The forests of West Virginia were a labyrinth of shadows and whispers, a place where the wind seemed to carry ancient laments. Cassian moved silently between the trees, following Francine's trail: disordered footprints in the damp earth and broken branches that betrayed her desperate flight. The stench of sulfur grew stronger with every step, mixed with a metallic smell he recognized as fresh blood. Then he saw her: Francine, crouched behind a fallen log, her face pale and her eyes wide with terror as a barbed wire approached her neck, held by a disfigured and grotesque figure. Sawtooth, his scarred skin and twisted smile unmistakable, was about to close the trap.
Cassian didn't hesitate. With a cold and calculated movement, he pulled a vial of holy water from his bag and threw it at the cannibal. The liquid splashed across his face, and a nauseating sizzle filled the air as his skin bubbled as if on fire. Sawtooth let out an inhuman roar, releasing the wire, and Cassian seized the moment to leap at him. His ceremonial dagger, engraved with sacred symbols, sank into the monster's chest with a dull thud. The cannibal fell to his knees, but he didn't die; his eyes glowed with a fury that wasn't entirely human before he stumbled back into the trees.
Cassian turned to Francine, who stared at him with a mix of terror and confusion, her ragged breathing echoing in the silence.
"Who… who are you?" she stammered, her trembling voice barely audible as she clung to the log. "What was that? What are you?"
He knelt before her, his face serene but firm, wiping the dagger clean with a cloth he pulled from his bag.
"I'm Cassian. You don't need to know more for now. You're alive, and that's what matters. Where are your friends?"
Francine swallowed hard, her hands trembling as she pointed north.
"They… they went looking for help. Evan… oh God, Evan is dead. I saw it… his head… I… I don't know what happened after that, I just ran. I think they went toward a cabin or something. Please, you have to help me. I don't want to die here."
Cassian studied her for a moment, his calm but piercing eyes assessing her.
"You're not going to die. Not while I'm here. Get up and follow me. Stay quiet, don't look back. Do you understand?"
She nodded frantically, struggling to her feet. Cassian led her through the forest, his confident stride contrasting with Francine's clumsy stumbles. As they advanced, the sound of snapping branches and a fetid stench reached them: they were close to something, or something was close to them.
A few kilometers away, Chris, Jessie, Carly, and Scott burst into an isolated cabin, their faces pale as they took in the interior: walls covered in rusted tools, car keys hanging like trophies, and a pile of human remains stacked in a corner next to rolls of bloodied wire. Jessie covered her mouth, stifling a scream.
"My God, what is this place?" Carly whispered, her trembling voice breaking as she looked at a severed hand on the floor. "This isn't normal. We need to get out of here now."
Chris, frowning, checked the back door.
"We can't go back the way we came. That wire wasn't there by accident. Someone… or something… brought us here. We need a plan."
Scott, more pragmatic, picked up a bow leaning against the wall.
"Well, if they come for us, I'm not going down without a fight. Jessie, Carly, look for anything we can use. Chris, watch the window."
Before they could organize, the sound of heavy footsteps and guttural growls silenced them. The cannibals—Sawtooth, One-Eye, and Three Fingers—entered dragging Evan's mutilated corpse, their deformed laughter filling the cabin. The group hid in panic: Chris and Jessie under a rotten bed, Carly and Scott behind a pile of junk. From there, they watched as the cannibals threw Evan's body onto a table and began carving it with rusty knives, devouring raw chunks while blood splattered the floor.
Outside, Cassian and Francine reached the edge of the clearing where the cabin stood. He raised a hand to stop her, his eyes scanning the scene with icy calm.
"Stay here," he ordered in a low voice, pulling a vial from his bag and cutting his palm with the dagger. Blood dripped to the ground as he traced a circle around her, murmuring in Latin: "In nomine Domini, te protego. Nullum malum te tanget. Don't leave this circle, no matter what happens. Do you understand?"
Francine stared at him, paralyzed, but managed to nod.
"What are you going to do? Those… those monsters… they're not human. You can't face them alone."
"I'm not alone," Cassian replied, adjusting his crucifix. "I never am. Now stay still and quiet."
Inside the cabin, the horror reached its climax. When the cannibals finished with Evan, Sawtooth sniffed the air, his deformed eyes narrowing. He detected something. The hikers tried to escape silently, but a floorboard creaked under Carly's foot, and the cannibal roared, alerting the others. A chaotic chase ensued: Jessie, Carly, Chris, and Scott ran into the woods, with the cannibals hot on their heels.
Cassian emerged from the shadows like a vengeful specter. With a precise movement, he stabbed One-Eye in the back, the dagger sinking to the hilt. The cannibal growled and turned, but Cassian was already out of reach, allowing Jessie, Carly, and Chris to run past. Scott, however, wasn't so lucky: Three Fingers fired his bow, and three arrows pierced his back, sending him crashing to the ground with a choked scream.
Jessie stopped, horrified.
"Scott! No, no, no… we have to go back for him!"
Chris grabbed her arm, panting.
"No time, Jessie. He's dead. Run!"
From a distance, Cassian faced Three Fingers. The cannibal attacked with a machete, but he dodged with icy precision, slicing off one of his fingers with a twist of his dagger. Three Fingers howled and fled, leaving a trail of black blood. Cassian didn't pursue him; instead, he returned to the circle where Francine trembled, unharmed.
In the forest, Chris, Jessie, and Carly stopped, exhausted, as Cassian and Francine caught up. Jessie looked at him, her voice broken by fear and anger.
"Who the hell are you? Where did you come from? Scott is dead because of those… things! What's happening here?"
Cassian wiped the blood from his dagger with the cloth, his face impassive as he responded.
"I'm Cassian. I'm here to stop whatever haunts this place. Your friends are alive for now, but I can't promise anything if you don't listen to me. Those aren't ordinary men. There's something else inside them, something I know well."
Carly, tears in her eyes, stepped closer to him.
"Something else? What do you mean? What were those things? They ate Evan like he was an animal! What do we do now?"
Cassian sheathed his dagger, his tone calm but authoritative.
"They're possessed bodies, corrupted by an ancient evil. They don't die easily, but they can be stopped. For now, we regroup and find a safe place. Follow me, and stay together. This isn't over."
Chris, still panting, looked at him distrustfully.
"Why should we trust you? You appear out of nowhere, with a knife and… what was that stuff you threw at that guy? Water? Who are you really?"
Cassian met his gaze, his eyes like ice.
"I'm the one who got you out of that cabin. That should be enough for now. If you want answers, survive first. Move."
Without waiting for a reply, he led the way, guiding the group through the forest. Francine, Jessie, Carly, and Chris followed in silence, their hearts pounding with a mix of fear and hope, as the shadows of the cannibals faded into the distance—but not for long.