Chapter 9 Beneath the Pines

Chapter Nine – Beneath the Pines

The morning after the howl, camp was unusually quiet.

Not somber-just... still. As if everyone sensed something had shifted, even if they couldn't name what. Birds still sang, the fire still crackled from early risers boiling water for tea and coffee, and the trees still swayed gently overhead. But there was an edge now. A hum.

Aiden felt it in his bones.

His senses were sharper today. The wind felt colder even through his hoodie, and the scent of pine needles and damp bark seemed too strong, too clear. He chalked it up to poor sleep at first-maybe the chill, maybe the weird dreams he couldn't quite remember.

He'd woken up running, heart pounding, like he'd been chasing something through a forest made of memory.

When he turned and found Valeria watching him from across the clearing, a soft smile on her lips, the tension in his shoulders eased without effort.

"Sleep okay?" she asked as she approached, tucking her hands into her jacket pockets.

He nodded. "Weird dreams. You?"

"I think I heard something last night. Like... howling."

She said it cautiously, watching his face.

"Yeah," he said. "Me too."

Their eyes met.

Neither said more.

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By late morning, the group was off on their final hike of the trip-a gentle trail that circled through the deeper woods and led to a quiet lake nestled in a hidden valley. The teachers led the way, letting the students spread out in pairs or small clusters.

Valeria walked beside Aiden, flipping her water bottle back and forth between her hands.

"Hey," she said, glancing at him. "I... found something weird yesterday. In my journal."

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Weird how?"

She hesitated, then reached into her backpack and handed him the folded note.

He read it in silence.

"He's not who he thinks he is. And neither are you."

Aiden's fingers tightened slightly on the paper. "Who gave this to you?"

"No idea. It just... appeared. No one saw."

They walked a few more steps before he gave the paper back.

"Do you think it's about you?" she asked.

"I think it's about both of us," he said quietly.

Valeria looked ahead to the trail. "Do you ever feel like we're pieces of a puzzle that someone else already solved?"

"All the time," Aiden murmured.

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Farther up the trail, Amara and Selene walked in comfortable silence, the kind of silence that only comes from mutual understanding.

"Do you believe in fate?" Amara asked suddenly.

Selene didn't answer right away.

"I don't know," she said at last. "I used to think everything was just coincidence. But lately..."

"Yeah?"

Selene glanced sideways at her. "Lately, it feels like I'm being pulled. Like there's something I'm supposed to find. Or maybe someone."

Their hands brushed as they walked.

Selene didn't pull away.

Neither did Amara.

They didn't speak again, but the silence was full of everything they weren't ready to say.

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At the back of the group, Elias lingered behind, sketchbook in one hand, pencil tapping against the pages. He wasn't drawing anything specific-just lines, curves, the suggestion of a creature he couldn't name.

"You always draw monsters?" Jace asked, walking up beside him, slightly out of breath from climbing the last slope.

Elias shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe I'm just drawing what I see."

"You see monsters?"

"I see people trying not to become them."

Jace laughed softly. "You're deep, man."

"You're loud," Elias replied, smirking.

They walked together for a while. Jace wasn't as careless as he looked-he noticed the twitch in Elias's hands, the way his eyes kept flicking to the shadows in the woods.

"You okay?" he asked.

Elias hesitated, then nodded. "Just... restless."

Jace didn't press. He just bumped their shoulders together lightly.

"Well, if you need to punch something, I volunteer. I'm told I'm very punchable."

"You are," Elias said, but he was smiling.

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They reached the lake just after noon. The water shimmered like glass, untouched and still. The group dropped their backpacks, peeled off shoes, and sat on warm rocks or patches of grass beneath the trees.

Lunch was quiet and scattered.

Aiden found himself alone for a few minutes, staring into the lake. The water's surface reflected the sky perfectly-cloudless, blue, too serene.

He caught movement from the corner of his eye.

Not human.

Not animal.

Something else.

A flicker of dark fur at the edge of the treeline. The shape vanished before he could turn his head fully.

Aiden stood, instinct rising before thought.

Then Valeria appeared beside him, offering a sandwich. "You okay?"

He blinked.

"Yeah. Just... thought I saw a fox."

Valeria looked out toward the trees. "You're sure?"

"No," he said honestly.

They sat down together, the edge of their knees touching. Aiden's heart thudded too loudly in his chest-but it wasn't fear.

It was the same sense from his dreams. Of running.

Of being followed.

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As the sun began to dip again, the group started the hike back. The path was quiet. Too quiet.

Elias slowed behind the others, eyes flicking toward the woods.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered to Selene.

She paused beside him.

"No birds."

No wind, either.

Just the hush of breath and the crunch of their own footsteps.

Then-softly-something snapped deep in the forest.

Aiden turned sharply, eyes narrowing.

Valeria caught his wrist. "What is it?"

He didn't answer.

But the hairs on his arms were standing.

Something was watching them.

He could feel it.

Not a person.

Not a predator.

Something that knew him.

And suddenly, he knew it.

Not in thought-but in blood.

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That night, Aiden sat outside his tent long after lights out. The others had drifted off one by one, but sleep wouldn't come for him.

He stared up at the moon.

It was almost full.

Almost.

And inside his chest, something ancient stirred.

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