adrian hasn't asked anything yet. That's good. Adrian didn't see I can still use-, no rely on him. If Vera tells him what she saw, everything will go up into flames. I won't be able to control what will happen next and if that happens we will all die

  Soren's eyes drift to their backs as they walk. Two figures ahead of him. Two potential threats. The thought comes uninvited, cold and clean. If she tells him… I might have to-

  He cuts it off immediately

  No

  He's not a monster

  He did what he had to do. That's different

  Isn't it?

  The forest is quiet this morning, but it doesn't feel peaceful. It feels observant. Like it's waiting to see what they do next. He can almost feel the creature somewhere beyond the trees, amused, patient. It doesn't need to chase right now

  They're doing the work for it

  Soren swallows

  He never cared about being liked. Never needed approval. But this tension is dangerous. Trust kept them moving as a group. Trust meant shared watch, shared defence, shared distraction if needed

  Without it?

  He's alone. Being alone in this forest is a death sentence

  His jaw tightens

  Fine

  If Vera wants to hate him, she can. If she wants to judge him, let her. But if it comes down to it again if the monster breathes down his neck one more time he already knows what he'll choose

  Survival

  No matter the cost

  Vera slows her pace just enough to fall beside Adrian. She doesn't look at Soren. Not once. Instead, she leans closer to Adrian, her voice barely above a whisper, careful, controlled, ''Adrian," she says quietly, "you didn't see it last night. Did you?"

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  He frowns, still walking, eyes tired and unfocused. "See what? Lukas dying? Please Vera I don't want to talk about another one of our friends dying, I cant handle it. It's all too much"

  She hesitates just for a second, as if saying it out loud makes it real. Then she forces the words through, "Soren tripped him"

  Adrian's step falters

  "What?"

  "He shoved Lukas," she says, more firmly now, ''I saw it, the look in his eyes! He did it on purpose Adrian! He killed Lukas!''

  The forest seems to grow louder around them. Leaves crunch. Wind shifts. But Adrian barely hears any of it

  "No," he says automatically. Too quickly. "You're mistaken. It was dark. We were running"

  Vera replies, ''Adrian I saw everything, believe me we can't trust him. I saw the look on his face when he did! He looked happy when he saw Lukas falling over, he's already gone insane!''

  As they keep walking, his mind betrays him, dragging him backward through years he hasn't thought about in months.

  He sees Soren at twelve, grinning with dirt on his face after they'd both fallen into the river trying to build that stupid rope swing. He hears his laugh bright and unguarded. He remembers staying up too late during storms, sitting on the floor of Soren's room, talking about nothing and everything

  Soren wasn't cruel

  He wasn't reckless

  He was quiet, yes. Detached sometimes. But when Adrian's father got sick, Soren had been the only one who didn't treat him differently. The only one who just sat beside him in silence and stayed

  That's not the kind of person who shoves someone to die

  It can't be

  Adrian's chest tightens. People don't just change like that. They don't wake up one day and become monsters. This forest is twisting them. That's all this is. Fear makes people see things. Panic distorts memories. Vera must have misunderstood what she saw. It was chaos. It was dark. They were all running for their lives

  Soren would never

  Would he?

  The doubt creeps in quietly, shamefully

  He swallows hard, pushing the thought away. He doesn't look back at Soren because he wants to hold onto those memories the river, the storms, the quiet loyalty just a little longer. He's afraid that if he turns around, the boy from those memories his best friend since he was a child won't be there anymore

  The group slows to a halt. Vera drops her pack on the ground and mutters something about needing to relieve herself. She steps quietly into the underbrush, leaving only Adrian and Soren. The forest seems quieter now, but it's an uneasy calm the kind that presses against your ears and makes every small noise feel amplified

  Soren glances at Adrian, slow, deliberate, like he's savouring the moment. "So," he begins softly, "Vera told you, right?''

  Adrian stiffens, avoiding eye contact, his stomach twisting. "I-I don't know what you mean"

  Soren tilts his head, eyes sharp, "Come on, Adrian. You know exactly what I mean. She saw something. Or maybe she thought she saw something. It's dark, confusing. She's imagining it. That thing, it can make you see things that aren't real. I mean it has done it before hasn't it? It keeps changing forms so who's to say it didn't make her see an illusion"

  Adrian swallows hard, unease crawling up his spine. "You're saying she imagined it?"

  Soren's smile is almost imperceptible, ''Yes that's exactly what I'm saying. Her words, her certainty, that's the monster, isn't it? Feeding, twisting. Making her see things that aren't there. Making her feel the horror. Making her project it onto you. It's clever, isn't it? Gaslighting even your own friend without lifting a finger. It's trying to cause us to fall apart to kill us, Adrian I know you believe me. We can't let it win, not with how many of us it has killed"

  Adrian's pulse quickens. "I-I don't… I don't know…"

  Adrian's hands tremble slightly. He feels the fog of doubt creeping in, gnawing at his thoughts. 'Maybe Soren's right. Maybe she didn't see it clearly'

  Soren's eyes lock onto his, steady, unwavering. "It wasn't me. I didn't push Lukas. Don't let the fear around you convince you otherwise. Don't let it twist the truth. Adrian we've known each other since we were kids do you really think I would kill another person and especially if that person was Lukas. I wouldn't no matter what, he was like our family here!''

  Adrian swallows again, trying to steady his breathing, clinging to that last fragment of certainty. The forest rustles around them, indifferent. Somewhere in the distance, Vera shifts, unaware of the conversation she's inadvertently become the centre of

  Adrian fidgets with his hands again, ''Okay Soren I believe you. I'm sorry this forest..., it's messing with our heads. I wasn't thinking straight''

  Soren leans back just slightly, letting the silence stretch. "See? You're thinking clearly again. That's good. Hold onto that"

  Soren's eyes light up just for a second a slight grin appearing on his face just before disappearing, 'Good I knew that I could convince him. I didn't want to have to do that to Lukas, but what should I have done instead? Die? How stupid. The world put me in that position I had no choice over the matter. At least Adrian still trusts me, hopefully I'm not in that same position with him or Vera. I'm barely keeping myself together, suppressing different parts of my mind to be able to function. If I have to do that to another one of my friends I might break'

  The forest presses around us, thick and unyielding, and every snap of a branch feels like the echo of some unseen predator. My heartbeat pounds, a constant drum of warning I can't silence. I glance at Adrian, trying to gauge if he suspects even a fraction of what's simmering beneath the surface. So far, nothing. Just exhaustion, fear, and trust. Dangerous trust

  I swallow hard, feeling the weight of every choice I've made and every choice I haven't. The thought of another friend, of anyone else, being forced into the same situation as Lukas twists something cold inside me. I can't let it happen. I have to survive. But each step I take toward that survival drags me closer to a line I'm not sure I'll ever cross back from

  Vera's voice drifts faintly through the trees, calling for Adrian, oblivious to the battle raging inside me. I follow silently, the shadows of the forest swallowing us, and a part of me wonders how long it will be before the world forces me to make another impossible choice. The thought doesn't frighten me. It terrifies me

  And yet, somewhere beneath it all, a small, unsteady part of me whispers that I will survive. Whatever it takes

  The night settles deeper, and the forest closes in, indifferent to our fear, our pain, or the fragile trust that binds us