Chapter-2

The growl is closer now, deep and rumbling. Through the twisted branches, I catch a flicker of movement—a hulking shadow, vaguely human but wrong. Too smooth, too fluid. I can't make out the details in the dim light, but the sheer menace rolling off it is unmistakable.

Fear? No. Not even close. If anything, I'm curious. Detached. This isn't a nightmare; it's a puzzle. And puzzles can be solved.

I step forward—not cautiously, not hesitantly. Just moving, deliberate and steady. My boots crunch against the ground, the sound jarring in the heavy silence. The creature pauses. Stops. It makes a noise, a low snarl that shifts into something almost… uncertain? Like it expected something different.

Now that I'm closer, I can see it properly. It's humanoid, technically, but stretched out and wrong. Too-thin limbs end in long, clawed fingers. Its skin is a shifting mess of shadows and rotting flesh. And its eyes—those burn, like there's a fire inside it. But despite the grotesque look, it moves with control. Every shift, every step, deliberate. This thing isn't just strong—it knows how to use that strength.

It lets out another sound, this one sharper, frustrated. "You… you are not like the others," it rasps, voice flickering between whispers and screams. "You do not cower. You do not flee."

The air is thick with anticipation now. A fight is coming, that much is obvious. But how? Will this be brute force, or something else—something smarter? Either way, the stakes are clear. This place, this warped Wonderland, is hanging in the

balance.