Story 703: Grinning Shadows

The flickering torchlight cast long, trembling shadows across the ruined chapel walls of Black Hollow. The once-sacred space had been overtaken by decay, fungal overgrowth, and the stench of something long dead but never truly at rest.

Kruger tightened his grip on his rifle, his squad forming a defensive line behind him. The reanimated corpses of the fallen townfolk stood unnervingly still, their glowing eyes locked onto the hooded figure before them.

Selene Nocturna—The Pale Widow.

But she was not the same haunting specter they had seen moments before. No, now she smiled.

A wicked, bloodstained grin stretched across her face, jagged with cruel delight. Her golden hair, streaked with filth, spilled from beneath her hood, framing her sharp features. Her blackened lips, her gleaming teeth smeared with something dark and fresh, made her look less like a woman and more like a demon in disguise.