Wicker forest was once owned by a rich religious family who slaughtered stranded travelers and servants in the 1800s. They were in constant need of servants which made authorities question what was going on and the report suggested that the family might have killed them for sacrifice. When news hit the small town, the townspeople thought of them as witches and a trail convicted them of the multiple murders. Before they could be burnt at the stake the family ran, taking the remaining slaves with them to satisfy their sick needs. The family disappeared into the backwoods of the property, leaving the mansion and land abandoned since then. People didn't dare to step foot on their property for fear of being cursed by the supposed witches until the late 1900s.
A century later, reports about ghosts and the mansion history kept homeowners away but because of the lack of surveillance and foot traffic it was a perfect place for crime and sacrifices to take place on the land up until the 20th century. The most wicked crimes came from here, thus giving its name. The government took over the property and it's been used as a check point for soldier's since then. In the early 2000s Zinc got government permission to built a secret lab here, where he kept his very own man made viruses and diseases that he created for the purpose of war. The lab was given to him by the CDC and they ensured that it was well hidden enough that not even the head of government knew exactly where it was. After the war they were never able to shut down the lab due to the monsters that flooded the forest. Soldiers or people who entered the forest would disappear, no matter how well equipped you were, wicker forest would swallow you whole and you'll never be seen again. It's the birthplace for Zinc's failed experiments and the final resting place for anyone who dared to enter.
The sun settled behind the trees by the time Talia passed the yellow tape and entered the dark forest. The sound of rain penetrated the silence like tiny rocks falling from the sky. She didn't realize where she was, her feet moving on their own as a nauseating energy pulsated around her but she hardly noticed. Her mind on her child and life, on how simple it used to be. She had no clue that she was walking in the most dangerous place on earth. Her team were given specific instructions and told to never enter wicker forest because they lacked the equipment to kill the monsters in there but the darkness seemed enticing. The pull she felt fogged her mind and her feet moved on their own directing her further into the bare dark forest.
She never noticed how deep she was until the sudden sound of music broke through the howling wind. Its soft classical melody forced her out of the trance she was in and she stopped to look around her but the darkness was too thick on either side that when she reached a hand out to touch a tree bark she could barely see her gloved fingers.
"what the fuck," she mumbled as she step back fumbling with her Beretta ARX100 in the dark while her nerves shook her hands. She was never afraid of the dark, but now there was a reason to be. The flashlight on her automatic rifle did nothing to break the thick blanket of darkness around her and her breathing got heavier when her chest tighten. The panic creeping slowly into her veins like poison, She decided to move in the direction opposite of the melody, fearing that it was a trap set up by rabid human like cannibals. Something shuffled in the direction she was walking in and she froze immediately. She drew her weapon over her shoulder and readied the aim, flipping up the sights out of habit. Her breathing fogged up her glasses and her heart pounded loudly in her ears and her eyes strained to see in the dark. Memories of the monsters flooded her mind and she immediately regretted being out here. The only thing keeping her sane at the moment was the soft classical music playing in the dark. She listened carefully to the sound around her, trying to block out the song. Anything could happen in the dark, especially in this time and place. She moved carefully over the shrubs and sticks she felt on the ground, mindful not to awake anything sleeping in this barren hell. The continuous rain made the hard soil melt and her boots sank slightly into the mud causing her to grimace at the slightest bit of noise she made with them as she forcefully pulled them out the sinking stew of dirt and water with every step.
The music never let up it echoed throughout the forest. As the wind picked up it blew the sound in every direction. Talia felt slightly disoriented as she was trying her best to hear for any other movement but the music got louder as the rain quicken its pace.
She maneuvered throughout the trees down a steep hill careful not to slip and pull the trigger as she held her finger on it just in case. She didn't want to draw more unwanted attention to herself as she tried to retrace her steps or find some sort of shelter. The crunching under her boots made her stop momentarily fearing that whatever was under her foot could be something slippery enough that can cause her to trip down the hill and risk injury. The music seemed to get closer and closer making her flashlight flicker oddly. She flicked her finger on it making it useful once more only to point into the darkness to find the music's source, but once again she was meet by the gray dead barks of the trees just inches from her. The gun itself was getting rusted and she regretted that the team didn't have the better, newer or proper equipment. They always had to improvise.
She pointed her flashlight down to the ground illuminating crushed skulls and small traces of leftover ashe and she stumbled a little on the uneven terrain by the horrific surprise. It was a sea of skeletal remains going down the hill. It appeared to her that this was dump site for bodies, most of the bones were cut surgically and some looked butchered almost as if they were hacked by a machete. Some bones had teeth marks while others were crushed in pieces. She felt like she was walking through a graveyard of the dead, except these people weren't buried nor at rest. She crouched down to take a better look, picking up bone fragments with tweezers and gently storing them in airtight bags that the team were required to carry. She collected several samples for the scientists at base, picking through jaw bones and skeletal limbs, she thought to at least determine the identity of the victims and give them proper burials. There was so many bones, she felt that this could've been victims of a serial killer, or maybe the remains of victims who were never found after being killed by the family who owned the mansion. Or maybe something worse, The victims of Zinc. She placed the gun on the wet ground so that she could put the samples into her pocket but she saw something that caught her eye from the illuminated path the flashlight created. Squinting through her goggles and wiping excess water away, she noticed the diluted heavy pool of blood running down the hill and mending with some of the ashe. The rain washing away the thickness of it and Talia knew whomever it was might be dead already, or even worse, turned into mutated flesh eating humanoids meal for the day. No way in hell could someone survive that much blood lost.
The heavy pools of blood were leading down the bone ridden nature trail, the blood trickled through the soil staining the knee she had on the ground turning her yellow suit red as the water tried washing most of it away from the earth. She picked up the gun and followed the trail with the flashlight until the light couldn't penetrate the darkness anymore. It was then that She heard the low hissing coming from a couple of feet behind her.
She reacted quickly, getting up and spinning around she readied herself to shoot whatever creature lurked in the dark. Once again, they were too deep into the shadows to see and she was meet with continuous darkness. The rain drowned out all other noise and she started catching butterflies in her stomach.
"Who's there?" she said as she turned in every direction with her aim ready and the safety off, making sure she was able to react quickly and not be blindsided by whatever was hunting her. She stood still and listened, the wind roared and the rain pounded the ground making it harder to hear any movement causing her senses to decrease. She couldn't hear or see but she felt them watching her. These type of monster's, their auras, made you sick when they were near as they literally drain your soul from your body.
They appeared last year, a new species of monster that hunted in packs, killing everything in their path, no matter how Jurassic the being can be. The first and last thing you saw was their teeth before your body would tense up for the incoming attack. She looked up past the bare trees to the full blood moon looming overhead and knew her time was running out. The longer she stood in the forest the more likely she was to never escape and she put herself at risk of encountering the bigger things hiding in the shadows. A rustle in the branches above her head caused her to look up and she flinched as suddenly all around her the darkness lite up with yellow glowing eyes.
It was them and they surrounded her in unsettling quietness. She fell on her back trying to get away from their piercing gaze. lifting up her weapon she started shooting blindly in the dark. The shadows let out a roar of daemonic laughter as the bullets did nothing but give the darkness temporary light as the shells fell hotly on the cold ground. They moved around her, snarling and hissing as she struggled to get up and position herself. They taunted her, almost as if they were cats playing with mice before ripping it apart. She shot at one but it missed as the creature disappeared and reappeared in the same second but behind her causing her to duck and roll before pushing it back with some more rounds.
It was because of her training that she knew to dodge in time as a spear like object soared at her through the air where her head would've been. She rolled out the way towards an opening of their circle and got back up shooting at the closer ones coming near her, swiftly evading the attacks from all sides until the magazine emptied and she had to turn around and run blindly into the thickness of the trees. Puddles splashed beneath her feet as the shadows moved above and between the trees behind her, their bright glowing red mouths and yellow eyes the only indication that she was being chased, along with the howling and daemonic screeching as their shrouded black bodies blended in with their new-found environment. She needed to find cover fast.
The adrenaline pumped through her veins and her breathing came out harshly as she ran as quickly as possible, dropping everything that weighed her down, including the gun and flashlight. The rain made the ground slippery and she struggled to catch her breath at the pace she was going but she had no choice but to keep pushing forward. She used her hands to find her way out the dense bare trees making the thought of not falling and being eaten seem bleak. She didn't understand what drew her here in the first place nor the reason why she didn't pay attention and walked in here unknowingly. She knew what the darkness was capable of since it took her only living child. This forest was where that darkness was born and their nightmares came alive.
Talia was so focused on getting away from the monsters that she didn't realize the small boulder before the tip of her foot banged into it making her tumble down the steep hill she was running on. She hit the trees on her way down falling on her ankle and screamed as a bone stuck out from her skin into the back of her boot. blood seeped out the into the soil and the ground eagerly absorb the nutrition, seeming to hum in satisfaction.
The forest came alive then as the ground trembled and trees separated themselves from their roots forming menacing faces on their bark with piercing hollow eyes and mouths made out of hundreds of rows of teeth. Talia moved backwards on her rear trying viciously to get away from the threatening hungry trees that were quickly closing in on her, until she fell backwards four feet into a hole in shallow murky water. The water turned red as she struggled to sit up straight as the shock of water suddenly entering her lungs sent her into temporary panic. Every movement made would spill more blood into the water and she risked her ankle snapping more and bleeding out into the small pool.
She leaned one shoulder against the wet rock to hold herself up as she rested on the knee from her undamaged leg. Her back hurted but the adrenaline kept the pain at bay and she knew it wasn't broken. She felt up the mossy wall, trying to find a sturdy enough vine to help pull herself up. The moon was high in the sky now and it illuminated the hole slightly and she saw an opening in the stone wall. She looked up in defeat, the rain running over her broken goggles as she gave up the idea of trying to climb and instead dragged herself along the wall into the opening of the underground cavern.
It was humid and slightly flooded from the rain, small debris littered the floor and the air was hard to breathe. Talia sat down and took her helmet off not caring about the sickness as she took off her boot grimacing as the bone made it difficult as it kept getting caught on the inside. She felt dizzy and nauseous, the pain making it hard to breathe and focus as she looked over the injury. She knew if she didn't do something now the exposed flesh would get infected soon. Something shuffled above causing some soil to fall in the hole and Talia looked up to see glowing eyes watching her. The shadow cats stood at bay watching her struggle with her injuries and the trees loomed behind them. At first it seem to her that they were nervous about entering the hole but Talia knew better. They were waiting for her to die she assumed.
She moved further back into the cave out of their view dragging her leg and leaving a trail of red behind. She searched her suit for any other weaponry but couldn't find anything except a twig beside her. She turned around to look into the cave and couldn't see deeper in, no matter how much her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness. She looked away to her ankle again and decided she needed to do something about it now, she gripped her ankle with both hands and, biting down on her knee, she adjusted the bone back in place with a sharp snap. She cried loudly as the pain rocketed throughout her body and she had to hold herself up before passing out then. The wound bleed more and she shivered as she tore the rubbery fabric from the suit around her ankle and tied it tightly around the open wound to stop the bleeding and keep the bone in place. After that she scooted over to lean against the slimy wall, closing her eyes temporary to ease the pressure in her head.
She felt hot and cold at the same time, an infection creeping into her system caused her to sweat and her vision to blur and she knew she was slowly becoming severely dehydrated. She felt the ground around her looking for tinder and rock to start a fire but a small whimper stopped her in fear. A faith glow appeared at the far end of the cave accompanied by a classical tune and Talia barely made out the outline of a body it was coming from. Uncertain about the phenomenon she crawled on her belly to get closer, barely noticing the shadows watching on the ceiling as she put a bloody gloved hand on the lifeless heap of flesh. The smell of blood and waste strongly hit her and she had to keep from vomiting. The pale light she saw earlier was trapped underneath the small body and Talia thought about how much she needed that light so she turned the body over to be met by a horrifying sight. It was a half dead child. Their arms stuck tightly against their chest as they weeped weakly behind a ebony ironed mask. Between tiny broken fingers was the relic from the box. Etched into the gold plating was serpents and doves and Talia was awed by its beauty. The light shone dimly in the dark cave revealing the extent of the injuries the child suffered from making Talia nauseous from the smell of rot and the sight of flesh.
The child's rib cage was partially exposed, veins pumped blood out onto the stone ground underneath creating a pool beneath them both. Talia cradled the small whimpering child carefully into her arms, trying to quiet them as she tried to ease the tension in her leg and find an exit. Talia decided to hold the child until they were gone, she knew that the child would soon succumb to their injuries but at least they wouldn't die alone, like her child did. She never was able to comfort her dying child the same way which made her situation more sad. The mask on the child's face was embedded into the flesh, making it impossible to remove without it pulling their face off and Talia had to keep herself from raging as she ran a bloody glove over the mask.
"Shh it's alright honey, I'm here. You're not alone." Talia told the child in her arms wiping away sweat from her face with her free hand smudging crimson on her forehead. The sobbing child stopped momentarily and Talia thought they passed right then. She looked down at the child with tears in her eyes, another life lost to the monsters. The cross was pulsating with a blue hue now, but Talia was too heartbroken to realize as she removed the cross from the tiny fingers and placed it far away from them. She didn't care about the relic, she just wanted to get out of the dark and give this child a proper burial.
"This isn't fair," Talia said in a low raspy voice. She figured no one would come looking for her in this forest. Her team wouldn't dare enter the forest without proper equipment, they knew better. She was going to die here she thought, rocking back and forth with the stiff body.
Talia wondered how the child got out here in the first place and who was responsible for their horrific death and torture. The only person who put masks on little kids was zinc but this mask they had on was almost regal, their outfit was steel plated too. The only thing ruined about it was the huge hole on the steel where a sharp object could've cut through. She looked over the still body laid across her legs and sobbed, all the energy she had from the adrenaline rush earlier faded into exhaustion and pain and she soon felt herself slowly starting to feel heavy. She leaned her back against the cold wall and closed her eyes still holding onto the battered body of the child.
Talia dreamt of finding Zinc and ending his body count and the chaos he inflicted upon the earth. As she slept, the shadows waited around her and the body of the child. They manifested into shadow-cat like creatures, hissing with their glowing incisors at Talia as she slept. The bigger Shadow moved the others out the way and walked up to the lifeless body in Thalia's arms sniffing the child and nudging them with their muzzle. The child flinched slightly giving some signs of life and the creatures howled, somewhat pleased with the small gesture of life. The cross seemed to get brighter as soon as the lesser monsters approached, even being across the room, it was still strong enough to penetrate through their shrouded armor and they couldn't do anything but whimper, except for the larger one, who stood standing over the two of them unfazed. It growled and the others retreated, disappearing into black pools that formed beneath them. The cross was pulsating again causing the shadow to growl lowly as it tried to ease the child out of Talia's arms gently with a shrouded paw.
The beam from the cross was getting intense for the monster but it was stronger than the others. It boldly entered the halo of light trying to surround the two and moved quickly to get the child in their massive jaws and place them on the other side from Talia and far away from the UV ray of light coming from the cross, moving into the darkest area it could find where the light couldn't reach them both. The creature softly placed the child on the ground, spitting out any blood that flowed into its mouth as if it was poisonous. The shadow shook off the heat, letting out a low displeased growl before laying beside the cold body. It's darkness wrapped itself around the child for a moment, enveloping them with pulsating black smoke before finally dissipating in thin air. Just then something amazing happened, the broken flesh on the child started mending back together, leaving a very small cut in their side and their breathing came out regularly. Not being able to see out the iron mask the child stared up at the ceiling blindly, reaching up to feel the humid air only to feel the shadows wet nose touch their palm. They drew back at the sudden touch but quickly reach out their hand again. Giggling in glee.
Thalia stirred, the sound of laughter awaking her from a nightmare and she shivered at the sudden cold as her under shirt soaked in sweat. Her eyes remained shut as she listened carefully once more to her surroundings. The dripping of water echoed loudly in the cave and She figured she was in another dream, but the pain on her ankle proved otherwise. She knew then she wasn't imaging the small voice or the hell she just went through. Thalia opened one eye but around her was thick darkness. The only light that shone was the light from the artifact and all she saw was shadows playing on the stone wall.
It's blue hue gave minimal sight into the cave but it also gave off a calming energy as it touched her feet. She knew she felt something when she touched it by accident but she quickly discarded it. Artifacts such as that are usually cursed and she knew better than to tamper with top secret material. She fully opened both eyes and was startled by the quick movements of the dark shapes playing in the shadows. She couldn't make out the figures but she could see the glowing yellow eyes which made her stop breathing for a moment, her eyes glued to the small child embracing the monster.
A harsh cough escaped from her cracked lips, startling the two beings and interrupting their fun. The sound bounced off the walls in the wide cave making the creature jump up and look her way. It growled as a threat, sulking her way and she shut her eyes tightly to block out the scene. But the shadow wanted to make its presence known and judging by her reaction, it knew it intimidated her. It stood over her once again. It opened its wide mouth, exposing long stained glowing red canines and Talia felt its hot breath on her face. She moved her face to the side, uncomfortable with the close proximity of the shadow.
"Is this how I die, was my mission all for nothing," she thought to herself. Still with her eyes shut tightly she waited for her end but as time went by she felt nothing more than the pain on her ankle. She opened her eyes again only to see the child standing in front of the shadow, protecting her from its jaws and the shadow made an displeased growl.
"No, my friend," the muffled voice of the child said before turning around to Thalia and kneeling to her level. Talia looked up at the clad faced child, her eyes wide and wild as she stared at the faceless mask hovering over her in awe. She saw the same markings on the mask that the artifact had and her curiosity grew. Wondering if it had anything to do the artifact. Talia reached out to touch it on impulse, but the child's pet snarled in warning. Putting her bloody hand down Thalia decided to just observe while the child stood over her wasn't any wounds but Thalia could see the hole where the wound was. She was at lost of words. She practically lost her mind right there.
"you hurt, stay still," she heard the child say before they got up and walked towards the artifact. After countless minutes searching the ground by hand the child finally grasped it. Picking it up, the child stared blankly at the cold golden cross before walking back over to Talia, their small hands smoking and blistering but the child showed no signs of discomfort as they simply threw the cross in her lap.
"Why are you giving this to me?" Talia asked before picking up the cross and turning it over to admire the details engraved in the child giggled walking away and Talia looked up to them again, her brows knitted in confusion as she tried to ease herself up to straighten out her bruised back on the cold stone wall and understand what was going on. Talia felt uneasiness the more the child talked or stood near her, she didn't fully understand what was happening but all she knew was that this child definitely wasn't normal nor were they something horrible created in Zincs lab. So what were they? And who were they? Ignoring the cross Talia felt this was the perfect opportunity to asked questions.
"Who hurt you," Talia practically whispered, trying hard to stay awake as her body slowly gave out from the amount of blood she lost earlier. The child simply stood quite, looking away towards the beast who sat still the entire time watching them, especially Talia, interact. It's shrouded body blended in with the dark environment, making it impossible to see unless it opened its glowing eyes. It stared Talia right in the eyes, bringing a feeling of dread to her soul. It's gaze so immense that she simply looked away back to the disturbing child in front of her.
"Bad people," the child finally replied and Talia got the feeling she knew who it was. The shadow growled making Talia flinch and it got up to stand near the child. The shadow was towering over the child and could've easily killed them but for some reason it seem to be attached to them instead.
"Is that your friend sweety," Talia shakily asked, her courage crushed to pieces as she watch the child's hand brush over it's misty body. She received a nod from the clad face of the child but it left her with more questions.
"Why," Talia finally asked, not feeling like it was safe enough for a small child to be around one of the most deadliest creatures that were birth from the darkness. The small child cocked their head to the side in utter confusion, perhaps not understanding the question but before any questions were answered a loud noise distracted all three of them and judging by how tense the child got she knew it wasn't another one of their mysterious friends.
The shadow immediately threw itself around the child to protect them from whatever was making it's way into the cave. Talia's breath caught in her throat at the shadows reaction and she tried to ease her shivering as best as she could. Trying to make out the foot steps and voice, Talia watch the darkness in fear. She drew the cross closer to her chest to keep herself in the light as she struggled to see into the darkness. She didn't like that, not being able to see what's coming for her, it threw her off immensely.
All of a sudden Talia heard the shadow cat leave the child's side as it rushed the entrance to the cave aggressively. It's claws rattling on the ground distance itself from them and the child was startled by the abrupt outburst. The child ran to Talia's side but quickly retreated as the rays from the cross burned their arm. Not wanting to get into detail Talia toss the cross to the side far enough that the light wasn't hurting the child anymore before wrapping her bruised arms around the child's shoulder and setting their head on her chest. She could feel the child trembling and she wished she was able to resist the urge to comfort something that obviously wasn't human.
She heard gunshots and soon after that the screaming started. Talia stared at the dark entrance frighten, the darkness obscuring the bloody scene unfolding just a few feet away. It was then that a figure, covered in blood from head to toe, came stumbling towards them.
"Run." Said the missing soldier from the first recon mission through a bloody mouth before falling to the ground. His back shredded with four long gashes down to the bone. She screamed out, forcefully pushing the child away from her to crawl towards him only to be stopped by a massive paw on her lower back.
"Get off of me you sonofabitch," She spat through bloody teeth. The unidentified soldiers gun was just a few centimeters away, but the shadow knew what she was going to do before she did. It grabbed her back leg and flung her against the wall. Knocking her unconscious.
The shadow then returned its attention to the lifeless body of the man, licking its muzzle it took the man into its wide mouth, devouring him whole. Its loud chewing woke up Talia, who cringed with the loud crunching. She clenched her side to ease the pain, hoping nothing more was broken.
Once the shadow was done with its meal and it had liquefied the weapon it turned its attention back to Talia once again. Its head low and body arched to pounce, it showed several perfect rows of teeth. Small pieces of flesh fell by its feet from its glowing mouth as the shadow approached her aggressively making Thalia paralyzed by fear.
"wait," Talia asked the monster before blood splattered her face. She watched the blank dead expression of the beast before it's massive head fell into her lap followed by its body. Behind it was the faceless child, their clawed hand raised in the air as thick silver blood ran down their arm. The hieroglyphics engraved in the mask lite up gold at the same time as the artifact and the child lose balance slightly.
"Bad kitty!" the child said in an angry weak voice, wiping the silver blood on their iron cloth leg. Talia stared at the child in amazement and disbelief. Not sure whether she was next or not she panicked. Trying her hardest to get the heavy body off her legs and move further back against the wall Talia's eyes never left the child. As the child move towards her Talia held up a hand to keep them at bay as she tried to find a solution to the problem.
"Stay away from me, I don't know what the fuck you are," Talia said trying to get distance from the child, but the dead body on her legs kept her still. Frustrated, Talia let out a huff and stopped struggling. "Dammit," she said as she looked over at the child. The moment she told them to get away from her they found a dark corner and sat down, sobbing. Talia tried her best to ignore them, staring up at the ceiling, she knew she needed to start moving, if her brothers squad was out here, so were the others and she'll be damned if her brother got killed out here.
She cleared her throat and licked her chapped lips, her ankle swelled and was black and blue. The body of the beast not easing the pressure. She saw the cross in the corner, it's light bright and beautiful and she wondered what the child meant when they gave it to her. Realizing she wasn't going anywhere for the time being she finally caved to the sad child.
"Hey kid, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you like that," but the child shrugged like it was nothing and remained facing the wall. "Brat," thought Thalia as she tried to make conversation before she went mad.
"I'm sorry about your friend too. Thank you for saving me," but the child remained unfazed. The fact that they killed their "friend" for her made it difficult to criminalize the small being.
"He's not dead, he's asleep." and Talia's heart melted by the innocence of that sentence. She looked over at the child, pondering how young they were and if they knew what death was. But the longer she stared at the small pathetic being, the more in danger she felt.
"What makes you think he's sleeping," Talia question the child trying to make small talk as she waited for her end. She just hoped that the child would make it quick and not leave her here to die of exposure to the other shadow cats or starvation.
Talia didn't know what reality was any more. She didn't care either way, she just wanted to awake from this horrible nightmare. Talia still had questions that needed to be answered like, why was the child here, who hurt them, why was their pet a dangerous predator, how was the child able to heal so quickly, were they another type of high grade human made in a lab and did they have parents that were looking for them and how did the child come in contact with the artifact. She didn't have enough energy to ask, her eyes squinted from lack of sleep and she shivered once again as a draft graced the cavern. Exhausted, she slowly drifted into oblivion, the child finally getting up to curl up beside her for warmth. She didn't hear the creature come alive nor had she noticed it piecing itself together again. The two of them slept peacefully and the shadow sat at the entrance for protection, waiting for it's next meal.