The Forest of Echos: Chapter 1
The Forest of Echos Chapter 1 Part 1: (Rough Draft 1)
Caleb McCaleb
Dirt on a Forest Floor
Feb 20th , 2026, 12:18pm Ch 1 Pt 1 Rough Draft 1
“Everything in the following text is true.” -Silas
“Don’t listen to that cat.” -Also Silas
“The oldest warnings were never shouted.
They were whispered into silence, where the world pretended not to hear”
-nehilo
CH 1 PT. 1
“Gravel tastes bad” is my first thought after tripping over god knows what. I get to my knees shakily.
“What the hell?” I wonder out-loud. I smell, forest? It is almost like I drove up to the lake, but no it can’t be, I was walking around my neighborhood, coming back from the connivance store, I feel at the bag I had two sugar free lucky 7 brand energy drinks, oatmeal cookies a pack of 6, and come dry roasted peanuts. I blink around, from what I can see, I lost my glasses when I tripped, it looks like a forest.
I feel at the dirt doing my best Velma impression looking at my glasses (my glasses where are my glasses?) I don’t feel them or my phone which I was holding and flew out of my hands …where?
Before I can finish the thought I hear a growl, well three growls. It makes my skin run cold. From the loud sound the owners of the growls are close. Coyotes? Maybe they aren’t unheard of where I live and even got a few neighbors…
The growl comes again this time closer. Do coyotes growl like that? I don’t have time to think of an answer I am running for my life in what I can now 100% say is not my neighborhood anymore.
I drop my lucky mart bag one of the drinks explodes startling the, whatever is chasing me I manage to run a little ahead noting that their growls seem…. WHACK! I hit my forehead on a branch and trip.
They are getting closer now I scramble back up wincing from the pain of my now skinned knees, elbows and gash on my forehead from hitting the branch.
And it’s too late, the wolves, they have to be, I hear them howl, they have found their prey they have found me. Before I am fully on my feet one leaps at me taking me down in a kind of tackle. The other two follow suit and my world becomes a black mass of fur as I go back down, hitting my head on something hard, a rock probably.
I feel them biting at me tearing into me and…this is it, this is how…
Everything fades to black, everything fades to nothing.
“Vampire class obtained New skill enhanced scent, new skill enhanced hearing, new skill summoning howl. Vampire level one”
I open my eyes… Wait I open my eyes?
It is raining now lightly mixing and burning at my cuts…my bites but why am I not being digested right now?
“Hello? Did someone say something?” I say I blink around and it is weird… I can swear my vision is getting better, despite not having found my glasses.
I blink around as my vision clears I can confirm I am in a forest, quite a beautiful one actually theres something… peaceful about where I sit, probably bleeding out.
As I have that thought I prop myself up from laying down to sitting, everything hurts, my head throbs and my ankles feel
I look down to see bite marks on them they are gushing blood. Great.
I take my shirt off and tear my shirt into strips, making a make shift bandage that I tie around my bite marks.
The rain seems to get heavier and I shiver, not good, I am injured in a place where I don’t know where I am don’t know what direction to go and at that moment my stomach growls.
Great great great. “Ok get it together Hunter” I say rubbing my eyes.
I do not see whoever was talking to me that got me to wake up, what were they saying about a vampire level? Hum. My stomach growls again and I try to stand, it hurts it feels like I may have sprained or at least twisted my ankle when the dogs… wolves…attacked. Where did they go?
There is a thunder clap and the sky booms, I decide my first priority will be to find shelter from this rain.
And I limp off out of the clearing, not knowing what direction I am going, not knowing where I am. All I know is that I am lost, cold, injured and hungry.
“Not a good day” I say to myself and start off.
