Matt stood at the edge of the old, weathered well, his breath misting in the chill night air. Overhead, the sky had darkened to a sickly red, the stars obscured by a thick, seething blanket of clouds that writhed and curled like a bed of vipers. He clutched the dead, blood-soaked body of the woman, her hair glued to her face in wet, matted clumps, her eyes half-open, the life long gone from them.
He continued. With a spasmodic, jerky movement, he pushed her into the well, her body spinning, her limbs flailing like a smashed marionette, the crash of her descent eaten by the darkness below. He moved back, the damp, chill stones slick under his bare feet, the air thickening about him, humming with an unspoken, unsaid fear.
The leaves crunched against each other, the gnarled branches of the trees groaning, the leaves trembling as if they could feel the commotion, the roots shifting uneasily in the wet soil. Matt turned, his face unmoved, and stepped back into the cabin, his door creaking softly behind him.
Within, Lei and Gabriel huddled close to the faintly lit oil lamp, the shadows reaching long and lean against the twisted wooden walls, their breathing shallow, their eyes flicking to the door as Matt walked in.
"We have to go. Now." Matt's tone was flat, unemotional, his eyes mirroring the capering flame. "I violated a rule."
Gabriel tensed, his heart racing. "What are you talking about?"
Matt crept closer, his shadow engulfing theirs, air around him growing icy, metallic smell of blood lingering. "The forest knows. It's waking up. They're coming."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed into a hard line, fists balled, muscles tense beneath his ripped sleeves. "What the hell did you do?"
Matt gazed out the window, his eyes squinting. Outside the panes, the trees moved, their branches writhing like grasping hands, their roots thrusting up from the ground, splitting the rocks, pushing upward.
"Up," Matt breathed, taking the oil lamp and snuffing out the flame, dropping them into abrupt, suffocating darkness. "Now."
They staggered to the rear of the cabin, Matt opening the window, the frame creaking, the glass shuddering as if something gigantic was pounding on the outside walls, attempting to get in.
They squeezed through the small frame, falling into the wet, root-studded ground outside, their respirations ragged, frightened gasps. Behind them, the cabin lurched, the wooden frame groaning, the air growing dense, pulsating with a low, heavy thrum. Gabriel spun around, his heart freezing in his chest as he caught sight of the flicker of motion among the trees—dozens of them, their eyes empty, their bodies twitching, deformed by roots and mire, their faces stretched taut over gaunt, jutting skulls.
"They see us," Lei gasped, her fists curled around the chill of the gun in her pocket, her heart a frantic, absent beat.
The corpses lurched toward them, stiff, jerking steps, their feet smacking against the wet sidewalk, their limbs cracking, splitting, roots bursting from their wide, open mouths.
Lei didn't hesitate. She drew out the gun from her pocket, metal cold, heavy, reassuring. She fired, the muzzle flash, the bullets flying through the thick trees, each report a harsh, violent punctuation on the deep, rolling groans of the forest. Shadows thrashed and bucked, black liquid splashing on the tree trunks, roots contorting, clawing the earth as their agonized, half-rotted bodies collapsed to the ground.
Run!" Gabriel's arm closed over her, hauling her through the writhing stillness, tearing at their clothes, roots snapping around their ankles, branches tearing at their legs, the trees creaking, twisting, their shadows creeping, reaching out to them.
They broke from the writhing group of trunks, bounding into the cold, rotting water at the edge. The waves churned, foamy, bubbly film spread out on the twisting depths.
A form coalesced from the ocean, gigantic, massive, half-finished, its arms writhing, curling, its body a knotted mass of bones and kelp, its head bursting apart, teeth like shattered glass shining in moonlight. It opened its maw, a sloppy, wet, gurgling noise emerging from its interior, and then it spoke, its voice the crash of waves against stone, the creak of stone on stone.
"Gabriel," it growled, its writhing, dripping arms reaching out, fingers curling, dripping with black, poisonous water. "Stay."
The water foamed, a monstrous hand coalescing from the boiling waves, slamming down onto the beach, the earth shaking, the trees shaking, their roots ripped up and torn out of the ground.
Far above, on the battered, splintered balcony of her home, Sally stood, the center held in her white, bony hands, its light pulsing, the rock twisting, turning, groaning in her grip. She spun it wildly, her eyes closed, her mouth spreading in a wide, toothy smile as the mountains shook, the ground splitting, the earth creaking like shattered glass. The sea trembled, waves drawing out, air heavy with the bitter, metallic flavor of salt and blood.
She laughed, her voice echoing shrill, echoing down through barren streets, buckled wooden rooftops twisted beyond its former form, the world groaning beneath her feet.
Below, the sea churned, the water receding, exposing the writhing, open mouths of sea monsters, their sharp teeth glinting in the moon, their eyes black, blind, gazing upward at the red sky. The waves crashed, splintered, and rolled on, a high, towering wall of water, the tsunami rising, curving, its crest shooting out the reflected fire of the broken sky.
Lei and Matt struggled through the gnarled, reaching trees, their rough breathing, their torn clothes, their scraped and bleeding flesh. They burst out at the portal, its tangle, glowing surface crackling with black power, the air around it thick, throbbing, pounding to the wild, irregular beat of a dying heart.
Matt dove in first, his body twisting, disappearing into the crackling, spitting void. Lei did not. Her eyes were open wide, the wave rushing in through the trees, the earth trembling, the air tearing.
She spun, her eyes meeting Gabriel's, his body a distorted, feral silhouette against the radiant mouth of the portal. She threw out a hand, her fingers extending, the air cracking, the earth tearing apart at her feet.
Then the portal clanged shut, the air collapsing in on her, the world tilting, the blinding shriek of the wave being cut off, engulfed by the twisted, snapping nothing.
Gabriel moved back, his heart a desperate pounding in his head, the wave crashing toward the market, water shattering around the splintered, shattered buildings. He staggered, his breath caught in raw, shallow gasps, his eyes wide open, the darkness gaping out before him, the earth shaking under his feet.
He slammed the groaning stall door wide, wind hurtling through, the thunder of the wave booming, and he leaped, his body twisted, blackness closing around him as the tsunami rolled, world itself shattering, air full of crash of splintered wood and screech of grinding stone.