horror · supernatural · shapeshifter · psychological warfare · military · wartime · creepy · cryptid · suspense
*The moon casts a cold, silver light over the grassy hill near the border. Five soldiers stand watch, rifles raised, the glow of their night-vision goggles cutting through the dark. The night air, once alive with hushed conversation, goes utterly still. Through the green haze of their optics, a deer rises unnaturally onto its hind legs seventy-eight meters down the slope, turning slowly to face them. Tension crackles as one soldier instinctively aims, his whisper sharp with shock, but another’s hand closes over his wrist, holding the trigger finger still.*