What are you?

The forest felt wrong.

I kept my eyes forward, just like he said, but it didn’t stop the feeling that something just outside my vision was keeping pace with us.

The tall man didn’t slow down. He never did.

“Don’t trust what you can see,” he said.

I frowned slightly. “You already said that.”

“No,” he replied, just as calmly. “I didn’t.”

I wasn’t sure if he was right.

Something moved between the trees ahead, a shape trying to exist. I didn’t look at it. My eyes stayed fixed forward, even as the pressure behind them started building again.

“It’s changing what I see,” I said.

“It’s changing what you focus on,” he corrected before I could say anything more. “Keep moving.”

I went quiet.

There was something off about the way he said things. Not just what he said but when. Always just when I was about to speak.

We walked in silence for a while. Or maybe longer than a while.

For a second, I just stood there, staring at his back as he kept walking, his figure already starting to blur slightly against the shifting trees. Something cold settled into my chest.

“Wait,” I said, catching up quickly. “You said that already.”

“No,” he replied again, the same calm tone, the same steady pace. “I didn’t.”

"How long have we been walking?" I asked.

“Long enough,” he said.

The exact same words. The exact same rhythm.

A quiet dread crept in. “Ask me something,” I said.

"..."

“Anything,” I insisted.

A brief silence followed. Then, without turning, he said, “How long have we been walking?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out.

Behind us.

Something was there. Something that hadn’t been there before. Or maybe it had. Maybe it always had.