LUKE MILLER WAS A SHY YOUNGSTER WHO WAS MORE WELL-KNOWN AMONG HIS PEERS FOR HIS COLLECTION OF STRANGE ROCKS AND HIS WHISPERED STORIES THAN FOR ANY MISBEHAVIOR. ALL OF THAT, HOWEVER, CHANGED ON A CRISP OCTOBER EVENING IN 2008 WHEN HE BECAME EMBROILED IN A HEATED DISPUTE WITH HIS PARENTS THAT SENT HIM RUNNING INTO THE NIGHT AND OUT OF THEIR TINY SUBURBAN HOME.
HE SLAMMED THE DOOR BEHIND HIM, YELLING, "I'M SICK OF THIS!" LUKE WAS TOO FURIOUS TO HEAR HIS MOTHER'S PLEADINGS FOR HIM TO RETURN. WITH EVERY ENRAGED STEP, HIS CURLY BLACK HAIR BOUNCED AS HE DASHED INTO THE DARKNESS. HE WAS GOING NOWHERE IN PARTICULAR.
THE EDGE OF THE FOREST WASN'T FAR FROM THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, AND LUKE SOON FOUND HIMSELF IN MIDDLE OF NOWHERE BETWEEN A LOTS OF TREES.... NOTHING BUT TALL TREES WHICH WAS CONSUMING THE MOON LIGHT. THE WIND WHISPERED THROUGH THE BRANCHES, AND THE FAINT LIGHT FROM THE STREETLAMPS QUICKLY FADED BEHIND HIM. HE GOES DEEPER INTO THE WOODS, HIS ANGER FUELING HIS PACE.
BUT AS THE MINUTES PASSED AND THE MOON ROSE HIGHER, HIS ANGER BEGAN TO FADE AND GET REPLACED BY A GROWING SENSE OF FEAR. THE DARKNESS WAS THICKER THAN HE HAD IMAGINED, AND THE SILHOUETTES OF THE TREES TWISTED INTO STRANGE SHAPES. " OKAY, CALM DOWN," HE MUTTERED TO HIMSELF. "JUST FIND YOUR WAY BACK." BUT EVERY DIRECTION HE TRIED SEEMED TO LEAD HIM DEEPER INTO THE WOODS. THE TREES SEEMED TO CLOSE IN, THEIR BRANCHES REACHING OUT LIKE THEY WERE TRYING TO TRAP HIM.
THEN, A FAINT RUSTLING SOUND CAUGHT HIS ATTENTION. HE TURNED QUICKLY, EXPECTING TO SEE A DEER OR SOME OTHER FOREST CREATURE, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING THERE. HE CONTINUED WALKING, HIS PACE QUICKENING, BUT THE RUSTLING GREW LOUDER, AS IF SOMETHING WAS FOLLOWING HIM, JUST OUT OF SIGHT.

"HELLO?" HE CALLED OUT, BUT HIS VOICE WAS SWALLOWED BY THE DARKNESS.

IT WAS THEN THAT HE SAW IT...... A TALL FIGURE STANDING AMONG THE TREES. THE FIGURE WORE A BLACK COAT AND PANTS, WITH A RED TIE THAT SEEMED TO GLOW IN THE MOONLIGHT. BUT THE MOST UNNERVING THING ABOUT THE FIGURE WAS ITS FACE, OR RATHER, THE LACK THEREOF. IT HAD NO DISCERNIBLE FEATURES, JUST A SMOOTH, PALE SURFACE WHERE EYES AND A MOUTH SHOULD BE.
LUKE'S HEART LEAPT TO HIS THROAT. THE FIGURE HAD NO FACE JUST SMOOTH, PALE SKIN WHERE A FACE SHOULD BE. HE FROZE, UNSURE WHETHER TO SCREAM OR RUN, BUT THE FIGURE DIDN'T MOVE. IT JUST STOOD THERE, WATCHING HIM, OR AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT IT FELT LIKE.
LUKE'S HEART RACED AS HE TRIED TO RUN, BUT EACH TIME HE GLANCED BACK, THE FIGURE WAS CLOSER. IT NEVER MOVED WHILE HE LOOKED AT IT, BUT WITH EVERY BLINK, IT SEEMED TO GAIN GROUND. HE DARTED THROUGH THE TREES, STUMBLING OVER ROOTS AND CRASHING THROUGH BUSHES, BUT NO MATTER HOW FAST HE RAN, THE FACELESS MAN WAS ALWAYS JUST A STEP BEHIND.
THE FOREST SEEMED TO STRETCH ON FOREVER, AND LUKE'S BREATHS GREW RAGGED WITH EXHAUSTION. HE FELT HIS LEGS WEAKENING, HIS ENERGY DRAINING. THE DARKNESS SEEMED TO PRESS IN ON HIM, AND HE KNEW HE COULDN'T KEEP RUNNING. HE STUMBLED TO A HALT, HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE, HIS EYES WIDE WITH FEAR AS HE STARED AT THE FACELESS MAN, NOW ONLY A FEW FEET AWAY.
" HELP ! " HE WHISPERED, BUT THERE WAS NO ANSWER, JUST THE EERIE SILENCE OF THE FOREST. HE COULDN'T EVEN CRY BECAUSE OF FEAR HE HAD.... EVERY SEC THE FELL OF BEING CHOCKED BY THE FEAR WAS GETTING MORE BY HIM.
HIS CHEST HEAVED WITH EXERTION AND FEAR, AND HE KNEW HE COULDN'T KEEP THIS UP FOREVER. HE STUMBLED TO A HALT, COLLAPSING AGAINST A TREE, HIS EYES WIDE AS THE FIGURE CLOSED THE DISTANCE.
WHEN LUKE'S PARENTS CALLED THE POLICE, THEY FOUND NO TRACE OF THEIR SON. THE SEARCH PARTIES SCOURED THE WOODS FOR DAYS, BUT THE BOY WAS NEVER FOUND. HIS STORY BECAME A LOCAL LEGEND, A CAUTIONARY TALE FOR CHILDREN WHO WANDERED TOO FAR INTO THE FOREST AT NIGHT.
THE ONLY THING THEY FOUND WAS A SMALL ROCK WITH A PECULIAR PATTERN, SOMETHING THAT LUKE MIGHT HAVE PICKED UP ALONG HIS JOURNEY. IT SAT ON HIS PARENTS' MANTEL, A HAUNTING REMINDER OF THE SON THEY LOST TO THE DARKNESS.
AND THOSE WHO DARED VENTURE INTO THE FOREST AFTER DARK WHISPERED OF A TALL FIGURE IN A BLACK COAT, ALWAYS WATCHING, WAITING FOR THE NEXT TARGET...