Echoes of the Damned

It was an old workshop, nestled deep in the heart of the woods. The building had been abandoned for years, and the forest had slowly begun to reclaim it. But for a group of friends, it was the perfect place to spend a weekend of camping and exploring.

As soon as they arrived, they could sense that something was off. The air was thick with an eerie silence, and the shadows seemed to stretch out just a bit too far. But they shrugged it off as their imagination, and set up camp just outside the workshop.

That night, as they sat around the campfire, they heard strange noises coming from the workshop. They dismissed it as the wind, but as the night went on, the noises grew louder and more persistent.

In the middle of the night, one of them woke up to find that he was alone. His friends were nowhere to be found, and the workshop was now standing wide open. He called out for his friends but there was no answer.

He decided to go inside the workshop to look for them, but as soon as he entered, he regretted his decision. The workshop was now a twisted, twisted version of its former self. The machines were now rusted and twisted, and the walls were covered in strange symbols and writing.

As he searched for his friends, he began to feel a sense of dread. It was as if something was following him, watching his every move. He could feel eyes upon him, and he knew that he had to get out of there.

But it was too late. He was trapped. The workshop had become a nightmare, and there was no escape. The machines came to life, and the walls began to close in on him.

He could hear his friends screaming, but he couldn't see them. The machines were everywhere, and they were closing in. He could feel the heat of the machines, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before they consumed him.

He had no choice but to accept his fate and die in the old workshop. His friends were never found.

The next morning, the remaining friends searched the workshop and surrounding woods for their missing companion, but they found no trace of him. They were filled with a sense of dread and unease, knowing that something sinister had occurred in that old workshop.

They decided to leave the workshop and the woods behind, but they couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Every time they looked back, they could see the old workshop looming in the distance, its windows dark and empty.

As they drove away, they couldn't help but wonder about the fate of their friend. Had he been taken by the mysterious forces that seemed to reside in the workshop? Or had he simply wandered into the woods and gotten lost?

Years passed, and the friends graduated from college, started families and moved on with their lives. But they never forgot about the old workshop and the friend they had lost. They would often talk about it, trying to make sense of what had happened.

One day, they received a letter in the mail. It was from their missing friend, and it was postmarked from the workshop. They opened the letter and found a single sentence, written in a familiar handwriting: "I'm still here."

They were shocked and confused, but they knew that they had to go back to the workshop. They gathered their families, packed up their cars and headed back to the woods.

When they arrived, they found that the workshop was still there, unchanged from the last time they saw it. They entered the workshop, expecting to find their friend, but instead they found a nightmare. The machines were still twisted and rusted, and the walls were still covered in strange symbols and writing.

But this time, they could see something else. There were shadows moving in the darkness, and they could hear whispers. They knew that they had to leave, but it was too late. The shadows had found them.

They never returned from the old workshop, and their families never heard from them again. Some say that they are still trapped in the workshop, consumed by the same forces that took their friend years ago.