The Threshold

Eden had only taken four steps when her phone buzzed in her jacket pocket, she took it out, intending to silence the call and continue, she saw the name flashing across the screen and gave an exaggerated sigh. "Aunt Lydia?"

"Eidie, Thank god you answered" Her aunt's tone was clipped and sharp, already reprimanding her. "Ava told me where you've gone, please, please tell me it isn't true"

Eden's jaw tightened immediately, yet another betrayal from her so called sister, would it ever end? "Of course she did" she replied icily.

"Don't start with that tone, I'm not calling to have an argument, I'm calling because I care, what you're doing isn't safe.. didn't you hear on the news about those hikers a few weeks ago? 6 young men went missing on the trail. Rescue teams worked for 2 weeks and didn't find a single clue to there whereabouts, the found nothing Eden"

"Well that was them, you know I'm a responsible person and I have experience in this terrain, I know these paths, its perfectly safe"

"You DONT know the mountains, Not really" Lydia's tone dropped almost to a whisper, Eden almost had to strain her ears to catch exactly what she was saying, fear caressing her words "It isn't just mountaineering accidents and bumps and broken bones like a usual hiking trail. There are... stories. People have been vanishing, without a trace for years in that place. Only a few have come back, and they're, well they're different, not the same people they were when they went.. The things people have said they've experienced there, Shadows of people hiding behind the trees, watching them.... Voices calling to them in the night and footsteps around their campsite. It's not a place you should be, certainly not alone"

Eden almost snorted, she let out a disbelieving chuckle "Since when did you start believing in ghost stories Aunt Liddy?, that's not like you at all. I thought you were a skeptic"

"I don't believe in ghost stories, but I do believe in warnings from the universe" Lydia's voice cracked suddenly with emotion that Eden did not expect to hear "And with everything youve been through over the last week or so... I know Ben and Ava"

"DONT" the word cut sharp, coming out louder than she intended it to. "Don't say their names, especially not together like that, You don't know what its like, you don't know how I'm feeling right now. I had to get out of the house Aunt Liddy, I had to, I couldn't be there, so yes I came here. Because this is the only place that I've ever felt true peace, its the only place that has ever felt like a home to me, even when I thought I was happy.... besides I've been here dozens of times and nothing bad has ever happend" Eden tried to add a reassuring edge to her voice.

"Yes I know Hun but that's what worries me" Lydia whispered. "The mountains, they seem to call to you in a way that some of the survivors have described.."people.....van....co..home...can...hea...m"

Lydia's voice crackled into static, then the line went completely dead, No signal.

Eden stared at the screen until it dimmed. her pulse quickening after hearing how genuinely worried her aunt seemed to be, but she was just being silly, after all Eden hat spent so much time here, it wasn't as dangerous as people made it out to be,. She slid her pack off of her back and put her phone inside, there was no point in carrying it anymore as she had now reached the dead zone for signal. She carried on walking, towards the thickening trees that butted up either side of the now narrowing trail, the trail seeming to become increasingly darker as she reached the true beginning of the loop. 2 more steps and the forest swallowed her whole.

She had been walking leisurely for around 3 hours, stopping occasionally for a sip of water or a stretch, she began keeping a close eye out for somewhere suitable to make camp for the evening, realising how quickly she was getting tired, it had been too long. She pressed forward into the darkest section of trees she had seen so far, the trail becoming increasingly more rugged.

The silence hit her first, Heavy and alive, like stepping into another world and leaving her old one behind, Eden took a deep breath through her nose as she continued her steady pace. The air was cool and damp, the smell of moss and wet stone, laced with the tiniest trace of sweet sap. The perfect silence enveloped her like a warm and welcome hug, no hum of traffic, no distant sounds of snatched conversation coming from 10 different directions. Only the crunch of earth under hear feet and the sound of branches creaking in the breeze.

The anxiety and pain in her chest loosened almost instantly, despite herself. Aunt Lydia's warnings clung to her subconscious like cobwebs, but they were no match for what Eden felt here. This wasn't dangerous and menacing, this was peace and serenity, this was what it felt like to belong.

And yet, the familiar feeling of eyes on her back came to the forefront of her mind.

Eden pressed on, ignoring the negative feelings and tried to focus on the positives. Suddenly the sound of her boots hitting the earth with every step seemed unnaturally loud against the quiet of the forest. As she got deeper, the trail became darker, shadows seemed to bend and stretch, as though the trees themself were leaving closer to get a good look at her, but somehow it didn't feel ominous, it felt... expected.

A flicker of movement caught the corner of her vision, something blacker than the darkness itself moving against the stillness of the trees. She stopped, heart suddenly beating an unnatural rhythm.

She was being stupid, Lydia got into her head that was what she told herself.

Wishing she had never answered the phone to her aunt, Eden forced herself to keep walking, though the irregular beat of her heart didn't seem to settle down, 15 more minutes she walked, focusing on keeping her breaths even and trying to slow her heart, eventually she managed to calm herself, focusing on the smell of fresh pine and the sound of birds in the trees. As she continued walking she realised her panic had subsided, the irrational heart palpitations coming to a close she suddenly noticed that familiar aching pull in her chest was growing stronger, like an invisible steel thread, pulling her ever onward.

By the time the trail had begun to slope slightly upwards, she found a small clearing tucked just beyond the tree line, cosy in size but with just enough of a break in the trees to allow some sky to be visible overhead, sheilded on three sides by beautiful pine trees with a good flat surface, She released a sigh of relief, glad to have found somewhere appropriate before having to ascend, she was desperate to just sit and enjoy the atmosphere of the Mountain forests.

She slipped off her pack and placed it at her feet, allowing herself a stretch and a small drink, she knelt to unload her tent, reaching into her pack.... and then.

"Eden"

The voice was soft, almost affectionate, curling against her ear like the breath of a lover.

Her body went rigid. Slowly, ever so slowly she raised her head, scanning the trees. Nothing, just the same still trunks and branches swaying gently overheard, a lone owl in a nearby tree... but nothing that could've spoken.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, goose bumps erupting all over her body, reaching her scalp, a tingling sensation running through her... and then she realised. She knew that voice. Not from waking life, but from the nights she had filled page after page in her diary, desperate to capture scraps of half forgotten dreams.

That same voice had threaded through her dreams for months, calling to her. She had never told a soul. Not her aunt Lydia, not Ben or any of her friends.... Not even the words she wrote I her diary could capture the way that voice wrapped around her name.

And now, whatever it was, it was here, breathing into her ear in the awakened world. was she really awake? usualy she knew if she was asleep... this didn't feel like a dream.

Her skin prickled cold as she realised the truth, she had carried her dreams into reality and walked straight into it.

Instinctively, as though it was a soul deep knowing, she realised she wasn't alone.... and whatever or whoever was following her.. Eden had the feeling...terrifying though it was,... this thing, it wanted her.