My name is Sarah, and I thought I had lost everything when my son, Tommy, disappeared in the woods behind our house. It was supposed to be just another ordinary day, with Tommy playing outside while I tended to the garden. But when I called out for him to come inside, there was no response.
Desperate, I searched the woods, calling his name, but the only sound was the rustling of leaves and the distant howl of the wind. As night fell, I was forced to return home, a sense of dread filling me as I contacted the authorities.
The search for Tommy lasted all night, but it wasn’t until the next morning that my prayers were answered. As I stood at the edge of the woods, I saw him walking towards me, unharmed and seemingly unfazed by his disappearance. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Tommy, where have you been?” I asked, tears streaming down my face as I hugged him tightly.
“I don’t know, Mom,” he replied, his voice distant and hollow. “I just remember walking, and then I was here.”
Over the next few days, I noticed unsettling changes in my son. Tommy had always been a bright, cheerful boy, but now he was sullen and withdrawn. He barely spoke, and when he did, his words were cold and detached. At night, I would hear strange noises coming from his room, as if he were whispering to someone in the dark.
One evening, I mustered the courage to confront him. “Tommy, is there something wrong? You can talk to me,” I said gently, hoping to reach the boy I knew was still in there.
His eyes seemed to bore into my soul as he replied, “I’m fine, Mom. Just leave me alone.”
Determined to understand what had happened to my son, I ventured into the woods, following the path Tommy must have taken. As I walked deeper into the forest, I stumbled upon a clearing, where a circle of ancient, twisted trees surrounded a dark, murky pool.
As I approached the pool, I saw something that would haunt me forever. The reflection in the water revealed a monstrous, shadowy creature, its eyes empty and lifeless. The creature seemed to be mimicking Tommy’s every movement, as if it were controlling him like a puppet.
I knew I had to free my son from the grasp of this dark entity, whatever it was. I searched for answers, poring over ancient texts and consulting with occult experts. They all warned me of the danger, but I couldn’t abandon my child to this nightmare.
One night, I performed a ritual to confront the creature and banish it from our lives. As I chanted the incantations, the wind howled and the room grew cold. A chilling voice echoed through the air, “You cannot save him. He is mine.”
Refusing to back down, I continued the ritual, determined to free Tommy from the creature’s grip. But as the ritual reached its climax, I realized the terrible truth. The entity had anchored itself to my son, and severing their connection would mean losing Tommy forever.
I was faced with an impossible choice: leave my son to live a life controlled by the darkness, or sacrifice him to free him from the creature’s hold. With a broken heart, I made the decision that no mother should ever have to make.
As I spoke the final words of the ritual, I watched in horror as
As I spoke the final words of the ritual, I watched in horror as the shadowy creature writhed and screamed, its grip on Tommy weakening. The room filled with an unbearable, otherworldly screeching, and I could see the pain and fear in Tommy’s eyes.
“Mom, please, don’t!” he cried out, reaching for me. But I knew what had to be done.
“I love you, Tommy,” I whispered through my tears, my heart shattering in my chest.
As the ritual came to an end, the creature let out one final, guttural scream before dissipating into the darkness, its connection to my son severed. In that instant, the life drained from Tommy’s eyes, and his small body fell limp in my arms.
The unbearable weight of my decision bore down on me as I cradled my son, consumed by grief and guilt. I had saved him from a life of darkness, but at the cost of losing him forever.
The shadows of the woods seemed to close in around our home, a constant reminder of the terrible choice I had made. I was left with only the memories of the boy I had loved and lost, and the knowledge that, for him, the darkness had finally been vanquished.