Whispers in the Fog
January 24, 2025
The research vessel Artemis cut silently through the dense, greenish fog of Xerion IV, a swamp-covered planet shrouded in mystery. Its crew had come to investigate a series of inexplicable disappearances among previous expeditions. For Captain Lila Greaves, this mission felt like a trap waiting to spring.
“Keep comms open,” she said, her voice tense as she adjusted her earpiece. “No wandering off alone. We don’t know what’s out there.”
Her team nodded. Beside her, Dr. Tobias Eryn, a xenobiologist, scanned the environment with his portable analyzer. The fog was thick, almost alive, swirling unnaturally.
“Captain,” Tobias said, his voice uneasy. “I’m picking up strange energy signatures. They’re… shifting, like they’re moving.”
“Moving where?” Lila asked.
“Toward us.”
The team froze. The air felt heavier, and a faint whisper seemed to float through the mist.
“Did you hear that?” whispered Maya, the team’s navigator.
“Hear what?” Lila asked, though she already knew.
“A voice,” Maya replied, her face pale. “It sounded like… my brother.”
Lila’s stomach tightened. Maya’s brother had died years ago.
“It’s just the wind,” Lila said firmly. “Stay close.”
As they ventured deeper into the swamp, the whispers grew louder, though none of them could agree on what they heard.
“It’s my mother,” Tobias said at one point, stopping in his tracks. “She’s calling me.”
“Tobias, no,” Lila barked, grabbing his arm. “There’s no one out here. Focus!”
He hesitated, his eyes darting to the fog. “But it’s her voice… I’m sure of it.”
“Keep moving,” Lila ordered. “Whatever this is, it’s playing with us.”
The team pressed on, but the swamp seemed to close in around them. The trees twisted unnaturally, their gnarled branches resembling clawed hands. The ground beneath their boots felt like it was shifting, alive.
“Captain,” Maya whispered. “I think we’re being watched.”
Lila turned to see shadows moving in the fog—tall, spindly figures with glowing eyes.
“Weapons ready!” she commanded.
But as the team drew their weapons, the fog thickened, swallowing the figures. The whispers became deafening, overlapping voices filling the air.
“Why did you leave us?”
“Come back…”
“You can’t escape…”
“They’re in my head!” Tobias shouted, clutching his skull.
“Stay together!” Lila yelled, but it was too late. Tobias broke into a run, vanishing into the fog.
“Tobias!” Lila and Maya gave chase, their boots splashing through the murky water. But no matter how fast they ran, Tobias’s cries seemed farther away.
Suddenly, the whispers stopped, replaced by silence.
“Tobias?” Maya called out, her voice trembling.
A figure appeared ahead—Tobias. But something was wrong. His movements were jerky, his head tilted at an unnatural angle.
“Tobias?” Lila said cautiously.
He turned to face them, his eyes glowing an unnatural green. His mouth opened, and a voice—alien and layered—spoke:
“Why do you trespass in our domain?”
“We’re explorers,” Lila said, her voice steady despite the fear coursing through her. “We mean no harm.”
The Tobias-thing tilted its head. “All who enter the fog become part of it.”
Maya screamed as shadowy hands emerged from the mist, grabbing her legs.
“Run!” Lila shouted, but the fog was alive now, its tendrils wrapping around her, pulling her into the swamp’s depths.
The Artemis was found weeks later, empty and adrift. The only clue was a message scratched into the control panel:
“The fog keeps us.”