The next morning, Evelyn woke to find a package on her porch.
No delivery man. No note. Just a plain wooden box with brass hinges, sitting dead center on the doormat like it had always been there.
She hesitated before opening it.
Inside lay a folded white dress—simple, flowing, ceremonial. A crown of dried wildflowers. And a slip of parchment with just five words written in flawless ink:
> "Be ready by moonrise. – The Council"
---
Panic bloomed.
This wasn't just folklore. It wasn't metaphor. It was real. And the town was preparing her for it like it was some twisted wedding.
She stormed to the sheriff's office. Pounded on the door. Screamed through tears. "Tell me the truth! Who is he?! What the hell is in that forest?!"
Sheriff Darrell just looked at her with eyes full of tired grief. "We didn't choose you, girl. The woods did."
---
As the sun began to set, Evelyn returned home, breath shallow, rage simmering. She packed a bag. She was going to run—town, curse, beast be damned.
But when she turned the ignition in her car… nothing.
Dead.
She tried again.
Nothing.
She popped the hood, kicked the tire, screamed. No one came.
The woods around her swayed gently, whispering as if amused.
She tried to call someone. Anyone. But the signal was gone—completely. Even the radio only gave static now.
The forest wasn't letting her leave.
---
As twilight painted the sky in bruised purples and bleeding orange, Evelyn stood in front of the mirror, staring at the white dress.
She didn't want to wear it.
But something inside her whispered she had to.
Not for the town.
Not even for her grandmother.
But because whatever waited in the woods that night…
Would come regardless.
---
By moonrise, the air had shifted.
The silence was unnatural.
The wind stilled.
And then… they came.
Three hooded figures, carrying lanterns and chains. Evelyn stood on the porch in the white dress, barefoot, cold, terrified—but proud.
They didn't speak. They simply nodded and gestured for her to follow.
Down the dirt path. Past the old church. Through the graveyard. Into the trees.
No one in the town stopped them. No one watched. But she felt hundreds of eyes behind curtains and shutters—watching. Hoping. Regretting.
---
They led her to a stone altar deep within the forest.
A circle of symbols carved into the earth. Candles already lit. A pool of silver moonlight breaking through the canopy like a spotlight.
They bound her wrists—not tightly, but ceremonially. And placed the iron pendant around her neck again, though this time, it felt less like protection… and more like a farewell.
Then they left her.
Just like that.
Alone.
Waiting.
---
The trees groaned. The earth pulsed.
And then… she heard him.
A breath.
A footstep.
And from the darkness, he emerged.
Towering. Cloaked in shadows and silver.
Part man.
Part nightmare.
His voice came low and broken, like thunder cracking through bones.
> "You are not like the others."
He stepped forward, into the light.
And Evelyn saw the beast for the first time.
And knew—
This was no monster.
This was a man who had once loved… and been destroyed.
---