And Soon The Darkness -

"The shortcut looked fine on the map," Cathy replied, though her voice lacked conviction. The road here was little more than a cracked ribbon of asphalt hemmed in by dense, silent woods.

"We should have stayed on the main road," Jane panted, wiping sweat from her forehead. "The village was supposed to be three miles back."

The woods shifted from golden-hour beauty to an ink-black trap. Ahead, the road ended abruptly at a ravine—there was no bridge. The man had lied. And Soon the Darkness

Behind them, a single flashlight clicked on, cutting through the gloom like a blade.

While it's most likely you're looking for a inspired by that title, I've put together a suspenseful short story below that captures the "vacation gone wrong" spirit of the films. The Long Way Home "The shortcut looked fine on the map," Cathy

The sun was a bruised orange, hanging low over the French countryside. Cathy and Jane had been cycling for six hours, their legs burning, the map flapping uselessly against Cathy’s handlebars.

They stopped at a crossroad where a rusted sign pointed toward a town neither of them recognized. As they debated which way to turn, a man appeared from the tree line. He was lean, dressed in a faded canvas jacket, carrying a heavy wrench. He didn’t wave; he just watched them. "The village was supposed to be three miles back

The light began to move toward them, bouncing with a slow, deliberate pace. And soon, the darkness was no longer their only problem.