Curse of the Hollow

" What the fuck!!?" Mark screamed in fright.

Seeing an otherworldly tree pop up from nothing at such a rapid pace definitely could shock a person to the core if not mind-boggling the poor man. And if such a thing happened to a guy who was going to have the best time of his life...He would be devastated.

" Mark!! what is that!!?" His girlfriend spoke in a low suppressed voice.

' The exact thing that may very well destroy our schedule date!' he wanted to say but.

" I'm not sure, but it doesn't look good."

" That thing came out from the museum, do you think it's some weird magical world-destroying relic that suddenly got triggered??" Mark spoke...He wasn't sure what was happening, but at least he wanted to calm his girlfriend so he kind of joked about it which was not taken well.

"It's not funny Mark!!" The girl exclaimed and then took out her phone to see any relevant news.

Honestly, Mark was just cursing his life, Finally...goddamn finally he had gotten a girlfriend, she had surprisingly agreed to go out with him when he asked her out yesterday!! and today they were supposed to go on a date!! and now it was ruined because of this goddamn tree...

' Do you have some grudge on me, dear god!?'

He was an ordinary college student trying his best to score good marks so that he can get a good job and get a hot girlfriend. And his girlfriend was indeed hot, he thought he had gotten lady luck on his side...but it seemed not!

Turning around he could see people clinging to each other so that they can get a good view from the window and click photos to upload to social media. He could hear the vehicle horns beeping even from here.

Looking up again he could see the magical tree was still growing. The tree was ethereal... it didn't feel or look like an ordinary tree, it was by all sense practically glowing and its surface looked like it was made up of light like a solid construct of the hologram.

His girlfriend was on her phone talking to someone, probably her parents as she looked quite serious and was assuring her safety.

Mark didn't have such concerns as his parents were in a different city. He texted them to let them know he was alright. He thought they would probably go crazy if he didn't let them know.

" Mark I am sorry but I have to go home, I'll call you later okay "

' Yep my date is ruined ' he thought.

"It's okay. I'll drive you home, just to be safe"

"yeah thanks a lot, that would help"

And with that, they were ready to leave when the unexpected happened.

At the opposite building where Mark was. suddenly blew up or to be more precise, something huge came out of the building, tearing all of its walls and floors.

Mark saw it dumbstruck, He could hear the crumbling noise of walls and the piercing screams of the onlookers.

A giant mass protruded from the building and rose to stand up...It stood up!!!. The dust and debris slowly recede from its body to show its full figure and its horrifying face.

The giant was huge... as huge as a four-story building. Its body looked like it was made from twisted steel rods bound together to form a muscle and then go on to make the whole body like that. And its face was menacing, to say the least. Its face looked like distorted imagery woven out of steel. It had four red glowing eyes and its face was hard to describe.

Krrrwoooooooooo...

The thing roared or screeched...the roar was so intense it broke all the glass windows and made the marble beneath the feet tremble. Everyone in the building covered their ears and some directly fainted as it was...just too utterly wrong with it.

Mark felt his mind go blank, the roar was...if he could say how it was he would say it as the screeching sound of cutting a metal amplified by hundred times over.

After some time people came back to their senses...but now fear and panic dominated their minds and like crazy lambs, they shouted, some screamed, cursed, and ran in the narrow hallway cramped with people.

Like they were possessed and lost all sense of awareness they tugged and shoved the other to move forward. whoever was tard a bit late and unfortunate enough, fell and got squished by the stampeding mass.

And Mark's girlfriend was one of them, and to Mark's dismay, he watched it all transpire without being able to do anything as he was getting shoveled and pushed here and there.

The poor girl fell on her back and when she tried to get up someone had planted his foot on her face and slipped. the force of the action pushed the girl's neck to its breaking point...and with a

'tak' sound, her head twisted unnaturally.

Mark at that moment felt something heavy in his stomach and the acids that almost reached his throat burnt from inside.

Mark made all his effort to come to the side of the wall and he didn't know when but everyone ran off while he remained. There were some unmoving bodies here and there but his eyes stared at only one.

He limply and hesitantly like he was doubting what was in front of him. He moved to the side of the body that rested there, its face sideways, one hand bent unnatural and another squished at one place.

The body belonged to his girlfriend, who he had a crush on for months. she was a good woman no doubt. She had even agreed to go out with him, he had celebrated it just yesterday, He was so happy he called and bragged in front of his friends who told him that he would stay single forever.

And now she was just lying there lifeless.

"Just some minutes ago...sh-she called her parents that she was f-fine, And I was supposed to drive her home..."

His heart felt like it was squeezed like lemonade, his eyes burned and tears fell uncontrollably.

and finally, he let out an inaudible sorrowful wail.

Outside, the giant had stood motionless for some time and it finally moved, breaking out of the building like it was coming out of a sand castle.

But for Mark, any of it didn't matter at the moment.

He sat there consumed in the unexpected grief.

But the world didn't seem to care for his feelings or his situation. The bodies on the floor twitched and suddenly, they began to rise and stand. Their eyes no more had light in them...Their bones creaked like it wanted to repair enough for it to walk.

The dozen of bone crackling sounds brought Mark out of his misery and the sight gave him chills. He was alone in the place now, at least the sole living...