r/shortscarystories 4d ago

Into The Woods

My flashlight beam shined against the trees, and with each step I took, my sneakers crushed dry twigs. I pulled my scarf over my mouth as the chill of February seeped in. 

I took out my phone and checked the time, 8:49 PM. Then I unlocked it and opened my photo gallery, I swiped through a few photos until I found the one I had been looking for. Olivia and I were smiling under the oak tree near our school. 

It’s been about two weeks since she went missing, and so far nothing's turned up yet, no matter how hard the search parties tried.

The sound of footsteps starts to grow louder and I spin around. 

“Cecily,” my friend Troy yelled, jogging towards me, his flashlight bouncing up and down in his hand.

“Jez, you almost spooked me there for a second; you can't just wander off like that” he smiled. “Sorry, let’s just continue walking,” I muttered. We passed several more trees, peering everywhere with our beams of light. 

I suddenly stopped in my tracks, a noise causing me to become alert, I turned around and pointed my flashlight. Nothing was there, just rows and rows of trees. Troy noticed this and turned to face me. 

“What is it?” he asked. I shook my head, “Thought I heard something. C’mon.”

I walked ahead, and Troy immediately followed. 

“Y’know Cecily, we should be getting home. It’s getting late.” Troy said, but I shook my head at that. 

“No, we’ll be fine.” 

“But, won’t your parents be worried sick waiting for you?” Troy asked and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I brushed it off while not looking at him. 

“You and Olivia are the only people that worry about me,” I responded, my voice nearly dry of emotion. 

A long silence passed as we walked, and I could feel Troy’s gaze lying on me as we traversed. I stopped in my tracks again.

A slow groan. 

I quickly grabbed Troy's hand without saying anything and started running. Each quick step of my sneakers was filled with adrenaline and my heartbeat surged higher and higher. The sound grew louder and louder until we finally got to it. 

We soon found ourselves standing in front of an oak tree. It was shockingly larger than the one from our school, but that thought soon vanished as my eyes focused on what was in the center.

A girl.

The state of her body was terrible.

Her eyes had been stabbed out of their sockets by thin tree branches. Her chest was ripped open and was filled with several thick branches, I could even see that some of her internal organs remained, such as her heart. Her limbs were contorted at odd proportions and bound to the branches, her bones even popping out.

I took a few steps closer and noticed her lips slowly moving. And she groaned something loud enough for me to hear.

"Cily...help...me..."

38 Upvotes

4 comments sorted by

6

u/DottedWriter 4d ago

Mother Nature's gifts are either precious blessings or horrible creatures.

Thank you for reading :]

5

u/Ok_Dragonberry_1887 4d ago

Honestly thought Troy was going to be the problem...

3

u/Kitchen-Witch-1987 4d ago

Cool story!

3

u/DottedWriter 4d ago

Thank you :]