Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The wind screamed through the ruined cityscape, howling between skeletal skyscrapers that loomed like tombstones in the dark. Mira stood on the rooftop, her heart pounding as she scanned the distant horizon. Draven was gone. Stolen by the Hollow Man.

A bitter wind lashed her face. Below, Zara and Elias worked in tense silence, their nerves frayed. They had all seen what happened on the Ghoul Train—the darkness had swallowed him whole.

"We need to find him," Mira muttered.

Elias took a slow drag from his cigarette, exhaling smoke like a dying prayer. "And go where? The Hollow Man doesn't just take people. He unravels them."

Zara tightened her grip on her machete. "We've come too far to let him disappear."

Then—a sound.

A low moan rose from the streets below. Shadows shifted between the wreckage, bones scraping against pavement. The undead were waking. But these weren't normal walkers.

Their eyes burned with an unnatural glow. Their movements were too precise. Controlled.

Mira's stomach twisted. "Something's guiding them."

The cursed book at her hip trembled, the pages flipping on their own. Words burned across the parchment in a language she barely understood.

"Follow the gate. The Forsaken one remembers."

A chill ran through her. "The Forsaken Girl."

Elias frowned. "You mean the creepy kid who lives between life and death?"

Mira nodded. "She knows about the Hollow Man. If anyone can help us get Draven back, it's her."

Zara motioned toward the horde gathering below. "Then let's move before these puppets catch up."

The trio descended, weaving through crumbling buildings, avoiding the glowing-eyed corpses that sniffed at the air like hunting dogs. The night pressed in around them, heavy with whispers.

Then, at the heart of the ruined district, they found it.

A gate.

Twisted iron bars wrapped in black vines stood between two withered gargoyles. Beyond it, a sprawling manor loomed beneath a blood-red moon.

Zara's voice was barely a whisper. "That place doesn't look inviting."

Mira's fingers brushed the cursed book. "It's not supposed to be."

The gate creaked open on its own.

Elias exhaled sharply. "Of course it does."

Stepping forward, the air changed. The city's decay faded into a mist-laden void, where time itself seemed uncertain. The manor's doors stood open.

And there, waiting inside, was the Forsaken Girl.

Her hollow eyes settled on them, her lips curling into a knowing smile. "You seek the Hollow Man," she murmured.

Mira nodded. "We need to save Draven."

The girl tilted her head. "Then step inside. But be warned—some who enter never return the same."

The house breathed. The walls shuddered.

And the door slammed shut behind them.