Chapter 1The Thing That Mimics Us

I was on a road trip to a remote mountainous region with my best friend, Jess.

While driving, Jess suddenly said she saw someone waving at us from a distant hill.

Thinking it was a hiker in need of help, we immediately stopped the car and ran towards the figure.

But halfway there, Jess abruptly stopped.

Confused, I looked at her, only to see her expression twist into sheer terror.

I was about to ask what was wrong when she grabbed my hand and sprinted back towards the car.

"Run!" she hissed, her voice frantic. "That's not a human!"

Having been friends with Jess for years, I knew she wasn't joking.

I didn't ask a single question. I just turned and ran for my life, following her back to the car.

"Start the car! Now!" Jess screamed as we scrambled inside.

I jumped into the driver's seat, jammed the key into the ignition, and fired up the engine.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the dark figure in the distance sprinting towards us.

My heart skipped a beat.

In the few seconds it took to start the car, the figure had closed a terrifying amount of distance.

"Go! It's catching up! Drive!" Jess yelled again.

My hands were shaking, but I forced myself to focus. Seatbelt on. Gear shifted.

I slammed on the gas, and the SUV shot forward like an arrow.

I glanced in the rearview mirror.

The massive dark figure was now only twenty or thirty yards away.

I could feel its overwhelming malice radiating towards us.

It chased us for what felt like an eternity before finally stopping.

Jess and I didn't dare relax.

We kept our eyes glued to the mirrors, nerves stretched to the breaking point.

The creature was covered in black fur, but it had a face that looked disturbingly human.

It stared at our retreating car with a twisted expression, as if memorizing us...

We drove at full speed for over half an hour.

Only when we started seeing semi-trucks on the main highway did we finally let out a breath.

Neither of us spoke first. We were both still shaken to the core.

Another half hour passed in silence.

We pulled into a gas station to refuel.

Jess and I went to the restroom to wash our faces.

"That... that was terrifying!" Jess stared at herself in the mirror, looking like she'd just escaped death.

My limbs felt weak.

The adrenaline crash was hitting me hard.

I bought two bottles of Gatorade, parked the car to the side, and sat on the curb to drink.

"Halfway there, I realized its proportions were wrong," Jess said, taking small sips of her drink. Her eyes still held a flicker of fear. "And the way it waved... it was too stiff."

I recalled the creature's silhouette and nodded thoughtfully.

Jess was an art major. She had an eye for perspective and anatomy.

If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have noticed until we were twenty yards away.

By then, it would have been too late.

We had started running back when we were still over a hundred yards away.

Yet it had closed the gap to twenty yards in seconds. Its speed was inhuman.

A truck driver in his forties, who seemed to have overheard us, walked over.

He frowned. "Ladies, did you run into a mimic bear?"

Jess and I exchanged a look. "Mimic bear?"