Hollow

Fog descended on the grass sea. What was as vast plain of endless flat grass into the horizon, was now just a small campsite inside a wall of gray.

You stoke the fire, a pitiful thing, built from hay and whatever sticks you could scrounge during your march today. The humidity of the fog might cling onto you, but at least you'll stay somewhat dry and warm. Something in your periphery catches your eye. You turn. A huge lanky figure standing just beyond the light of your fire. Staring, smiling. Your heart stops.

You both stare at each other for a moment until your mind begins working again, that's a hollow, and you need to recall what your mother told you about them. You thought it was an old wives tale, you barely listened what she said, but you recall the first part. Do not attack it, act as if it is a normal person.

You slowly move your gaze back to the fire, keeping the thing on the side of your vision, churning that conversation in your mind over and over, what now, what else? Was I supposed to talk to it, offer a drink? No. Think! Yes, that's it, what you're supposed to do is offer it a seat by the fire. It is still standing, not moving. "Do you need a seat by the fire?". It stays still. You look at it nervously. Your heart is about to explode. Then it steps into the light and takes a seat on the other side of the fire, never looking away from you. It sits down oddly, not like a normal person, it's legs and torso are twisted uncomfortably. You look down at the fire, but you can feel its eyeless stare boring into you.

What now?...

"Haha, you're an asshole.", it suddenly shouts, in a voice completely unfit for a creature like it. The creature is still, you think you saw its mouth open slightly, but it did not mouth the words. Right before you say anything, you remember, never talk to them after they sit down in your camp, only nod in agreeance, and never leave them alone. "This berry beer is really good.", it isn't drinking anything. A tense silence falls onto the camp. "There's something standing out there."

You begin to glance behind you, thinking it's staring at something that you don't see. Halfway through your head turning you recall another piece of the conversation.

Never react to whatever it says.

You stop. It's not sitting on the other side of the fire anymore. You turn your head, and you see the thing, crouched in the grass, its back arched and head low, like a predator about to ambush its prey. "I'm serious, there's something out there." Is this thing intelligent, is it playing with me? How can it speak? Why doesn't it attack? "This berry beer is really good." Why does it sound like that? Why is it saying that? Did it learn these words from someone? Who? From the corner of your eye you see the thing move one of its arms towards you through the grass. The final part, you remember it "Stamp out the fire, thank the creature and everyone has to go to sleep. leave a drink or food where you had been sitting. It will take it and you will be safe for the night." All the while the creature stares at you as you stamp out the fire, you leave a piece of bread on the rock and crawl into your tent.

It's impossible to sleep, your heart is pounding, it's even worse now, you've not heard any sounds outside your tent that would indicate it had left. You are certain it is still out there. All you can hear is your heart pounding and the blood gushing into your head. You pray that you could just fall asleep, forget about the thing lurking out there. It's impossible, you have to look, you must look, you can't breathe, you can't breathe, you'll die if you don't look. Without making a sound, you slowly twist in your sleeping bag. Tilting your head so you can see outside the tent.

The entryway is empty, and then you notice it, its head staring at you from the corner of the entryway. Oh gods, oh gods, did you mess up the ritual by glancing back? You barely even looked, you didn't even look, you stopped early enough, oh gods, please. You squeeze your eyes shut, what can you even do? You feel like a stupid child, trying to vanish the evils of the darkness by just not looking at them. It feels like ages you lie there, not looking, sleep is a far away dream, going unconscious for a moment here, a moment there. Only when you feel light diffusing through the tent fabric do you feel any relief. The entire sleepless night feels like a hallucination, at once incredibly long and short, like a nightmare is. Eventually you dare to open your eyes, you see the vast green plains outside, no creature in sight. But you do notice the piece of bread is gone.

Later you learn that the hollows are hostile beings of the grass sea that resemble people they have consumed. A long slit runs through their entire body and those who they attack, they will stuff inside them and they too will become hollows. Sometimes they speak, sometimes they don't. When they do speak,they speak with their old voice, but the words are random.