Chapter 1: The Thing in the Forest

The deer wouldn’t die.  

It should have. The ranger emptied his whole clip into it. Chest, neck, head. But the thing just kept twitching on the forest floor, three miles outside Los Angeles, steam hissing from the holes in its fur.  

Then it stood up.  

Its eyes were wrong. Not glassy. Not dead. Red. Like someone poured hot coals into the sockets and they were still burning.  

The ranger backed up. His radio crackled. “Dispatch, we got a situation at the meteor site. The wildlife’s—”  

The deer moved. Not like a deer. Like a puppet with cut strings, jerking sideways. Its jaw unhinged too far, too wide, splitting the skin at the corners of its mouth with a wet sound.  

The last thing the radio recorded was screaming.  

Then static.  

Three Weeks Earlier  

Arthur Johnson hated Tuesdays.  

Not because of math class. Tuesdays were bad because of Kevin Shaw. And because the hallway always got crowded near the cheer banners, where she was.  

Sophia Evans.  

Student Council President. Head cheerleader. Pink-blonde hair, blue eyes. The kind of girl who made the air shift when she walked past. Every guy in school wanted her attention.  

Arthur kept his head down when he passed her locker. He always did. She’d never spoken to him. Not once. He was invisible to her. Just another face in the crowd.  

And that was fine. Safer that way.  

“Yo, Johnson.” Kevin’s sneaker pressed down on Arthur’s backpack. “Coach says you’re off track team. Too slow.”  

Arthur didn’t look up. Headshot. Reload. Push site. Semifinals. If they won, they’d face her team in the finals.  

Aiko_Tanaka.  

#1 ranked leader in the tournament. Undefeated. Her squad dismantled pro teams for content. Two nights ago she messaged him after his 1v4 clutch: Not bad, Arthur Johnson. Try not to choke when we meet in finals :)  

Taunt. Challenge. Not flirt. She was the final boss. The only person online who treated him like a threat instead of a joke. Arthur respected that.  

“Earth to loser.” Kevin knocked the phone out of Arthur’s hands.  

“Leave him alone, Kevin.”  

Maggie Wilson shoved between them. His best friend since they were 8. The only person who sat with him at lunch without pity.  

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Your boyfriend’s pathetic, Wilson.”  

“He’s not my—” Maggie cut herself off, cheeks pink. She picked up Arthur’s phone, checked the crack. “You good?”  

Arthur nodded. “I’m fine.”  

She didn’t buy it. She never did. But the bell rang before she could lecture him. Chemistry.  

Mr. Grant tapped the smartboard. “Pop quiz today. But first, current events. Anyone catch the news?”  

“ The meteor thing?” a kid asked.  

“NASA confirmed. Small meteorite. Angeles National Forest. No danger. Just a rock.” Mr. Grant shrugged. “No aliens, sorry.”  

The class laughed.  

Arthur glanced out the window. Past the football field. Toward the trees.  

Birds. Hundreds. Flying away from the forest. All at once. Like something under the canopy had exhaled and scared the sky.  

Maggie noticed too. She frowned. “That’s… weird.”  

Arthur’s grip on his pencil didn’t change. Steady.