Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The wind carried no scent. No howl. No life.

The survivors stumbled into the Red Wastes, a sunless expanse where the sand bled rust and the stars blinked like watching eyes. Somewhere between dusk and nightmare, they arrived at a burial field dotted with half-buried effigies—horned beasts, clawed men, feathered skulls.

Obsidian Crow circled above, wings casting shadows shaped like antlers.

"We shouldn't be here," Gideon Moth muttered, clutching his shovel like a crucifix. "They don't forget debts. Especially not him."

A fire sparked on the horizon, alone in the dark. Around it danced a figure in bones and warpaint, his voice weaving a chant in a tongue older than blood.

The Skinwalker.

Once a guardian spirit, now a vengeful entity warped by famine, war, and betrayal. Legend says he made a pact with the first dying god: immortality in exchange for consuming the names of those who broke sacred oaths.

And someone in the group had broken one.

The firelight twisted.

Each member of the Last Thread saw a different face on the Skinwalker—an enemy they betrayed, a loved one they abandoned, a version of themselves they buried. His voice was thunder stitched with weeping.

"One of you wears a stolen name."

Solomon Wraith stepped forward, clutching his occult grimoire. "We came seeking passage."

The Skinwalker extended a claw. "Then offer me truth… or skin."

Talia Grimm held out a drawing: a shape wrapped in fur and chains. It shivered, then screamed.

The Skinwalker roared in laughter. "Ah. The mute speaks in death."

Esmé raised her blade. "We'll fight if we must."

But the Skinwalker shook his head. "You don't fight a debt. You pay it."

He turned toward Mister Vex.

The assassin's eyes darkened. "I kept my oath," he said. But the wind howled back: Liar.

Long ago, Vex was sworn to protect a child in the blood wars of Hollow Creek. He failed—and walked away unscathed. That child was the Skinwalker's kin.

Vex knelt. For the first time, he looked tired. Human. "Take what's owed."

The Skinwalker reached inside Vex's chest—not to tear flesh, but memory.

He extracted a glowing thread—a piece of the assassin's past—and swallowed it whole.

"Debt forgiven. But price remains."

Vex rose, visibly dimmer. He no longer remembered the child, the oath… or why he was cursed with immortality. The others saw it in his eyes: something vital had been scraped away.

The Skinwalker vanished into feathers and dust.

And the fire burned blue.

As they left the Red Wastes, Obsidian Crow landed on a nearby stone, watching.

It cawed once—a warning.

Another debt had been noticed.

But not yet collected.