🩸 When You Meet the Ugly One

She was young—barely 18. Life in the countryside moved slowly back then, and her mother didn’t often let her go out alone, especially not after dark. But that evening, something pulled her out. Maybe curiosity. Maybe rebellion. Maybe something else.

She slipped out unnoticed, heading toward the village. The night was pitch black, without a moon, the road silent under a sky full of stars. No streetlights. No sound.

Halfway there, she saw it. A dark figure, sitting motionless on a bench by the side of the road. At first, she thought it might be a dog, or a shadow. But as she approached, the shape revealed itself. It wasn’t an animal. It was... someone.

She slowed. The figure didn’t move. Just as she passed by, a voice cut through the silence like a blade-low, old, and cold:

"Do you not fear the ugly one?"

The girl froze. The words clung to her skin like ice. Without a second thought, she ran-heart pounding, breath short-until she reached the bar in the center of the village. Pale. Shaking. Speechless.

It took a while before she could speak again.

Locals still say you should never talk to such shadows. Never greet them. Never reply. Their words are not for your ears, and their presence... not meant to be acknowledged.

She never walked that road alone again.

📖 This story is part of the "Transylvanian Shadows" series — true encounters from local folklore that will be published in upcoming volumes this summer.