Page 4 of Mortis

They vanished.

James froze. They hadn’t dimmed or moved. They’d simply disappeared.

Then they returned.

Two red pinpricks in exactly the same place.

James’ stomach dropped when they disappeared again. Reappeared. Almost like . . .

Blinking.

His mouth went dry.

“Ollie.” His friend glanced towards him, but James couldn’t tear his eyes away from the trees. “I think there’s something watching us.”

Ollie stumbled over his own feet in his haste to get beside him. “Where?”

“There.” James pointed. “Between those two trees.”

Ollie squinted into the darkness, and James looked again. But there was nothing. The red lights were gone, and this time they didn’t come back.

His heart began pounding harder.

“There’s nothing there,” Ollie murmured.

“Yeah, thanks, Captain Obvious.”

“I’m just saying⁠—”

“There were two red lights.” James swallowed, struggling to keep his voice steady. “They were blinking.” Ollie finally looked at him, and James forced himself to say it. “Like eyes.”

A beat of silence passed between them.

“Don’t mess with me, Jay.”

“I’m not fucking messing with you,” James insisted.

Snap.

Directly behind them.

They spun around, and the LED carved a narrow path through the darkness.

Empty.

A growl came from their left, and James swung the camera towards it.

Nothing.

Something rustled behind them, and he turned again.

Absolutely fucking nothing.

James’ pulse thundered in his ears. Every time they looked towards a noise, another came from somewhere else. Left, right, behind. Closer each time. Whatever was out there wasn’t simply moving around them. It knew they were looking for it.

James’ skin went cold. “I think it’s playing with us,” he whispered.

For once, Ollie didn’t have a smart response.