The Executioner of Horror Films

Part three.

*On behalf of Luke*

The forest pressed on us, every rustle of leaves, every crack of a branch caused me an attack of anxiety, and I felt my heart pounding like a caught bird. It seemed that the forest was watching us, expecting us to make a mistake, and I began to believe that we made a mistake by coming here.

We walked in silence, our steps echoed in oppressive silence, and I felt the growing tension inside our group. The house was walking ahead, his shoulders were tense, his eyes were tossing from side to side, as if he was waiting for an ambush. Hutch was behind, his usual optimism was replaced by a nervous premonition, and Phil was quiet, too quiet, his usual humor was nowhere to be seen. It began to seem to me that we were all going to our own graves.

Then he joined us. It was as if he materialized from the very shade of the trees, coming out of the darkness, like a ghost materializing into the world, and I couldn't help but shudder. Mark suddenly found himself next to me, his presence was nervous and calming at the same time, and I felt the anxiety of the others growing.

- Are you having fun? He asked, his voice was low roaring, which cut through the silence of the forest. A walk is always much more pleasant when you are alone with your thoughts, isn't it? He looked at me with his disturbing red eyes, and it seemed that he saw me through, reading my every fear, every doubt and every regret.

He appeared like a bolt from the blue, and the others were clearly struck no less than me, and I felt the air getting thicker and the tension increased. We all resigned ourselves to the fact that he would come, but I don't think we expected him to come like this. He was walking with us, and it was all too surreal.

- How did you end up here anyway? Hutch asked, nervousness and curiosity were mixed in his voice. I didn't even see you appear! It was clear that he also began to doubt his own sanity, because it was impossible to appear so quickly and with such a level of silence.

- I know this forest like the back of my hand, - Mark replied, and a barely noticeable grin played on his lips. And you mortals are too slow, if you allow me to put it that way.

He teased us, and I could see the anger in Dom's eyes and fear in Phil's eyes. We didn't need to set him up against ourselves, and I hoped he wouldn't say anything else that could further ignite tension.

We continued our walk, Mark now walked among us as if he were part of our group, he was always watching, always watching, and I couldn't get rid of the feeling that he knew what we didn't know, that he wasn't really with us.

When the sun began to set, casting long, creepy shadows, we decided to camp near a small glade. We were surrounded by trees, their branches looked like the claws of some ancient monster, the air was getting colder, and the silence was becoming more oppressive than ever before. We were in the heart of the forest, and there was no way back.

We worked quickly, setting up our tents and lighting a fire, and it was as if we were all trying to deny the reality of the situation. It was as if we were all trying to deny the fact that we were alone, and that the forest was closing around us, and that we did not control anything.

While the fire was burning, casting a shimmering reflection on our faces, Mark was sitting on a fallen log, his figure was half hidden in the shadow, his eyes were burning like coals, and it seemed that he was not a man, but some creature from another world. He was watching us, his look was anxious and almost nervous, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his head.

- You're all so... fragile," he said in a low thoughtful voice. You are so determined to cling to your life, even when the world rejects you. It seems that you still have no idea what awaits you, or you don't care.

He mocked us, but it seemed to me that he wanted to say something else.

We sat in silence, the only sound in the silence was the crackling of the fire, and I could feel the tension growing between us. Then, as soon as he joined us, he left. He simply dissolved in the shadows, disappeared, as if he were just the fruit of our imagination, leaving behind only a disturbing

silence and a prolonged feeling of awkwardness.

We looked at each other, our faces were pale in the light of the fire, and I knew that none of us saw him leave, that he just left, the forest continued to watch us, waiting for us to get off the path.

The silence was heavy, and the atmosphere was filled with fear and uncertainty. We were alone in the forest, without Mark's disturbing presence, and I couldn't get rid of the feeling that we were about to face the true horror of the forest, and that it would all start right now.

*After some time*

*On behalf of Luke*

The night sank like a shroud, shrouding the forest in oppressive darkness. The fire crackled and crackled, but it seemed small and fragile against the background of huge, approaching shadows, and I could not get rid of the feeling that we were completely alone, swimming with the current in the sea of ancient trees and invisible horrors. Mark's sudden disappearance left us with a deep sense of anxiety, and it was like we were walking towards our own death.

We tried to talk, keep the conversation going, laugh, but our words seemed empty, our laughter was stretched. The silence between us was heavy, filled with unspoken fears and growing anxiety, and I felt as we were going deeper into ourselves, into the darkness of our own soul. The dream was a distant perspective, a luxury that we could not afford, and I spent most of the night staring into the darkness, waiting for something bad to happen.

The next morning turned out to be pale, sluggish, barely penetrating through the thick treetops. We gathered our camp in silence, the remains of the bonfire were still smoldering like the coals of our fading hope, and we set off again, every step took us deeper and deeper into the heart of the forest.

The path ahead was uncertain, and I felt that we were wandering aimlessly, not having in mind the real goal.

Now the forest seemed different, as if it had changed overnight, as if it had moved and curved, it became the embodiment of the growing fear in my soul. The trees became even higher, their branches were more sloppy, and the shadows were longer and darker than before, and I felt someone's presence, something was watching us, followed us, and it was an unpleasant feeling.

We walked, as it seemed to me, for several hours, the forest was pressing on us from all sides, and I felt that the group was getting more and more excited. The house was constantly looking back, his hand squeezed the handle of the axe he was carrying, Hutch lagged behind, his face was pale and sunk, and Phil was completely silent, as if he had retired to some remote place in his thoughts.

And then we saw it.

It was not the form I could comprehend, the essence that challenged all logic, all reason, all understanding, and it was so wrong, so unnatural that I was sick. It stood in the center of the glade, its silhouette was high and grotesque, a collection of bones, shadows and ancient unspoken horror. It was ancient, it was terrible, and it was clearly beyond our understanding.

It moved, its limbs twitched with unnatural smoothness, and it seemed that every cell of my body was screaming for me to run, to run away from this place of inexpressible horror. It was like a nightmare that found flesh, a monster from the depths of some forgotten hell, and we were all trapped in his presence.

The house made a guttched roar, raised his axe and rushed at the creature, but it was too fast, too powerful, too different, and I saw it lifted into the air, as if it was nothing more than a rag doll. Then it threw him aside, and he fell to the ground without moving, I felt my heart break at the sight of it. I let them all down.

Hutch and Phil screamed, crawling back in horror, their faces were distorted by fear that I had never seen before, and they were no longer the rational and witty people I knew; we were just mortals facing horror beyond our understanding.

The creature turned its attention to us, its form curved in such a way that it challenged all rational understanding, and I could feel its gaze, a piercing, comprehensive look that seemed to shoot the layers of my soul, exposing my fears, my doubts and my most hidden insecurity, and it was so terrible that I was paralyzed by fear.

I could feel it now, a pure, genuine fear that I had never experienced before, it was as if my very essence was dissolving, and all this was because of this essence.

It was the end. It was the end, and we went straight to it, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.