# "There's something horrific hiding in the Austrian Alps" Creepypasta

An episode of [CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1492008134), 28 Apr 2025, 42 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/65745096/there_s_something_horrific_hiding_in_the_austrian_alps_creepypasta.mp3

LISTEN TO CREEPYPASTAS ON THE GO- SPOTIFY► https://open.spotify.com/show/7l0iRPd... iTUNES► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast... CREEPYPASTA STORY►by Saint Zander Creepypastas are the campfire tales of the internet. Horror stories spread through Reddit r/nosleep, forums and blogs, rather than word of mouth. Whether you believe these scary stories to be true or not is left to your own discretion and imagination. SUGGESTED CREEPYPASTA PLAYLISTS- ►"Good Places to Start"- • "I wasn't careful enough on the deep ... ►"Personal Favourites"- • "I sold my soul for a used dishwasher... ►"Written by me"- • "I've been Blind my Whole Life" Creep... ►"Long Stories"- • Long Stories FOLLOW ME ON- ►Twitter: / creeps_mcpasta ►Instagram: / creepsmcpasta ►Twitch: / creepsmcpasta ►Facebook: / creepsmcpasta CREEPYPASTA MUSIC/ SFX- ►http://bit.ly/Audionic ♪ ►http://bit.ly/Myuusic ♪ ►http://bit.ly/incompt ♪ ►http://bit.ly/EpidemicM ♪ This creepypasta is for entertainment purposes only

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: The train pulled into Slangming station under a pale, graying sky,
[0:07] Speaker 1: snow lined the tracks, packed tight and dirty, with a
[0:11] Speaker 1: wind that pushed it against the platform. I stepped out first,
[0:16] Speaker 1: drawing a deep breath of air that felt sharper than
[0:19] Speaker 1: anything I was used to. Will was right next to me,
[0:23] Speaker 1: dragging his stuffel bag by his shoulder strap and grinning
[0:26] Speaker 1: despite his nose already turning pink. We took a shuttle
[0:32] Speaker 1: from Slanding upped Aramseau and d Eystein, which clung to
[0:36] Speaker 1: the edge of the alpine slope. Every building looked older
[0:40] Speaker 1: than it probably was, with sharply pitched roofs thick with snow,
[0:45] Speaker 1: wooden balconies stacked with chopped firewood, and narrow windows that
[0:49] Speaker 1: glowed faintly orange. As evening settled over the ridge, the
[0:54] Speaker 1: main street was quiet. A few bundled up figures walked
[0:58] Speaker 1: with purpose, but didn't linger. Every step we took echoed
[1:03] Speaker 1: between the buildings. The air smiled faintly of pine and smoke.
[1:10] Speaker 1: Albin and Marcus were already waiting at the guesthouse when
[1:13] Speaker 1: we arrived. They stood near the steps, both taller than
[1:17] Speaker 1: I expected. Albin wore a heavy black coat zipped to
[1:21] Speaker 1: his throat, a thick beanie pulled low. Marcus looked more relaxed,
[1:27] Speaker 1: leaning against the wooden railing, smoking a cigarette, his backpack
[1:31] Speaker 1: at his feet. Meeting them for the first time felt surreal.
[1:37] Speaker 1: We'd spoken for almost a year online, but there was
[1:41] Speaker 1: still something odd about standing face to face. You get
[1:45] Speaker 1: so used to that screen buffer that seeing your online
[1:49] Speaker 1: friends in real life is almost uncanny. Will went right
[1:54] Speaker 1: up to shake their hands, already launching some sort of
[1:57] Speaker 1: joke aft, though I could tell it was more polite
[2:02] Speaker 1: than genuine. We were the odd ones out, and it
[2:08] Speaker 1: showed they were the outdoor kids and we were the
[2:12] Speaker 1: indoor type. I kept my hands buried deep in my
[2:16] Speaker 1: coat pockets, trying not to luod too obvious. We checked
[2:22] Speaker 1: into the guest house. I remember sitting down on the
[2:25] Speaker 1: bed and peeling off my gloves, the tip of my
[2:28] Speaker 1: fingers numb and slow to respond. I was in use
[2:32] Speaker 1: to this kind of cold. Marcus brought out the maps,
[2:37] Speaker 1: unfolded one across the table between us, and we all
[2:41] Speaker 1: crouched around it. The trail they picked out looped around
[2:45] Speaker 1: the base of Hue Dashstein, curving through steep sections of
[2:49] Speaker 1: alpine forest before veering off into more isolated ridge lines.
[2:55] Speaker 1: It would take several days, but nothing they claimed we
[2:58] Speaker 1: couldn't handle. We double checked our gear before dinner. Everyone
[3:04] Speaker 1: had the basics. Insulated jackets, thermal base layers, crampons that
[3:10] Speaker 1: we wouldn't actually need, ultra light sleeping bags, collapsible cookware,
[3:15] Speaker 1: freeze dried meals, snow goggles, and small fire starting kits.
[3:21] Speaker 1: Each of us carried a knife, nothing large, just those
[3:25] Speaker 1: small practical blades meant for wood shaving, rope cutting and
[3:29] Speaker 1: food prep. Mind fit in the side pocket of my pack,
[3:34] Speaker 1: half the handle wrapped in red tape to make it
[3:37] Speaker 1: easier to find by torch. That night, we walked through
[3:42] Speaker 1: the quiet village and stopped at a small restaurant tucked
[3:45] Speaker 1: between a bakery and a church. Inside it was warm,
[3:51] Speaker 1: a stark difference compared to the outside. The food was heavy,
[3:56] Speaker 1: rich with gravy, and the portions looked fit for men.
[3:59] Speaker 1: Twice sighs. The locals didn't speak much, and when they did,
[4:05] Speaker 1: their tone was clipped and curt They weren't rude, but
[4:10] Speaker 1: there was no welcome in their eyes either. You could
[4:14] Speaker 1: tell they'd forget about us as soon as their eyes
[4:16] Speaker 1: wandered somewhere else. Still, none of us cared. We could
[4:22] Speaker 1: tell they weren't being rude. That's just how it was
[4:26] Speaker 1: around here. We were set to head out the next day.
[4:32] Speaker 1: Everything was packed, charged, checked, and sorted. We were ready,
[4:39] Speaker 1: or at least we thought we were. Morning came with
[4:46] Speaker 1: a hard chill that clung to my neck even after
[4:49] Speaker 1: I layered up. The sky outside the guesthouse window looked
[4:53] Speaker 1: washed in pale blue, broken only by faint streaks of
[4:57] Speaker 1: serious clouds that barely moved. We ate quick loaded our
[5:02] Speaker 1: packs and met in the narrow gravel lot out front.
[5:07] Speaker 1: Marcus checked his watch and gave a nod as if
[5:10] Speaker 1: to formerly signal the beginning of something. I tightened the
[5:15] Speaker 1: straps of my pack, and glancing at Will, who looked
[5:19] Speaker 1: too pleased with himself for some one who hadn't hiked
[5:22] Speaker 1: more than a few city parks, We set out through
[5:26] Speaker 1: the village on foot, snow crunched beneath our boots, packed
[5:30] Speaker 1: just enough to give way with every step, but not
[5:33] Speaker 1: deep enough to slow us down. The trailhead sat just
[5:38] Speaker 1: past the line of spruce trees on the edge of town,
[5:41] Speaker 1: marked with a worn wooden post and a frost bitten
[5:44] Speaker 1: map encased in fogged plastic. Their poles clicked rhythmically against
[5:50] Speaker 1: the frozen path. Will and I trowled slightly behind, mostly
[5:55] Speaker 1: because we kept stopping to take pictures. He'd pause every
[6:00] Speaker 1: few minutes to make some stupid comment about posing against
[6:03] Speaker 1: the trees or pretending to fight off imaginary bears. I
[6:08] Speaker 1: told him to save the battery, but he kept doing
[6:11] Speaker 1: it anyway. The forest around us grew denser as we climbed,
[6:17] Speaker 1: The wind stayed still, branches drooped under the weight of
[6:21] Speaker 1: snow that looked older than the season. I began to
[6:26] Speaker 1: notice that the snow was getting deeper. It hadn't looked
[6:30] Speaker 1: that thick when we left the village, but up here
[6:34] Speaker 1: it gathered around our ankles and sometimes higher. Marcus called
[6:39] Speaker 1: back to make sure we were keeping pace, and I
[6:42] Speaker 1: gave him a thumbs up without saying much. I didn't
[6:46] Speaker 1: want to admit how quickly the cold was biting through
[6:49] Speaker 1: my gloves were how my calves had started their ache already.
[6:54] Speaker 1: Then we saw a rusted metal sign nailed to the
[6:58] Speaker 1: side of a pine tree. After the right of the trail,
[7:02] Speaker 1: snow had crusted around its edges, bending against the face
[7:05] Speaker 1: plate where the metal had bowed outward. It wasn't bright
[7:10] Speaker 1: enough to reflect anything, but it caught our attention because
[7:13] Speaker 1: it didn't match the wood markers we'd been following. Marcus
[7:18] Speaker 1: stepped off the trail first and cleared some of the
[7:20] Speaker 1: snow with his gloved hand. The red lettering emerged beneath it,
[7:25] Speaker 1: streaked with rust Geschlaus and Vigan on Vetta gefar close
[7:32] Speaker 1: due to severe weather. We stood there for a moment.
[7:37] Speaker 1: The sky above remained crystal clear. Albin gave a short
[7:42] Speaker 1: laugh and said someone had forgotten to take it down
[7:45] Speaker 1: after the last tourist season. Will nodded along, already pulling
[7:50] Speaker 1: his phone from his pocket to take a photo of it,
[7:53] Speaker 1: saying it would make a great inside joke. Later, we'd
[7:58] Speaker 1: been delayed by nearly two weeks. Flights got canceled whether
[8:02] Speaker 1: elsewhere turned unpredictable. Marcus said most trails this high didn't
[8:07] Speaker 1: see real traffic this time of year anyway, so some
[8:10] Speaker 1: one forgetting to take this down wasn't too weird. The
[8:15] Speaker 1: trail beyond the sign dipped slightly before rising again toward
[8:19] Speaker 1: a distant line of trees. Snow covered rock jotted up
[8:23] Speaker 1: beyond the forest, and above that, the pale crown of
[8:27] Speaker 1: the mountain sat framed against the sky. We stepped past
[8:32] Speaker 1: the sign and kept going. It just looked like a
[8:35] Speaker 1: short cut, and we wanted this trip to be memorable,
[8:39] Speaker 1: so why not do the stupid thing. We'd been walking
[8:44] Speaker 1: for nearly two hours when Will slowed down beside me
[8:48] Speaker 1: and pointed toward the ground ahead. I looked where he gestured,
[8:53] Speaker 1: squinting against the glare. There in the snow, just past
[8:58] Speaker 1: the sloped patch of trail, where the trees thinned, a
[9:02] Speaker 1: set of footprints curved gently off to the left. The
[9:06] Speaker 1: edges were sharp, the indentations clean, not yet softened by
[9:11] Speaker 1: wind or drifting snow. The pattern suggested boots, maybe slightly
[9:17] Speaker 1: smaller than Albin's but deeper than mine. They cut across
[9:23] Speaker 1: the slope and disappeared into a thicker patch of forest
[9:26] Speaker 1: that veered away from the main trail. Marcus was already
[9:31] Speaker 1: moving toward them before any of us spoke. He crouched down,
[9:36] Speaker 1: pressing two fingers into the nearest print, and nodded to himself.
[9:42] Speaker 1: Someone came through recently, he said, lifting his hand and
[9:46] Speaker 1: brushing off his glove, probably this morning. Albin came up
[9:52] Speaker 1: beside him and followed the line of tracks with his eyes.
[9:57] Speaker 1: Looks like they were heading northwest. Might be going to
[10:00] Speaker 1: that outer ridge. Will and I exchanged the glance. We
[10:06] Speaker 1: were excited. Every step we took on the empty trail
[10:11] Speaker 1: gave the impression that we were moving through something abandoned.
[10:14] Speaker 1: I mean, we knew it wasn't, but given the fact
[10:18] Speaker 1: that we arrived here during the off season, we had
[10:20] Speaker 1: already kind of accepted that we wouldn't be seeing too
[10:23] Speaker 1: many hikers here. Seeing footprints, even from a stranger, meant
[10:29] Speaker 1: someone else was out here. We were excited to make friends,
[10:33] Speaker 1: meet new people, and hear new stories. Will gave a
[10:38] Speaker 1: grin and said we should tried to catch up. He
[10:41] Speaker 1: said it would be good to meet someone who actually
[10:43] Speaker 1: knew these paths. I agreed, though part of me suspected
[10:49] Speaker 1: he just wanted a break from trailing behind Marcus and Albin,
[10:52] Speaker 1: who barely seemed winded, while Will and I already felt
[10:56] Speaker 1: the ache in our legs. The path feared gradually up here,
[11:00] Speaker 1: but there were no trail markers in sight. The ground
[11:04] Speaker 1: was uneven and covered in layers of snow that looked
[11:07] Speaker 1: older than what we'd been hiking through earlier branches lay
[11:11] Speaker 1: half buried in the snow. Many snapped at their middles,
[11:15] Speaker 1: as if from weight rather than age. The trees grew
[11:19] Speaker 1: closer together here the light filtered through in a canopy
[11:23] Speaker 1: that seemed lower than before, despite the fact we were climbing.
[11:29] Speaker 1: Marcus stayed ahead, eyes down, occasionally checking the spacing of
[11:33] Speaker 1: the Prince. Albin trailed close behind him. Will and I
[11:38] Speaker 1: moved slower, watching our footing through the sections where the
[11:42] Speaker 1: snow dipped into holes beneath tangled roots. The air had
[11:47] Speaker 1: changed as well. I hadn't noticed it until then, but
[11:51] Speaker 1: the breeze had faded. There was no wind brushing across
[11:55] Speaker 1: my ears. Every now and then I looked up and
[11:59] Speaker 1: scanned the fire, expecting to see movement between the trunks
[12:03] Speaker 1: or hearing distant voices. Nothing. Whoever walked through here must
[12:11] Speaker 1: have been experienced, I thought to myself. Befoot prints showed
[12:15] Speaker 1: no signs of backtracking or double checking. Eventually, Will muttered
[12:22] Speaker 1: that we should have caught up by now. He wasn't wrong.
[12:26] Speaker 1: The prince had looked fresh when we found them. They
[12:29] Speaker 1: should have led us to someone really showed signs that
[12:32] Speaker 1: the person had stopped. There had been nothing. Still, none
[12:39] Speaker 1: of us said we should turn back. The idea of
[12:42] Speaker 1: meeting someone, anyone had become a silent goal. So we
[12:47] Speaker 1: kept walking, eyes locked on the tracks, boots pressing into
[12:52] Speaker 1: snow that had only been disturbed by one person before us.
[12:58] Speaker 1: The climb began to wear on us. After another hour,
[13:01] Speaker 1: the slope had steepened gradually enough, though it was barely noticeable,
[13:07] Speaker 1: the air had thinned, and each breath started to carry
[13:10] Speaker 1: a raw edge. Will was the first to speak up.
[13:15] Speaker 1: He stopped and leaned forward, hands resting on his knees,
[13:18] Speaker 1: his breath fogging him burst as he looked over at Alban.
[13:23] Speaker 1: We need a break, he said, not quite out of breath,
[13:28] Speaker 1: but close. Albin didn't argue. He dropped his pack into
[13:33] Speaker 1: the snow and pulled off his gloves to flex his
[13:36] Speaker 1: fingers red from cold. Marcus, who had been ahead by
[13:41] Speaker 1: a few meters, turned back and raised an eyebrow. I
[13:46] Speaker 1: could see from his expression that he didn't want to stop.
[13:50] Speaker 1: He looked back down at the trail, then at me,
[13:54] Speaker 1: as if asking for confirmation. The Prince still looked fresh.
[14:00] Speaker 1: The snow around them hadn't softened or filled in. Whoever
[14:04] Speaker 1: we were following couldn't have been far. I told him
[14:09] Speaker 1: we'd keep going just for a few minutes. If we
[14:13] Speaker 1: didn't see anything soon, we'd turn around and meet back here.
[14:18] Speaker 1: Will looked up and gave a lazy wave. Already digging
[14:21] Speaker 1: in his pack for a protein bar, Albin muttered something
[14:25] Speaker 1: about starting a small fire. While they waited, The forest
[14:31] Speaker 1: grew denser with each step. The trees were spaced more tightly,
[14:35] Speaker 1: their branches reaching inward, creating a canopy that filtered the
[14:39] Speaker 1: light and gave everything a dull gray tint. Some of
[14:44] Speaker 1: the trunks had twisted and broken unnaturally. Bark peeled in strips,
[14:49] Speaker 1: and several trees sagged in the middle, as if something
[14:53] Speaker 1: heavy was on top of them. Heavier than snow. Branches
[14:58] Speaker 1: lay broken across the path, not snapped by storm or wind,
[15:03] Speaker 1: but fractured at clean angles. Many buried half way beneath
[15:07] Speaker 1: the snow, as though they had dropped vertically. If I
[15:12] Speaker 1: didn't know any better, I'd have assumed a monkey was
[15:15] Speaker 1: climbing around here. The branches dropping and snapping under the weight.
[15:21] Speaker 1: Then the prince stopped. We both saw it at the
[15:27] Speaker 1: same time. Marcus slowed, then came to a full stop.
[15:33] Speaker 1: I stepped forward to join him and stared at the
[15:35] Speaker 1: snow ahead. The trail had continued in a clear pattern
[15:40] Speaker 1: until this point, deep indentations in a single line. Heeled
[15:45] Speaker 1: to toe, spaced evenly, and then nothing. The track simply ended,
[15:54] Speaker 1: a clean line of prints that led into untouched snow.
[16:00] Speaker 1: I crouched down and brushed at the powder with my glove.
[16:03] Speaker 1: The surface resisted. There was no hidden depressions beneath. I
[16:09] Speaker 1: looked left and right. The snow in both directions stretched
[16:14] Speaker 1: out without disturbance. Marcus spoke up and gave a sturdy explanation.
[16:21] Speaker 1: Snow must have fallen in that section earlier. Maybe a
[16:24] Speaker 1: small drift had covered them up. It was plausible. Marcus
[16:31] Speaker 1: glanced behind us, then turned and started walking back. I
[16:36] Speaker 1: followed without speaking. The forest around us creaked slowly. Somewhere
[16:43] Speaker 1: far off, a branch cracked. When we got back, the
[16:50] Speaker 1: forest had started the dim The light no longer filted
[16:55] Speaker 1: cleanly through the trees, shadows had stretched across the clearing,
[16:59] Speaker 1: and the smoke from the fire drifted unevenly in the air.
[17:04] Speaker 1: Albin crouched beside the flames, turning something over in a
[17:08] Speaker 1: small steel pan, the handle wrapped in cloth to keep
[17:11] Speaker 1: it from freezing fingers. Will sat on a fallen tree trunk,
[17:17] Speaker 1: gloved hands copped around a plastic mug, steam rising from
[17:21] Speaker 1: whatever he had mixed inside. They had already pitched the tents.
[17:27] Speaker 1: They stood a few meters from the fire, staked into
[17:31] Speaker 1: the packed snow, with robes strung around buried stones. Will
[17:36] Speaker 1: looked up as we stepped into the light of the
[17:38] Speaker 1: fire and raised his eyebrows. No lock. Marcus shook his
[17:45] Speaker 1: head and dropped his pack next to a tent. Tracks
[17:50] Speaker 1: just stopped. He said, looked like snow covered them. That
[17:56] Speaker 1: explanation satisfied. Everyone handed us balls and divided the food.
[18:03] Speaker 1: Some dehydrated stew he had rehydrated with melted snow. It
[18:08] Speaker 1: tasted overly salty and the texture left something to be desired,
[18:13] Speaker 1: but none of us complained. The heat settled into my stomach,
[18:19] Speaker 1: pulled the tension I hadn't realized had built up. We
[18:23] Speaker 1: drank from metal cups filled with warm, powdered cider that
[18:26] Speaker 1: Marcus had packed for morale. The taste reminded me of
[18:30] Speaker 1: something from a childhood field trip, though I couldn't remember where.
[18:36] Speaker 1: Will tried to tell a story, but eventually started forgedtin
[18:39] Speaker 1: where he was going with it, which made it funnier.
[18:43] Speaker 1: Alpin snorted through his nose, which nearly spilled his drink.
[18:49] Speaker 1: I caught myself smiling while we were conversing. It had
[18:55] Speaker 1: started the snow. It didn't fall heavy. The flakes drifted
[19:00] Speaker 1: down in slow spirals, catching the light of the fire
[19:04] Speaker 1: and tumbling through it before landing soundlessly around us. The
[19:08] Speaker 1: flames flickered orange and yellow, casting moving shadows into the trees,
[19:15] Speaker 1: then out of nowhere. Conversation was interrupted. Sh shut up,
[19:25] Speaker 1: The words cut through the laughter. We all stopped moving.
[19:31] Speaker 1: The only sound for a moment was the hiss of
[19:33] Speaker 1: the melting snow on the edge of the pan. Then
[19:37] Speaker 1: I heard it, faint but clear. Crunch, crunch, crunch. It
[19:47] Speaker 1: came in slow intervals, snow compacting underweight, not loud enough
[19:53] Speaker 1: to be something big, but still close enough to be dangerous.
[19:59] Speaker 1: They circled the sound, moved behind the trees, disappeared, then
[20:04] Speaker 1: returned again from another wrangle. Marcus stood, He looked toward
[20:10] Speaker 1: the direction of the sound, eyes narrowed, postured tight. Hey.
[20:16] Speaker 1: He shouted, something moved, a thudding scramble pressed into the
[20:22] Speaker 1: snow and broke it apart four point rhythm heavy enough
[20:27] Speaker 1: to echo off the surrounding trees. I glimpsed the shadow
[20:31] Speaker 1: moving between trunks, long enough to scense mass. Then it
[20:36] Speaker 1: was gone. No one moved for several seconds. The forest
[20:42] Speaker 1: turned to stillness, its wolves. Albin said he didn't try
[20:49] Speaker 1: to dress it up. Will open his mouth, probably to joke,
[20:55] Speaker 1: but closed it again. He looked at me, then at
[20:59] Speaker 1: the tree line. We decided to sleep. Soon after that.
[21:06] Speaker 1: No one wanted to say it out loud, but a
[21:09] Speaker 1: presence like this was enough for us to want to
[21:11] Speaker 1: cut this specific hike short. We could go to a
[21:15] Speaker 1: different trail, and being in the presence of wolves while
[21:19] Speaker 1: off trail didn't seem like a fun time. When morning came,
[21:31] Speaker 1: I stepped out of the tent, boots crunching as I
[21:34] Speaker 1: shifted weight onto half frozen ground, and I saw them prints,
[21:42] Speaker 1: dozens of them, all around the tent. The snow had
[21:47] Speaker 1: recorded every step in perfect detail. Some had pressed so
[21:51] Speaker 1: close to the nylon that I could see whether paws
[21:54] Speaker 1: had shifted mid stride. They circled in low, looping arcs.
[22:00] Speaker 1: Some approached the tent directly, then turned away again. A
[22:04] Speaker 1: few branched off into the woods before rejoining the others.
[22:09] Speaker 1: Marcus walked up beside me and led out a low breath.
[22:14] Speaker 1: Albin came out next, squinting in the morning light, then
[22:19] Speaker 1: staring at the ground. Will followed and whistled through his teeth.
[22:25] Speaker 1: Let's move. We packed in silence. The tents came down quickly,
[22:32] Speaker 1: my hands moving with more speed than coordination. We started moving,
[22:38] Speaker 1: and after about two hours of walking, we finally admitted
[22:43] Speaker 1: what we didn't want to the original trail we had followed.
[22:48] Speaker 1: The prints we had chased were gone. The snowfall had
[22:54] Speaker 1: raised them. Not even a partial indentation remained. There was
[22:59] Speaker 1: no path to retrace. Marcus adjusted the strap across his
[23:06] Speaker 1: chest and looked north. We followed the sun we head low.
[23:13] Speaker 1: None of us had a better idea, so we walked.
[23:20] Speaker 1: We moved in silence for the rest of the day.
[23:23] Speaker 1: The snow had deepened again, and each step sank further
[23:27] Speaker 1: than the last. The slope dipped in places, then rose
[23:31] Speaker 1: without warning, forcing us to stop and catch our breath
[23:35] Speaker 1: more often than before. The sunlight filtered through the trees
[23:39] Speaker 1: in pale shafts, but none of it felt warm. Everyone
[23:45] Speaker 1: stopped speaking. At this point. Will had not said anything
[23:49] Speaker 1: for over an hour, which felt unnatural coming from him.
[23:54] Speaker 1: Albin occasionally looked behind us. Marcus walked ahead, his shoulders squared,
[24:00] Speaker 1: presumably in an attempt to fake confidence. I began to
[24:05] Speaker 1: notice movement. It started with a flicker just outside my
[24:10] Speaker 1: filter vision, something moving between the trees. I couldn't make
[24:16] Speaker 1: out exactly what it was, but I knew it was there.
[24:21] Speaker 1: The shape appeared again, further along a bulk, sliding from
[24:25] Speaker 1: one trunk to the next, then freezing. When I looked
[24:28] Speaker 1: at it, the others had seen it too, I could tell.
[24:35] Speaker 1: Will walked closer to me than before. His eyes fixed ahead,
[24:39] Speaker 1: though they twitched toward the sides. When he thought no
[24:42] Speaker 1: one was watching, he rubbed the back of his neck.
[24:46] Speaker 1: His mouth opened once, then closed again, without saying anything.
[24:52] Speaker 1: We continued on without speaking, our boots dragged. No one
[24:56] Speaker 1: looked behind us anymore. We knew we were being followed
[25:01] Speaker 1: by the wolves, but running was out of the question.
[25:05] Speaker 1: We were too afraid of them giving chase. It was
[25:11] Speaker 1: Albin who stopped first. His legs gave out on a
[25:15] Speaker 1: patch of uneven snow, and he dropped to one knee.
[25:19] Speaker 1: He didn't curse or complain. He just stayed there, shoulders
[25:24] Speaker 1: rising and falling. The rest of us gathered around him
[25:28] Speaker 1: without deciding to. We had reached our limit. The clearing
[25:35] Speaker 1: we stopped him was only a small gap between the trees,
[25:38] Speaker 1: with the slope leveled out for a few meters. It
[25:42] Speaker 1: wasn't much, but it was enough. Marcus set down his
[25:47] Speaker 1: pack and began unpacking the tent without waiting for agreement.
[25:52] Speaker 1: There was no discussion this time. We were all feeling
[25:56] Speaker 1: the pressure. We didn't split off into separate tents. We
[26:01] Speaker 1: needed to be in one place. We didn't cook. No
[26:05] Speaker 1: one gathered firewood. We opened vacuum sealed meal packs and
[26:09] Speaker 1: chewed through them without warming them up. The food was
[26:13] Speaker 1: dense and cold. My teeth ached with every bite. Will
[26:18] Speaker 1: passed around a canteen of melted snow mixed with sugar tablets.
[26:23] Speaker 1: Four bodies pressed into one space with barely enough room
[26:27] Speaker 1: to stretch out. Our bags lined the edges, our boots
[26:31] Speaker 1: remained on. Each of us kept a knife in our hand.
[26:36] Speaker 1: The fabric walls moved faintly whenever the wind pushed through
[26:40] Speaker 1: the trees, and I watched the seams, with a growing
[26:43] Speaker 1: certainty that something stood just beyond them. I woke up
[26:52] Speaker 1: sometime in the early hours. My body throbbed from the
[26:56] Speaker 1: awkward angle I'd been lying in in the air inside
[26:59] Speaker 1: the tent had cooled into something sharp. My breath turned
[27:03] Speaker 1: into mist and faded just above my face. I remained
[27:08] Speaker 1: still ears, straining. Something had woken me up. There was
[27:17] Speaker 1: movement outside. I heard the sound of paws pressing into snow,
[27:22] Speaker 1: one step, then another, slow, measured It moved in circles
[27:29] Speaker 1: around us. Once more I could hear it, or them sniffing.
[27:37] Speaker 1: I turned my head. Will was awake, so was everyone else.
[27:42] Speaker 1: Their eyes were wide, their faces expressionless. Marcus had his
[27:47] Speaker 1: knife in one hand, held just beneath the sleeping bag.
[27:51] Speaker 1: His knuckles had gone pale. We all turned our heads
[27:55] Speaker 1: in unison as a tearing of cloth rang out in
[27:59] Speaker 1: the tent. Cloth was pulled tight, threads separating. A line
[28:05] Speaker 1: opened along the corner, slow at first, then wider. The
[28:10] Speaker 1: cold surged inward. A shape pushed through the tair. The
[28:16] Speaker 1: wolf's head appeared. At first, its eyes caught what little
[28:20] Speaker 1: light came through the snow, reflecting a dull liquid yellow.
[28:25] Speaker 1: Its muzzle opened, I saw the teeth just before it lunged.
[28:30] Speaker 1: It clamped down on my shoulder with sudden weight, and
[28:33] Speaker 1: heat exploded across my collar bone. My scream rang out
[28:37] Speaker 1: in my own ears. The tent collapsed into chaos. Everyone
[28:44] Speaker 1: moved at once, arms flailed, blades flashing. I stepped through
[28:48] Speaker 1: the dark with my free hand, the knife barely penetrating
[28:51] Speaker 1: through thick fur and skin. The wolf snarled, its body jerking.
[28:58] Speaker 1: Albin hit it in the side. Marcus drove his knife
[29:01] Speaker 1: into its ribs. Will stabbed at the shoulder and trembling.
[29:05] Speaker 1: The cuts were shallow, but they came fast and wild.
[29:10] Speaker 1: The wolf twisted, trying to pull back its legs, kicked,
[29:14] Speaker 1: its jaw loosened. I kept stabbing until my arm gave out.
[29:18] Speaker 1: Blood covered the floor of the tent, soaking into my
[29:21] Speaker 1: shirt and pulling in the folds of the sleeping bag.
[29:26] Speaker 1: Then the animal fell. Its body went limp, its mouth
[29:31] Speaker 1: hung open. I couldn't tell if it was breathing. As
[29:38] Speaker 1: we waited for another one of them to enter the tent,
[29:41] Speaker 1: all of us shaking from adrenaline, we turned our attention
[29:44] Speaker 1: to a noise we hadn't noticed during the scuffle, but
[29:48] Speaker 1: was present all throughout, thrashing, thumping, then whining, then silence
[29:56] Speaker 1: again side the tent. We did not speak. We waited.
[30:06] Speaker 1: No one moved For several seconds. After the wolf went silent.
[30:11] Speaker 1: My breath came in short burst, each one shorter than
[30:15] Speaker 1: the last. Blood soaked the left side of my jacket,
[30:18] Speaker 1: hot where it had spread cold in some places. The
[30:22] Speaker 1: knife in my hand felt heavy, slick, and unsteady. Albin's
[30:27] Speaker 1: arm trembled beside me, the blade in his fist still raised,
[30:32] Speaker 1: though his eyes were locked on the tent wall, waiting
[30:35] Speaker 1: for another sound, but nothing ever came. Will leaned forward first.
[30:44] Speaker 1: His fingers reached out, hesitant and gently pulled at the
[30:49] Speaker 1: corner of the torn tent wall. The flap peeled open, slowly,
[30:54] Speaker 1: held together by threads that had not fully ripped. He
[30:58] Speaker 1: peeped through just a narrow glance at first, then widened
[31:03] Speaker 1: the opening with both hands. He did not speak. Marcus
[31:10] Speaker 1: leaned over and looked. Alban moved next. I stayed still,
[31:15] Speaker 1: pressing one hand into the bite of my shoulder, the
[31:18] Speaker 1: other gripping the tent pole for balance. When they stepped
[31:22] Speaker 1: out into the snow, I followed the ground surrounding our
[31:28] Speaker 1: camp had been torn apart. A single branch lay at
[31:32] Speaker 1: the ground at the edge of camp one that wasn't
[31:34] Speaker 1: there when we got here. Wolves lay scattered across the
[31:39] Speaker 1: snow in every direction. Some had been thrown against trees.
[31:43] Speaker 1: Others were collapsed in contorted positions, limbs bent at angles
[31:48] Speaker 1: that suggested violent force. Fur was matted with blood and
[31:53] Speaker 1: patches of ice. One had its rib cage split open.
[31:57] Speaker 1: Another lay without a jaw. A third was missing its
[32:01] Speaker 1: front legs entirely. Their bodies stretched beyond the perimeter of
[32:06] Speaker 1: our camp. The snow around them had been trampled. Massive
[32:11] Speaker 1: prints stamped into the crust, some deeper than others, forming
[32:15] Speaker 1: erratic patterns. They were roughly human in shape, though the
[32:20] Speaker 1: spacing and depth made no sense. Some stood close together,
[32:25] Speaker 1: others stretched meters apart. Albin stood near the edge of
[32:31] Speaker 1: the clearing Markers paced in a slow circle around one
[32:35] Speaker 1: of the larger corpses. Will just stood with his arms
[32:38] Speaker 1: hanging at his sides, the knife still dangling from his hand.
[32:44] Speaker 1: I sat on the packed snow and pulled my jacket
[32:46] Speaker 1: off slowly. The wound throbbed beneath my shirt. The skin
[32:51] Speaker 1: had been punctured in three places where the teeth had
[32:54] Speaker 1: broken through. Albin knelt beside me and opened the medkit.
[33:00] Speaker 1: He poured water over the bite, wrapped goree around the arm,
[33:03] Speaker 1: and tied it in place with strips of clean fabric.
[33:07] Speaker 1: Marcus stood guard without speaking. We didn't even wonder about
[33:12] Speaker 1: the human footprints around. We had no more energy or
[33:16] Speaker 1: will power to ask questions. We just started moving solemnly again.
[33:23] Speaker 1: We left our tent there. We just walked without a
[33:26] Speaker 1: clear direction for what felt like ours. We saw something
[33:31] Speaker 1: familiar in the snow. Ahead of us. A narrow set
[33:36] Speaker 1: of footprints ran parallel to our path. Human, the edges sharp,
[33:43] Speaker 1: just as the last ones had been. Hope did not
[33:47] Speaker 1: need to be acknowledged. It passed between us at a
[33:50] Speaker 1: shared current, carried by the possibility of someone ahead, a
[33:56] Speaker 1: trail to follow, a direction to believe in. We stepped
[34:01] Speaker 1: into the line of prince and followed them through the trees.
[34:05] Speaker 1: We didn't even ask one another what another human was
[34:08] Speaker 1: doing here, or how the footprints just appeared in the
[34:11] Speaker 1: middle of nowhere without any prior tracks. The trail curved
[34:17] Speaker 1: slightly ahead, then narrowed. We walked for fifteen minutes, maybe more.
[34:24] Speaker 1: The prince continued in a clear path. Then they stopped.
[34:33] Speaker 1: The ending came abruptly, just like before. We paused for
[34:39] Speaker 1: a moment, contemplating our next move. It was Marcus. We
[34:46] Speaker 1: saw it first. His arm rose slowly, fingers stiff, and
[34:53] Speaker 1: he pointed upward. We followed his gaze. There so spended
[35:00] Speaker 1: between the highest limbs of a pine several meters ahead.
[35:05] Speaker 1: Something watched us. Its forms stretched unnaturally broad through the chest,
[35:11] Speaker 1: its shoulders round it with thick cords of frozen muscle,
[35:15] Speaker 1: completely frostbitten. The surface of its body was torn and pitted.
[35:21] Speaker 1: Segments of skin looked burnt or blistered, with patches missing entirely.
[35:27] Speaker 1: Coarse fir clung to sections of its frame, but most
[35:30] Speaker 1: of it had been rubbed away or never grown at all.
[35:35] Speaker 1: Long antlers covered in moss, and what looked like veins
[35:38] Speaker 1: of black frost jotted from either side of its head.
[35:43] Speaker 1: Its eyes met mine. They were green, unmoving and wide.
[35:53] Speaker 1: Its legs hung beneath it, short and pale, but unmistakably human.
[36:00] Speaker 1: They swung slightly in the breeze, too small to support
[36:04] Speaker 1: something of that mass, as if borrowed from something else,
[36:08] Speaker 1: and crudely attached. The branches creaked beneath its weight. Then
[36:16] Speaker 1: they broke. The thing dropped. It struck the ground with
[36:21] Speaker 1: a blunt thud that sent snow upward in a ring
[36:24] Speaker 1: around it. The limbs absorbed the fall, then flexed. The
[36:29] Speaker 1: body shifted towards us. It reached out with both arms,
[36:34] Speaker 1: gripped Marcus by the waist, and lifted him into the air.
[36:39] Speaker 1: He didn't even have time to scream. The creature slammed
[36:43] Speaker 1: him into the snow once twice, then flung him against
[36:47] Speaker 1: the tree trunk. His body folded and broke at the base.
[36:53] Speaker 1: We ran in different directions, each of us, driven by
[36:57] Speaker 1: the instinct to survive, moved before my thoughts caught up.
[37:02] Speaker 1: The air tore past my face, thick with snow and
[37:05] Speaker 1: the sharp scent of blood. I did not call out
[37:09] Speaker 1: or checked to see where the others were. Branches tore
[37:13] Speaker 1: at my sleeves, The terrain blurred, trees passed in rapid succession.
[37:19] Speaker 1: I tripped once, fell into a bank of snow, then
[37:22] Speaker 1: scrambled out without feeling the pain. My shoulder burned from
[37:26] Speaker 1: the wound, every cholt, sending a wave of nausea up
[37:30] Speaker 1: to my neck. I could not stop, I could not
[37:34] Speaker 1: breathe without hearing the echo of that thing hid in
[37:37] Speaker 1: the ground. At some point, the slope began to descend.
[37:43] Speaker 1: The snow thickened underfoot, and the trees opened into a
[37:47] Speaker 1: familiar pattern. I recognized the broken trunk on the right,
[37:53] Speaker 1: a line of disturbed snow running through the clearing. I
[37:57] Speaker 1: knew the scorch marks and the tree the first fire
[38:00] Speaker 1: had been built. I had returned to the first camp.
[38:06] Speaker 1: The tent still stood in fragments. Blood had frozen in
[38:10] Speaker 1: streaks along the entrance. The bodies of the wolves had
[38:13] Speaker 1: begun to settle into the snow, their outlines softened by
[38:18] Speaker 1: frost and time. Nothing moved. I dropped to my knees
[38:26] Speaker 1: beside the tent and crawled inside. The sleeping bag remained
[38:31] Speaker 1: in a heap, twisted from the fight. I found the
[38:35] Speaker 1: one I had used and pulled it around me. The
[38:38] Speaker 1: zipper barely functioned, jammed from the torn lining. I shoved
[38:43] Speaker 1: myself deep into the fabric, got into the warmest shape
[38:46] Speaker 1: I could manage, and tried to slow my breathing. Outside
[38:53] Speaker 1: the forest remained silent. I waited in the shadows until
[38:57] Speaker 1: my muscles refused to respond. The first sound I heard
[39:03] Speaker 1: came with a crunch of packed snow and the low
[39:06] Speaker 1: hum of an engine. I remained still, at first, unsure
[39:12] Speaker 1: if I had imagined it. Then I heard voices, one male,
[39:18] Speaker 1: one female, speaking German, Moro Austrian. Then a second engine closer.
[39:27] Speaker 1: I pushed my head from the sleeping bag and looked
[39:29] Speaker 1: toward the torn edge of the tent. Two figures approached
[39:34] Speaker 1: on foot. The jackets bore patches mountain patrol. Behind them,
[39:41] Speaker 1: a snowmobile idle near the edge of the trees, its
[39:45] Speaker 1: tracks buried in a swirl of powder. One of them
[39:49] Speaker 1: knelt beside the tent, then leaned back and called over
[39:52] Speaker 1: a radio. The other moved toward me, Crouching low. He
[40:00] Speaker 1: spoke to me, calmly, asking my name, asking if I
[40:04] Speaker 1: was alone. I nodded. He asked if I was injured.
[40:10] Speaker 1: I pointed to my shoulder. I tried to speak, but
[40:15] Speaker 1: the words came out hoarse and correct. I started to explain.
[40:20] Speaker 1: I told him about my friends, about the creature and
[40:23] Speaker 1: what it had done. He listened, but his face did
[40:28] Speaker 1: not change. He placed the hand of my wrist, told
[40:33] Speaker 1: me to stay still, and wrapped a blanket over my back.
[40:40] Speaker 1: Later I would learn why they had come. The wolves
[40:45] Speaker 1: we had encountered belonged to a monitored pack. Each carried
[40:50] Speaker 1: an implant tracker used by conservation authorities to study movement
[40:54] Speaker 1: and behavior. According to the data, the signals all stopped
[41:00] Speaker 1: within the same thirty minute window. That kind of mass
[41:04] Speaker 1: failure had never occurred before. They assumed poachers. They dispatched patrols,
[41:12] Speaker 1: and they found me. I somehow ended up getting a
[41:16] Speaker 1: lawyer who spoke and clipped English, told me to cooperate
[41:20] Speaker 1: and say as little as possible. An article would come
[41:24] Speaker 1: out later. Taurus, accused of a legal wolf killing, faces
[41:30] Speaker 1: sentencing on Friday. They said trauma had distorted my memory
[41:37] Speaker 1: from what they theorized. Cold and blood loss created hallucinations.
[41:42] Speaker 1: My judgment was fractured after experiencing a traumatic event. The
[41:48] Speaker 1: conversation laws were strict. Wolves in this region were protected
[41:52] Speaker 1: under the national and EU policy. Killing even one carried
[41:57] Speaker 1: prison time, and I had been found in a camp
[42:02] Speaker 1: surrounded by corpses. My story was never considered. I served
[42:11] Speaker 1: twenty months

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