“I’m lost, aren’t I?” Those were the words that escaped Charlie’s mouth as he realized his unfamiliarity with Pine Hill had worked against him. After leaving the school, he had tried to navigate his way back home by following landmarks he had only half-noticed when his father drove him there earlier that morning.

Now, Charlie sat in defeat on a low half-wall, glancing around in vain for any sign that might help him find his way.

All he could gather was that he was in a residential area near downtown Pine Hill—and that it wasn’t as well-off as his own neighborhood. Maybe he’d taken a wrong turn around downtown, mistaking a statue he’d seen that morning for another landmark.

He looked down at his phone, only to find it completely dead. He cursed himself for not checking the battery before leaving school.

As he pondered his next move, the last crimson rays of the setting sun dipped behind the mountains—the peaks surrounding Pine Hill resembling the jagged teeth of a colossal beast swallowing the glowing red orb.

Deciding it would be best to return to the downtown area and look for a place to charge his phone, he stood up from the half-wall and began his trek downhill through the deserted streets.

The shadows of night spread their billowing cloak of darkness over the neighborhood, broken only by the occasional glow of old neon signs that buzzed like digital cicadas, or the dim light of solitary, half-broken streetlamps marking the edges of downtown.

He felt like he was the only human alive—trapped in some kind of liminal space, a network of endless decaying alleyways, as if he had just entered the city’s innards.

Pine Hill had once been a mining town with a large open-pit quarry, but it had fallen into economic decline as environmental regulations and corruption forced its main source of income to close.

Apart from tourist spots and a few hot-spring resorts, most of Pine Hill consisted of a couple of still-operating factories, a handful of small workshops, and the service industry.

One of Charlie’s dad’s objectives in moving to town was to inquire, on behalf of his company, about the ownership of the area.

Deep in thought, Charlie kept walking through the shaded streets, hoping to find the main avenue. But with each downhill block, he had to divert onto a side street or alley, as many were in disrepair or blocked off.

Unbeknownst to Charlie, something moved in the shadows above.

A hulking figure shifted on the rooftops, its movements surprisingly silent and unnervingly agile for its size. It crept from ledge to ledge, staying just out of view—its outline a square, dark blur against the night sky.

Charlie shivered, suddenly aware of the oppressive stillness around him, but dismissed it as nerves. His footsteps echoed faintly on the cracked sidewalk as he quickened his pace, the sense of unease gnawing at the edge of his thoughts.

Above, the creature kept pace effortlessly, its massive and angular frame a shadowed phantom against the rooftops. It watched, waiting, its breath low and steady as the hunt began.

Charlie reached a fork in the street and hesitated. To his left, the faint hum of neon lights hinted at the edge of downtown, a beacon of relative safety.

But to his right, a narrow alley sloped sharply downhill, its depths swallowed by darkness. Despite the gnawing apprehension in his chest, Charlie chose the alley. It was quicker, and he wasn’t keen on the idea of doubling back.

The alley was steep and uneven, littered with discarded scraps of metal and broken glass. Shadows clung to the walls like tar, deep and impenetrable. Charlie moved cautiously, his sneakers crunching against the cobblestones as the dim echoes of his footsteps rebounded unnervingly close.

A faint sound, soft but distinct, reached his ears, a scuttling scrape, like nails against stone. He froze mid-step. The noise came from above.

Before he could look up, small pebbles and bits of rubble clattered down from a ledge, bouncing onto the ground a few feet ahead of him. Charlie’s head snapped upward, his heart pounding.

At first, he saw nothing but blackness, the jagged rooftops lining the alley almost looking like rows of judging heads staring down at him. Then, as his eyes adjusted, he caught a flicker of movement.

Something was there.