The Threshold

The forest was gone.

Leon Graves stood at the edge of a stone road that shouldn't exist, staring into the distance. The others were silent behind him, their breath heavy, their bodies trembling.

Ahead, a structure rose from the mist—tall, ancient, unnatural.

Massive stone pillars lined the path, cracked and weathered, covered in symbols they had seen before—the ones carved into the deer, the bodies, the trees.

This was where they had been led.

Not by accident.

By design.

Eve Voss wiped blood from her lip, still catching her breath. "Okay. Someone needs to tell me what the hell is happening."

Leon didn't answer.

Because he didn't know.

Riley held onto Tyler and Sam, her fingers gripping their arms so tightly her knuckles had turned white. The kids were shaking, their eyes locked on the massive archway ahead.

Leon turned to Sam. "You knew about this place. What is it?"

The boy hesitated. "It's where they take people."

Eve wiped sweat from her forehead. "Yeah, we got that part. But for what?"

Sam shook his head. "Nobody knows. The stories always said… if you go past the threshold, you don't come back."

Leon's fingers tightened around his gun.

That meant they had two options.

Go forward and risk never coming back.

Or go back… and face whatever was waiting behind them.

Leon exhaled. They had already gone too far.

"Let's move."

Nobody argued.

They crossed the threshold.

The second their feet touched the stone path, the air changed.

The temperature dropped instantly, and the world felt heavy, as if gravity had doubled. The air pressed against their skin, thick and suffocating.

The forest behind them vanished.

Eve turned sharply. "No. No. No, what the hell—"

There was nothing behind them now. Just an endless, empty blackness.

Riley gasped. "Where's the forest? Where's the road?"

Tyler clung to Sam, shaking his head. "We shouldn't have come here."

Leon felt it too.

Something was wrong.

The road led forward, deeper into the mist. No choice now.

They kept walking.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

No wind. No footsteps. The sound of their breathing was the only thing that existed.

Leon's instincts screamed at him. This place wasn't real.

Eve muttered, "This feels like a goddamn dream."

Sam suddenly stopped walking.

Leon turned. "What's wrong?"

The boy's face was pale. His lips trembled.

Then—he whispered, "Look at your hands."

Leon frowned.

Then he did.

His fingers were fading.

Not disappearing. Phasing.

Like his body wasn't fully there.

Eve cursed. "Leon, what the fuck is happening?"

Leon clenched his fists. The sensation faded… but his mind felt distant, disconnected.

This place was eating at them.

They needed to move faster.

The mist cleared suddenly, revealing the structure ahead.

A massive stone doorway, half-buried in the earth, its entrance yawning open like a mouth.

Ancient carvings lined the frame. Spirals, symbols, twisted figures frozen in agony.

Tyler whispered, "I don't want to go in there."

Leon didn't blame him.

But they had no other way forward.

Riley swallowed hard. "We don't have a choice, do we?"

Leon shook his head.

They stepped inside.

The second they entered, the air turned thick and stale.

The walls were carved from black stone, smooth to the touch, almost polished. The tunnel stretched forward, descending deeper underground.

A low hum filled the air.

Faint at first. Then growing louder. A vibration that settled in their bones.

Eve adjusted her rifle. "I swear to God, if there's some ancient cult sacrifice bullshit happening, I'm shooting first and asking questions never."

Leon moved ahead, leading the way.

The deeper they went, the stronger the hum became.

Then—they saw the first body.

It was slumped against the wall, shriveled and dried, as if the life had been drained out of it.

Clothes modern. Not old.

Someone who had been here recently.

Riley whispered, "Who the hell are these people?"

Leon crouched beside the corpse.

The skin was peeled back along the arms and chest, exposing deep carvings into the bone.

The same symbols from the forest.

Eve swallowed. "Leon, we need to leave."

Leon didn't disagree.

But the tunnel only went one way.

Deeper.

They kept moving.

The hum turned into whispers.

Soft. Twisting. Inside their heads.

"You are not welcome here."

"You should not have come."

"Turn back."

Tyler started crying. Sam just stared forward, unblinking.

Then—the torches along the walls lit by themselves.

A deep red glow filled the corridor.

Eve's breath hitched. "That's bad. That's really bad."

Leon raised his gun. "Stay close."

The whispers turned into laughter.

Low. Twisting. Mocking.

Then—they reached the chamber.

The tunnel opened into a massive underground hall.

Tall pillars stretched to a ceiling they couldn't see. The walls were lined with statues, each carved into grotesque, screaming faces.

And at the center of the room—

A massive stone altar.

Covered in fresh blood.

Eve's voice was barely a whisper. "What the hell is this?"

Leon didn't answer.

Because at the far end of the room…

A figure stood waiting.

Tall. Wrapped in dark, tattered robes. Face hidden beneath a mask of stitched leather.

The same one from the forest.

The one who had followed them.

The one who had been leading them here.

The whispering stopped.

Silence pressed down on them.

Then, finally, the figure spoke.

"Welcome home."