Vantacashmere
A lone hiker stood petrified on the dirt trail. Moonless, overcast night birthed a suffocating pitch-black that devoured the shape of the world. The vast forest vanished beyond a sinister curtain of dense pines pressing in on either side. A low, guttural growl seeped out of the darkness, penetrating deep inside and shaking her bones—her limbs began to tremble. A surge of adrenaline prickled the hair on her neck; her stomach cramped as her heart pounded in her ears like a caged animal violently throwing itself against the walls of its confinement.
Calm down, Charlotte. It's probably just the wind, she desperately told herself. She forced a breath, holding it as she strained to penetrate the abyss of night, intently listening. It was deathly silent. Then, the sound came again: a grotesque, gurgling roar that tore the silence and slammed into her chest. That's not the wind. Run! Courage abandoned her. She scrambled to turn around, pushed off the dirt, and ran blindly toward the trailhead. Her red cashmere scarf trailed behind, a useless, fluttering crimson banner against the consuming black.
Trees snapped with thunderous reports; the foliage shredded violently behind Charlotte as something massive rushed from the forest in pursuit. She felt a menacing malevolence behind her, driving her. It can't be that far to the trailhead and the road. Her lungs burned, she could taste iron, and each stride felt like muscles ripping. An aberrational chill clawed at the back of her neck, raising gooseflesh. With every frantic exhale, she could see her breath crystalizing in the consuming black.
The trailhead lights glowed ahead, a sharp, defiant beacon of hope barely one hundred yards away. Charlotte risked a glance over her shoulder. There was no forest, no trail, and no monstrous predator pursuing her—only absolute emptiness. It wasn't the darkness of the woods; it was the black of a pure vacuum that devoured light and matter alike. It was the nothingness itself running her down. She tried to pump her arms faster, but it was too late; the void was upon her. Sensation vanished: she couldn't feel her body, the air against her skin, or the earth beneath her feet. She tore her throat open in a pitiful attempt at a scream, but the world was silent, and only a terrifying absence of sound escaped.
Sheriff Alan Warne Vidoc pulled his Interceptor next to Deputy Ian Child's cruiser in the trailhead parking area. Child rushed over to greet the Sheriff. "What we got, Child," Vidoc asked, climbing out of the SUV.
"Her car's here, locked. No sign of Charlotte, no struggle. Her mother said she hasn't answered her phone since last night."
Vidoc nodded. "Dogs?"
"On their way. I waited for you before checking the trail."
"Let's have a look."
The two men proceeded down the path carefully searching for anything out of the ordinary. About one hundred and fifty yards down the trail they stopped dead. Ahead, the forest was scarred by a path of destruction leading out onto the trail. Trees were snapped at the base, and the earth was churned up, as if a localized, violent tornado had torn a swath ten yards wide out of the woods. "What the hell you reckon did that?" Child muttered, staring.
"Get the CSTs back here and tape this off."
Child unspooled the barricade tape. Vidoc, scanning the woods, froze, his eyes locked on a spot closer to the trailhead. He deliberately trekked back up the trail and crouched, slipping on a pair of evidence collection gloves. "You got something, Sheriff?" Child called. Vidoc didn't reply, just snapped a quick series of photos with his phone before carefully lifting the object. Child walked up beside him and blinked. In the Sheriff's gloved hand was a piece of fabric so profoundly black it looked like a tear in reality. "I think it's a scarf," Vidoc replied quietly.
"Her mother said she was wearing a red cashmere one. That thing is blacker than midnight. And that smell…" Child wrinkled his nose, leaning closer.
"Burnt hair," Vidoc stated, cutting him off, his gaze fixed on the item. "And sulfur." The two men looked up, staring at each other, silent in their horrific bewilderment.