hollow ones

…They gave you a name skull, didn't they? I nodded, jaw locked, knuckles white on the steering wheel. That means they're keeping track. You're marked now. That's not a warning anymore. That's a countdown. There's a term the locals use, hollow ones. They don't call them skinwalkers or wendigos or demons, just hollow ones. Because that's what they are, empty.…

…Souls, maybe. Nolan told me they've been showing up for centuries. Usually when someone breaks the rule. Sometimes it's a hiker. Sometimes it's a hunter. Sometimes, like this time, it's a dumb city transplant who thinks he's found peace in a place that doesn't want him. The hollow ones don't always come in numbers. But when they do, it means they're prepari…

…They don't call them skinwalkers or wendigos or demons, just hollow ones. Because that's what they are, empty. Vessels for something that doesn't belong in this world. Things that slip through when the veil thins. Old forest spirits turned feral, or maybe something older than spirits. Whatever they are, they collect. Not for food. Not for trophies. Just to…