The next morning, Nova Lane woke with a jolt — the memory of the shadow fresh in her mind like a dream that refused to fade. The image of the tall figure standing at the tree line burned behind her eyes.
At school, Kevin's empty desk looked even more hollow today. His textbooks remained stacked, untouched. Nova stared at them during homeroom, her pencil unmoving in her hand.
During lunch, she leaned across the table to her best friend, Mia. "I saw something last night. In the woods."
Mia's expression stiffened. "What do you mean?"
Nova lowered her voice. "A shadow. Just standing there. It was tall. Too tall. I think it was watching."
Mia blinked, then shook her head quickly. "Nova, don't get involved. People disappear. It's creepy, I know, but the police—"
"They're not doing anything," Nova cut in. "And Kevin's not the first."
That afternoon, Nova walked home with her backpack a little heavier than usual — packed with a flashlight, a notebook, and a small pocketknife she found in her dad's old toolbox.
The sun was setting when she reached the edge of the forest. The trees loomed, dark and silent, branches knotted like fingers.
She stepped forward.
Her heart pounded in her ears with every crackle of leaves beneath her shoes. She followed the path behind Kevin's house — the one he'd always taken to school.
Then she saw it.
A faint glow ahead, like moonlight trapped in a jar. It pulsed — slow, steady, calling her deeper.
Nova crouched, approaching quietly. The light came from an old well in a clearing, its stone rim covered in moss and ivy.
She peered over the edge.
Something shimmered far below — not water. Light. Swirling, unnatural light.
Then a voice.
Faint. Desperate.
"Help me…"
Nova gasped and stepped back.
A branch snapped behind her.
She spun.
No one there.
But the forest no longer felt empty.