"Sometimes they only find clothes. I don't know for sure who dwells there. Maybe a vampire. Or maybe something worse."
Gina asked quietly, without slowing her pace:
"And are we... going there?"
"Yes," David replied.
"Today we are only going to get close and watch. I want you to see what a real enemy looks like."
"I want you to memorize the smell, the sounds, the feeling. So that when the moment comes, you can defend yourselves."
He stopped for a second and turned to the children. His face looked grim in the faint moonlight.
"In the forest, you cannot trust the silence. If it gets too quiet, it means someone is already listening to you. If you hear footsteps, don't run immediately. Determine who it is. Only then decide whether to run or fight."
Ethan nodded silently. Images of the cabin, the missing people, and eyes watching from the darkness swirled in his head.
Gina, walking beside him, gave him a light smack on the back.
"Scared?" she whispered.
Ethan gave a small start and shot his sister a sarcastic look.
They were already quite deep in the forest. David led the way.
"Rule number one," he began without looking back.
"Never enter the forest alone or without backup. Never. Even if you think you know the way."
Gina followed her father, listening intently. Ethan brought up the rear, trying to step exactly in his sister's footprints.
"Rule number two," David continued.
"If you hear a whisper... or someone calling your name... do not answer. Not a word. Even if the voice sounds very much like mine or Mom's."
"Just freeze and wait. It's a common lure; that's how they hunt."
Ethan felt a chill run down his spine. He involuntarily glanced back at the dark passage between the trees. Suddenly, it felt as though someone was following them.
Father paused to let a branch pass and continued:
"Rule number three. Silver and salt don't work on everyone. On vampires, yes. On some others too. But there are creatures worse than vampires. Werewolves. Forest witches. Hungry spirits. And those we call the 'Cursed Pillars'."
At those words, Gina flinched slightly. Ethan swallowed hard.
"What are 'Cursed Pillars'?" Ethan asked quietly.
David stopped for a second and turned to his son. In the faint moonlight, his face looked extremely serious.
"They are humans who have suffered a vampire's curse. They stand motionless, staring at the sky and waiting. And when someone gets too close... they start to move. And then you'd better run. Even I don't know exactly what they are; they are very ancient."
He paused and added:
"They can't be killed with ordinary weapons. Neither silver nor salt. Some say they can't be killed at all."
Ethan swallowed. The forest around them suddenly seemed much more alive and hostile. Every rustle of a branch, every snap underfoot made him jump.
Gina, trying to maintain a cheerful tone, asked:
"And could we... meet one of them today?"
David shook his head.
"Today, possibly. We are going to see the cabin; it might be a Pillar or a whole pack. But you must know that there aren't just them in this forest. And some of them are much worse."
He turned again and moved on.
"Stay close and remember the rules. They might save your lives."
Ethan followed, gripping the strap of his pistol holster tightly. Gina walked slightly ahead, stepping confidently along the forest trail. In her right hand, she gripped the handle of her pistol, her finger resting beside the trigger, not on it. Her voice cut through the silence of the forest, though she spoke softly:
"Why are some worse than vampires? Who are they?"
David followed her, not breaking his pace. He exhaled heavily, his breath hanging like steam in the cold air.
"Vampires are predators with a mind," he answered.
"They can think, bargain, and keep agreements if it benefits them. But in this forest live creatures that just want to feast. They don't know the words 'agreement' or 'pact'."
"To them, we are meat. They won't wait for you to give blood; they'll just take everything."
Ethan walked last, listening to every word. They walked for another forty minutes. Finally, the trees thinned, and a small clearing by a quiet stream opened up before them.
At the edge of the clearing stood an abandoned cabin.
It looked as if it hadn't been touched by a human hand for many years. The darkened log walls were covered in moss and lichen. The roof had collapsed in the middle, exposing rotten beams. The windows were boarded up with old, cracked planks. A rusty lock hung on the slanted door, but it was broken; the shackle hung from a single hinge, as if someone had brutally torn it off.
Desolation radiated from the cabin. Even the nearby stream seemed too quiet, as if it weren't even there. David stopped and raised his hand, halting the children.
"There it is," he said quietly.
"That very cabin."
He looked at his son and daughter.
"We're just going to look. But remember this place. And remember the feeling. Something lives here... I don't even know what."
Gina gripped the handle of her pistol tighter. Ethan stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the dark windows of the cabin. It seemed to him that something had moved behind one of the planks.
The forest around them went silent.
They stepped out into the small clearing by the stream, and the cabin stood before them in all its grim neglect.
Around the old log house, the ground was strangely trampled,not just packed down by feet, but as if someone or something had circled here through long nights, leaving behind haphazard, deep dents and furrows.