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Victoria Prentice pulled her cardigan tighter around her shoulders, shivering against the cold night air. The wind whistled through the closely packed trees, like a wolf howling mournfully at the moon. Victoria had not planned on spending her Halloween this way. The full moon was the colour of copper, an eclipse. It wouldn芒聙聶t be long until it disappeared from sight completely, and when that happened it would be impossible to find her way back.

Her sister, Beatrice, was staggering along behind her, tripping on gnarled tree roots and forcing thick branches aside. This expedition into the Algrove Woods had been her idea, and Victoria planned on rubbing it in her face when they came back empty handed. Six people had disappeared in the woods in the past fortnight, and Beatrice was determined to find out why.

芒聙聹Sounds like the tree spirits are restless tonight, Bea,芒聙聺 Victoria commented, and the wind became a light breeze that blew gently through the forest canopy, causing them to rustle like hushed whispers.

芒聙聹Vic, how many times do I have to tell you that there are no such things?芒聙聺 Beatrice chimed in, shaking her head disapprovingly. 芒聙聹You芒聙聶ve been watching too many films.芒聙聺

芒聙聹I bet you it was the tree spirits that took them,芒聙聺 Victoria continued, oblivious to the interruption. 芒聙聹They probably want revenge on us for polluting their land.芒聙聺

Victoria would soon realize just how right she was.

They kept walking, going deeper and deeper into the heart of the woods. The moon was now partially obscured, reduced to the barest silver ribbon on the black velvet sky. As they went deeper into the woods, Victoria started noticing a difference in the trees. They became more sparsely gathered, with up to two metres between trees, and their trunks looked grey and weathered. The difference became more noticeable as they went further in, where some of the trees seemed to be decaying, their bleached white leaves scattered on the ground like bones.

The wind sounded different as well. Where before it had sounded distant and indistinct, now the whispers seemed closer, and they almost seemed to be forming words:

Turn back, turn back, escape while you still can, escape before we come for you.

Victoria spun round to face Beatrice, who was just fighting her way through a drift of rotting leaves.

芒聙聹Bea, we have to get out of here, now!芒聙聺 she whispered, as if worried that she would be overheard.

芒聙聹Don芒聙聶t be ridiculous, Vic,芒聙聺 Beatrice argued, stepping over a crumbling root. 芒聙聹We芒聙聶re getting close now, I know it.芒聙聺

芒聙聹But listen to them!芒聙聺 Victoria said as the whispers increased in volume. 芒聙聹They want us out, so let芒聙聶s get out!芒聙聺

芒聙聹For the last time, Vic, there are no such things as tree spirits!芒聙聺

As soon as she completed that sentence, it was suddenly deathly quiet, the whispers had stopped, and the wind had been silenced. They stood still for a moment, startled by the sudden quiet, when the whispers started up again:

We are here, we are here, it芒聙聶s too late for running. We are coming for you, Victoria and Beatrice Prentice, we are coming.

The whispers continued, and a faint silver glow shone through the cracked bark of the trees. Victoria and Beatrice watched in awed horror as shapes started materializing from the wood. They were all living things, animals, birds, even humans, but there was something wrong with all of them.

Suddenly Victoria saw it. If you looked past the silver glow from their skin and their beautiful white flesh, fur and scales, you could see that they were unwell. They were decaying, huge chunks of flesh missing, leaving gaping holes that warped their features. Their skin was cracked, silver blood trickling through the gaps, and they had feathers, fur and scales missing. One of the closest spirits to them, a thin wraith of a girl, lurched towards them, one of her eyes dangling out on a silver thread and clumps of hair missing from her head, exposing patches of raw skin. There was a great silver bear making its way towards them, with huge holes in its silver pelt and enormous sores on its back.

Victoria and Beatrice backed slowly away from the ailing spirits, but there was no escaping them in the enclosed space where they emerged from every tree. Victoria looked around, desperate, and saw a small opening in the silver wall. She nudged Beatrice and nodded towards it. Beatrice nodded back to show that she understood, and started counting to three under her breath. On three they both charged towards the opening, leaving the surprised tree spirits behind. But no matter how far they ran, the souls kept on coming, materialising out of every tree the sisters passed.

芒聙聹Let芒聙聶s split up, we芒聙聶ll confuse them a bit,芒聙聺 Beatrice panted as she narrowly ducked a skeletal eagle that dive-bombed her head.

Victoria nodded, too breathless to speak, and swerved off to her right while Beatrice made a sharp turn to her left. Victoria kept running as some of the whispers disappeared behind her when the spirits turned to chase Beatrice, but she could still tell that there were several on her tail.

She ran blindly through the trees, hyperaware of the tree spirits hot on her tail. As she ran she also became aware of the sound of running water ahead. Thinking that the souls would be unable to reach her if she dived in, she quickened her pace, sprinting flat out towards the sound. When she reached the source, however, she froze in mid-stride.

The water looked black, even in the faint silver glow from the moon and the sickly tree spirits, and she could see the bleached white bellies of dead fish as they floated downstream on the thick, tar-like substance. Enormous bubbles welled up to the surface and burst, filling the air with the foul stench of oil and pollution.

Of course, the river! The pollution had leaked into the surrounding forest and caused the trees to decay. That was why the spirits were sick, and why they hated the humans so much. One thing was for sure, jumping in that water would do more harm than good. She turned sharply left and kept running, ducking between a rabid wolf and infected deer.

She kept running, completely losing track of time, but the spirits never gave up in their pursuit. It wasn芒聙聶t until what seemed like an age later that the whispers decreased in volume and Victoria sensed that they were giving up. When the woods fell completely silent she slowed to a stop, doubling over at the waist and taking deep breaths. She felt as though she was breathing in carbon dioxide. She spent a couple of minutes trying to breathe regularly, and when at last she felt she was breathing in oxygen again she straightened up, took in her surroundings芒聙娄 and screamed.

Beatrice was there, slumped on the ground. From this distance, Victoria could see the glowing silver scars on her exposed skin, claw marks, bite marks and scratches. Her misted eyes stared up at the sky, blank and lifeless.

Victoria ran to her and slumped against a tree, sobbing loudly. The forest was dead silent, and the moon had completely disappeared, leaving her in total blackness, but she didn芒聙聶t have enough energy to switch on her torch.

She heard a hiss just in front of her. She looked up, meeting the gaze of the long silver python curled up near her feet. Its blank silver eyes stared right through her, its thin tongue flicking out through its rotten teeth. Huge patches of infected skin were visible between its scuffed scales.

Victoria stared at it evenly. Then her mouth turned down into a disdainful scowl.

芒聙聹Kill me then,芒聙聺 she spat, moving her arms so that it had a clear path to her heart. 芒聙聹I芒聙聶m lost as it is, I can芒聙聶t get back and no one can find me. Just bite already!芒聙聺

For a moment the snake remained still except for the flicker of its tongue tasting the air.

Then, without any warning, it struck.

***

芒聙聹Please, sweetie, tell us what happened!芒聙聺 the policewoman pleaded, one hand resting comfortingly on Victoria芒聙聶s shoulder.

Victoria shook her head, her eyes hidden in shadow. The policewoman sighed in defeat and stood up, turning to Mister and Mrs Prentice.

芒聙聹She still won芒聙聶t tell us anything. It芒聙聶s understandable, she must still be traumatised, but please let us know as soon as she starts giving you the details.芒聙聺

Mrs Prentice nodded, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. She took a step forward and took Victoria芒聙聶s hand, helping her to her feet. They walked towards their car, averting their eyes when Beatrice芒聙聶s body was carried past on a stretcher.

They stood by the car, waiting for Victoria芒聙聶s father to finish talking to the police. Victoria芒聙聶s eyes were still hidden in the shadows. No one had seen them since she芒聙聶d been found on the ground next to her sister芒聙聶s body in the woods.

Alice Prentice leaned against the hood, still dabbing her eyes. Unfortunately, grief made her oblivious to her daughter beside her.

Victoria raised her head, her jet-black hair falling away from her eyes, which were exposed for the first time since she芒聙聶d been rescued. They were blank, emotionless芒聙娄

And silver.

She reached down and pulled something from her belt. The silver glow from her eyes illuminated it.

A long, thin, silver dagger.

She smiled. But it wasn芒聙聶t Victoria芒聙聶s smile. It was wide, crooked, like a jack-o-lantern芒聙聶s grin. There wasn芒聙聶t a trace of Victoria behind it. It belonged to someone else, a different soul.

She turned towards Alice and raised the knife above her head.

芒聙聹Trick or treat,芒聙聺 she said.

And she brought the knife down.