There are many places in the world where there is no silence. The wrong silence kills.
When Emily got off the bus The coldness in the air made her skin crawl. It wasn't from the storm or the cold that was covering it. The cold sinks into your bones and makes you wonder if it might be something more than just temperature.
Hollow is a village that most people know only by name. It is not on any main map. And no one clearly knows its history. Located deep in the forest And is famous for... Go out, some say it's a ghost. Some people say they are cursed. But it has one feature that cannot be denied. That is, it is always quiet. Too quiet for comfort
Emily doesn't believe in curses or ghosts. She's not that kind of person. Her mission was simple enough—record the city's history. and took pictures of the articles she was working on It can be a daily job. Easy stop on the way through the Midwest.
But from the moment she stepped onto the cracked, moss-covered road, She knew something was wrong.
Her footsteps were too loud, too sharp, for such a small town. There was an eerie silence in that place, no birds, no insects buzzing. Even the trees seemed to be holding their breath. The air seemed thick, as if he had absorbed a secret for years—a secret that was now waiting to be heard.
Emily tried to get rid of this feeling. By telling yourself that it was just a quiet place. But the longer she walked The sound became more unstable. It was as if the world had turned its back on the hole. Leave it abandoned, forgotten, and alone.
She walked past an old house. A few houses had plank windows, peeling paint, and roofs that had deteriorated over time. A few stray dogs were lying on the road. Their eyes were wide and unblinking. It was as if they saw things that no living creature should see. They didn't bark or growl. They just looked at her with an unsettling intensity. Then they decided early on. That she wasn't worthy of their attention.
It was a strange feeling to see her thoughts hanging on the edge. It was as if the house, the trees, even the ground beneath her feet were all holding their breath-waiting for something to happen.
As she reached the metropolis rectangular, a chill ran via her as she noticed an old guy sitting on a bench inside the center. His eyes were extensive, unblinking, fixed on her like he were anticipating her. His face become faded, nearly waxen, and his clothes looked like they belonged to any other generation—possibly another century. A extraordinary grayish tint lingered within the air round him, making the gap appear unnaturally nevertheless.
Emily paused for a moment, thinking if she must approach, but the appearance in his eyes made her hesitant. His mouth twitched, the barest hint of a smile curling at the edges of his lips.
"Visitor," the vintage man croaked, his voice raspy, as though it were years because it were used. "You should leave. It's no longer secure here."
Her heart skipped a beat. She wasn’t positive if he became mad or if there was some thing she wasn’t seeing, however the atypical sense of dread in the pit of her belly grew more potent.
Not safe?" she requested, her voice betraying a hint of anxiousness. "What do you mean?"
He chuckled, a dry, hole sound that regarded to echo round her within the unnatural silence.
"You’ll recognize soon sufficient, child," he stated, his eyes glinting with an unsettling knowingness. "The Hollow doesn’t allow humans go away."And just like that, as if the world itself had been retaining its breath, a gentle whisper drifted through the air. It become slightly audible, however unmistakable.
“Leave. Leave now.”
Emily froze. The whisper came from nowhere, but it seemed to be all round her, winding via the bushes, creeping into her thoughts.
Her pulse quickened. This wasn’t just quiet. This wasn’t only a few small town inside the middle of nowhere. There became something else here—some thing darker, some thing historic.
Before she ought to reply to the antique guy, the whisper back, this time louder, extra pressing.
“Leave earlier than it’s too late.”