MOONLIT SACRIFICE
The moon hung low over the village, casting an eerie glow on the ancient stone houses. Shadows twisted and danced, flickering like ghostly wraiths in the cold night air. Marcus stumbled through the dense forest, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The pain in his side was a sharp reminder of the wound he'd sustained from the villagers' attack. He clutched at the blood-soaked bandage, his fingers trembling. The elders had warned him, had whispered of the old ways, the forbidden rituals, but Marcus had been desperate. He needed to save his daughter, Bethany, from the plague that had ravaged their home. The only solution, they said, lay deep in the heart of the forest, in a place where the boundary between the living and the dead blurred. He pushed through the underbrush, the branches clawing at his clothes like skeletal hands. He could hear the drumming now, a rhythmic pulse that seemed to resonate with his own heartbeat. The village had come alive with the sound of their ...