The hollow ones

The creature moved, its limbs bending at unnatural angles as it slid between the trees.

Ellie felt its presence—like ice running down her spine. Her mark burned, pulsing in rhythm with the air itself.

It wasn't attacking.

Not yet.

Malcolm's grip on his knife tightened. Sam had gone rigid, eyes wide, barely breathing.

Then—

The Hollow One spoke.

Not with a voice.

But with a whisper.

"You should not be here."

Ellie flinched. The whisper slithered through her mind, soft but echoing.

Sam took a shaky step back. "Did—did that thing just talk?"

Malcolm didn't blink. "Ellie?"

Ellie swallowed hard. The air felt heavy, pressing against her skin like unseen hands.

The Hollow One's head tilted.

Its face was wrong. Stretched too thin, its mouth a dark, gaping hollow.

Yet somehow—it watched her.

"You do not belong. And yet…"

The whisper curled against her thoughts.

"You are one of us."

Ellie's heart hammered.

The Hollow knew.

It could feel what had changed inside her.

Sam's voice came out in a hushed whisper. "Ellie, we need to leave."

Ellie barely heard him.

She took a slow, careful step forward.

Malcolm tensed. "Ellie—"

But she wasn't listening.

She could feel the Hollow's pull, deep inside her chest.

It didn't just see her.

It was waiting for her.

Ellie's breath shook. "What do you want?"

The Hollow One twisted its head. Its body moved like something unfinished, something barely holding its shape.

Then—it reached out.

Not with malice.

But with… recognition.

Like it was offering something.

Ellie's mark flared.

Something inside her answered.

The moment stretched.

Then—Sam moved.

"NOPE."

He grabbed Ellie's wrist and yanked her back.

Ellie gasped—the connection broke.

The Hollow One's form shuddered, its shape flickering—

Then—it SCREAMED.

The sound wasn't just loud—it was wrong. A shriek that dug into their bones, that turned the world inside out.

The trees shook. The ground split. The air itself rippled.

And then—

Everything moved.

Shadows exploded from the Hollow One, spreading outward in a wave.

Malcolm grabbed Ellie. "RUN!"

They didn't hesitate.

They ran.

The Chase

The Hollow Forest was alive.

The trees twisted, their trunks shifting as the ground buckled. The path they'd followed was gone.

Ellie could still hear the Hollow One—its screech cutting through the air like razor wire.

It was following.

Fast.

Ellie's breath hitched. Her mark burned—like it was trying to pull her back.

Like she was supposed to let it take her.

Malcolm pulled her forward. "Don't stop!"

Ellie forced her legs to move.

Branches lashed at them. The ground cracked underfoot.

Then—they saw it.

A clearing.

And at the center—

A door.

Not the one they had entered through.

But another.

This one was different—it wasn't blackened like the first. It looked old, wooden, its surface covered in faint symbols.

And it was glowing.

Sam gasped. "Please tell me that's our way out."

Ellie didn't answer.

Because she could feel it.

The door wasn't part of the Hollow.

It was something else.

Something that didn't belong here.

A way out.

If they could reach it.

But behind them—

The Hollow One was closing in.

Ellie's pulse pounded.

They had seconds.

She had to make a choice.

The Door That Shouldn't Exist

Ellie's lungs burned as she ran, her feet barely touching the shifting ground beneath her.

The Hollow One was closing in.

Its screams tore through the air, making the world around them ripple, the trees twisting and curling toward them.

The door was just ahead.

It stood in the middle of the clearing, its wooden frame glowing faintly, symbols carved into the surface. It looked old, like it had been standing there for centuries—yet Ellie knew, without a doubt, that it had never been here before.

The Hollow wanted them trapped.

But this door—

This was something else.

Something the Hollow didn't control.

Sam reached it first, practically throwing himself against it. "It's real! It's real!"

Malcolm skidded to a stop beside him, hands searching for a handle—there was none.

"It won't open!" he shouted.

Ellie turned her head—

The Hollow One was right there.

Its shape twisted and stretched, its hollowed-out face gaping wide as it reached for her. The darkness around it pulled toward Ellie, drawn to the mark on her skin.

It wasn't just chasing them.

It was after her.

"You do not belong."

The whisper crawled into her skull.

"But you will."

Ellie bit back a scream.

The mark on her arm burned white-hot, and for a split second, she saw—

Not the forest.

Not the Hollow One.

But a vast, endless darkness.

A world where nothing was real. Where time and space stretched into eternity.

The Hollow.

And at its center—

A shadowed figure.

Watching.

Waiting.

Her vision snapped back.

The Hollow One lunged—

Ellie threw up her hands.

The mark flared—a burst of energy slammed into the creature.

It shrieked, recoiling.

Ellie stumbled back, gasping.

The door—

It was reacting.

The symbols on its surface flashed, responding to her mark.

Ellie didn't think—she slammed her palm against it.

A bright light exploded outward.

The Hollow One screamed.

Then—

Everything went white.

The Other Side

Ellie hit the ground hard, the breath knocked from her lungs.

She was somewhere else.

The air was sharp and cold, the smell of damp earth filling her nose.

She groaned, pushing herself up. Her hands pressed against stone.

They weren't in the forest anymore.

Sam was beside her, coughing. Malcolm groaned, rolling onto his side.

Ellie's breath caught.

They were in a ruin.

Massive stone pillars stretched toward the sky, cracked and covered in vines. The remnants of an ancient structure stood around them, barely holding together.

And at the center—

A statue.

Ellie's stomach dropped.

It was of a woman.

Tall. Hooded. Her hands outstretched.

And carved into her forehead—

The same mark on Ellie's arm.

Sam let out a shaky breath. "Where the hell are we now?"

Ellie's mark ached.

She didn't have an answer.

But she knew one thing.

They had left the Hollow.

But they hadn't escaped it.

The Ruins of the Forgotten

The air in the ruins was thick with silence—the kind that pressed against their ears, swallowing even their own breaths.

Ellie's heart pounded as she stood before the statue, its outstretched hands cracked and weathered with time. The mark carved into its forehead was identical to the one seared into her skin.

Malcolm stepped forward, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "This place… It's ancient."

Sam let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Fantastic. We barely survived a haunted forest, and now we're in a creepy, abandoned ruin that may or may not worship Ellie."

Ellie didn't answer.

Her mark was burning, reacting to something here.

She stepped closer to the statue, her fingers brushing against the stone. The second her skin made contact—

A pulse of energy exploded outward.

Sam stumbled back. Malcolm's hand flew to his knife.

The ruins shifted.

The ground beneath them rumbled, as if something woke up.

Then—a whisper.

Not from the Hollow.

This was different.

Older.

"Who calls upon the Forgotten?"

Ellie's breath hitched. The voice wasn't real—it wasn't something they heard with their ears.

It was inside her head.

Sam looked around wildly. "Please tell me I'm not the only one who heard that."

Malcolm's face was pale. "We all heard it."

Ellie's fingers tightened against the statue. The voice had spoken directly to her.

Her throat felt dry. "Who… are you?"

Silence.

Then—the air shifted.

A shape began forming before the statue, flickering like a candle's flame.

Ellie's fingers curled into a fist. This wasn't like the Hollow. The darkness didn't pull toward the figure. If anything, the shadows avoided it.

The form solidified into a woman.

Tall, cloaked in dark robes, her face hidden beneath a hood.

But the most striking thing—

Her hands.

They weren't human.

Her fingers were elongated, more like claws, and etched with the same markings as Ellie's arm.

"You bear the mark," the woman said.

Ellie's blood ran cold.

Malcolm and Sam tensed.

Ellie forced herself to speak. "What does it mean?"

The woman didn't answer. Instead, she tilted her head, as if studying her.

"You were not meant to leave the Hollow," she finally said.

Ellie's pulse spiked. "I didn't have a choice."

The woman was silent for a long moment.

Then—she moved.

Not walking. Not stepping.

Just… shifting.

One second, she stood at the statue.

The next—

She was right in front of Ellie.

Ellie's breath caught.

The woman raised a hand—her clawed fingers reaching toward Ellie's mark.

Malcolm moved instantly, drawing his knife. "Back away from her."

Sam raised his hands. "Whoa, whoa, let's not piss off the terrifying ghost-lady."

The woman ignored them.

Her fingers hovered over Ellie's mark.

Then, so soft it was barely a whisper—

"You were Chosen."

Ellie's body froze.

A deep, gut-wrenching dread settled inside her.

Because for the first time—

She realized she hadn't just escaped the Hollow.

She had brought something with her.