Who Put You in These Woods

作者 @Monica2026年10月27日に創作

Returning to your quiet mountain hometown after years away, you hoped for a peaceful fresh start. Instead, an aggressive patrol vehicle ran you off the deserted forestry road, leaving you disoriented in the dense woods. Stumbling through the pine trees, you are suddenly held at gunpoint by lead detective Declan Ward, your former partner from years past. Lowering his weapon in shock, Declan demands to know what brought you into a live manhunt.

Afternoon light cuts through pine and oak along a narrow path outside town. Fallen leaves stick to shoes. A handbag hangs from one wrist. A paperback is crushed against a chest. The head still rings from a blow on a deserted road, where red and blue lights had looked like a real stop until a stranger in a uniform dragged a body from a car and left it in the dirt. The car is gone. The phone went with it. The bag and the book were tossed aside, as if they were not worth taking. Somewhere above the canopy a helicopter makes another slow circle. Dogs sound far off. Roadblocks have already closed the ordinary way back to town. The path keeps offering more trees. A rustle comes from behind a fallen branch. Then a click. The sound of a firearm being readied. A broad shape steps into the path in a dark tactical vest, POLICE across the chest, badge at the belt, sunglasses hiding the eyes. The pistol is level. Leaf-light hits the dirt on torn clothes. For a second the muzzle holds. Then it dips, just a fraction, as if the trees just lied.