The cold wind brought with it a sense of calm, deepening the already eerie silence that wrapped the jungle. The only sound that broke through was the distant, lonely caw of a crow. The forest, at dawn, was the kind of place that could fill your eyes with wonder—but it had also sealed shut the eyes of many. With quiet steps and the moonlight guiding my path, I kept walking forward. No one in this town ever left their homes at night, and those who did either never returned or came back... different. But perhaps tonight, I would be the one to return.

  Just as that thought settled, I noticed a subtle shift in the air—a twist in the winds, as if they’d brushed against something unseen and were being pulled inward. In moments like these, your best hope is that it’s a cliffside or a cave.

  Focusing on the sound, I held my breath and moved closer. The crow’s cries still echoed in my ears. That’s when I saw it—a cave. A breath of relief slipped past my lips, but in a place like this, stumbling upon a new cave was as unnerving as the earth moving under your feet. This forest had a habit of being nothing like it seemed. But for people like me, whose lives revolved around caves, what lay ahead was just that—a cave.

  I tossed a pebble toward its entrance. The sound of it bouncing across the stone added to the uneasy chorus of the wind and the crow. I waited for another caw, and when it didn’t come, I reached into my bag. From a soft cotton pouch, I pulled out a tiny creature—so delicate it felt like even water would dirty it. It had glossy black eyes filled with innocence, fur like fresh snow, and a face so sweet even a lion would melt at the sight of it. A kitten.

  From the same bag, I took out a piece of cooked fish and laid it on a flat stone near the cave. I gently set the kitten down, and it immediately padded over, its tiny pink tongue flicking out to taste the fish. Its puffy cheeks puffed out even more as it chewed, and its shining eyes sparkled brighter than the moon above.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  But I had barely taken four breaths before it stopped.

  The piece of fish, caught in a draft, was dragged inward. The kitten followed. Now inside the cave, it began eating faster, more desperately. Anyone watching might’ve smiled at the sight—white fur glowing in the moonlight, red-tinged cheeks full of food, a moment of peace.

  Then it happened.

  It dragged the kitten into the darkness of the cave and flung it against the ceiling, slamming it from side to side like someone sucking on a piece of candy. Then it hurled the injured body back down and waited for the kitten to crawl out again.

  By then, the kitten was drenched in dark red blood, its body covered in wounds. Only its long ears gave away that it was ever a kitten at all. Its eyes—full of tears and a faint flicker of hope—caught the moonlight as it staggered out again.

  But the hunter dragged it back once more, and the whole torment began all over again.

  The marks on its body looked like claw marks—definitely made by a living creature—but somehow, they still felt... off. Different. Scattered across its body were a hundred… maybe two hundred tiny holes. The kind that seemed stitched into its flesh like threads once ran through them, spaced unnaturally apart. Almost like… the creature had a mouth filled with hundreds of teeth arranged in strange rows. Or maybe not a mouth at all.

  Now, the hunter and I both waited—watching the kitten in silence—as it drew its final breath.

  And then, its lifeless body vanished once again into the darkness of that cave.

  I lingered only two breaths longer.

  Then, I stepped forward.

  At the cave’s threshold, I pulled out a stick wrapped in ritual thread. Whispering the burn mantra under my breath, I lit it aflame and tossed it into the mouth of the cave.