第11集：回声

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《回声》，C.H.伍尔里奇创作。

Echo, written by C. H. Woolrich.

由德鲁·布里姆朗读。我们已徒步数小时，小径几乎被苔藓和树根掩盖。阳光透过上方茂密的树冠滤下，在地面投下斑驳变幻的光影。空气中弥漫着潮湿树叶和树皮的气息。昆虫掠过我们身旁的小溪水面，在光线中如同玻璃碎片般闪烁。

Read by Drew Brim. We'd been hiking for hours, and the trail had mostly disappeared beneath moss and roots. The sun filtered through the thick canopy above, flecking the ground and shifting patches of light. Everything smelled like damp leaves and tree bark. Bugs skimmed the surface of the creek that ran alongside us, catching in the light like flecks of glass.

当发现那片林间空地时，感觉像得到了奖赏。柔软的土地被高耸的树木和溪流缓弯环抱，宁静祥和。我们卸下背包懒散地围坐成圈，传递着 trail mix 零食，交换故事，就像童年时那样。我们六人——我、瑞秋、马库斯、珍、艾米丽和凯尔——这群老友多年来首次齐聚。

When we found the clearing, it felt like a reward. A patch of soft ground nestled between tall trees and a slow bend in the creek. It was peaceful. We dropped our backpacks and collapsed in a lazy circle, passing around trail mix and swapping stories, just like when we were kids. There were six of us, me, Rachel, Marcus, Jen, Emily, and Kyle, old friends who had managed to be in the same place at the same time in years.

这种旅行本是群聊里半开玩笑的计划，没想到竟成真了。凯尔正讲到他表兄的车被负鼠入侵的趣事时，尖叫声突然响起。它如刀刃般劈开树林，尖锐短促，响亮得瞬间冻结所有谈话。回音在林木间延展弹跳，又倏然消逝。

The kind of trip you planned half jokingly in a group chat and somehow actually followed through on. Kyle was in the middle of a story about his cousin's car getting raided by a possum when it happened. The scream. It tore through the trees like a blade, sharp, short, and loud enough to stop every conversation cold. It echoed off the woods, stretching and bouncing between the trunks and disappearing as quickly as it came.

我们都盯着声源方向的树林。唯有微风、树叶与溪流潺潺。接着尖叫再次响起。同样的方向、时长和音高，分毫不差。这次我们面面相觑。

We all stared at the trees in the direction it had come from. Nothing moved, just the breeze and the leaves and the quiet trickle of the creek. Then the scream came again. Same direction, same length, same pitch, identical. We looked at each other this time.

"这不正常对吧？"珍说，"动物不会那样尖叫的。""也许是鸟类，"凯尔语气犹疑，"或者狐狸，它们叫声很瘆人。"

That's not normal. Right? Jen said. Animals don't scream like that, do they? Maybe it's a bird, Kyle said, not sounding convinced or a fox, they sound creepy.

无人移动。我们屏息等待，耳中鼓动着心跳声。尖叫第三次降临。相同的方位、音高、时长，精确得可怕。接着是第四次，如同卡带的录音循环播放。

No one moved. We waited listening. I could feel my pulse in my ears. Then the scream came again. Same direction, same pitch, same length, too exact, then another, same sound over and over like a recording stuck on a loop.

间隔时间开始缩短。马库斯站起身擦拭牛仔裤上的手汗："好吧，我受够了。我们回去吧。"

The intervals between them started to shorten. Marcus stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans. Okay. I don't like this. Let's head back.

众人沉默起身。再无玩笑，无人进食，只有快速收拾行李时不安地扫视树林。这时尖叫声再度响起。

We all got up quiet now. There was no more joking. No more snacking. Just fast packing in uneasy glances into the trees. Then the scream came again.

但这次从我们左侧传来，所有人再次僵住。又一声尖叫。这次在身后，更近了。珍的水瓶从背包滑落，闷响着砸在地上，惊醒了呆滞的众人。我们必须立刻离开。

But this time from our left, everyone froze again. Another scream. This time behind us, closer. Jen's water bottle slipped from her backpack and hit the ground with a soft thud, breaking everyone from their stupor. We need to go now.

无人反驳。我们开始移动——不是跑，还没到那地步，但快得被树根绊倒、低声咒骂。接着尖叫声在我耳边炸开，我踉跄着捂住耳朵。试图寻找声源，却空无一人。

No one argued. We started moving, not running, not yet, but fast enough to stumble over roots and curse under our breath. Then the scream erupted right next to me, in my ear. I stumbled, clapping a hand to the side of my head. I tried looking for the culprit, but there was no one.

“快走！”我大喊，这便够了。我们拼命奔逃。冲过树林时枝条抽打着脸颊。此刻我能听见身后所有人慌乱急促的脚步声。尖叫声持续袭来，从四面八方，不再有间隔。

Go, I shouted, and that was all it took. We ran for our lives. Branches whipped my face as we broke through the woods. I could hear everyone's footsteps behind me now, fast, frantic. The screaming kept coming, now from every direction and no longer spaced out.

那成了同一种尖叫的合唱，更响、更快、重叠着。然后有人尖叫了——不是我们听到的回响，是珍。是珍在叫。我转身正好看见她跌倒，被吞噬。没有更贴切的词了。

It was a chorus of the same scream, louder, faster, overlapping. Then someone screamed, not the echoing scream we'd been hearing, but Jen. It was Jen. I turned in time to see her stumble and get swallowed. There was no other word that fit.

她被某种黑色翻涌的东西吞没，像有意识的烟雾。如浪潮般漫过她身体，她就此消失。“珍！”凯尔喊道，已经转身。“珍！”她的尖叫加入了其他声音。

She was swallowed by something black and rolling, like smoke moving with purpose. It slid over her body like a wave and she was gone. Jen, Kyle called out, already turning back. Jen. Her scream joined the others.

同样的音调，同样的声音，不断重复。只是现在换成了她的嗓音。“走啊！”瑞秋尖叫着抓住凯尔手臂拖走他。我们再次奔逃，所有人。下一个是凯尔。

Same tone, same sound, over and over. Only now it was her voice. Move, Rachel screamed, grabbing Kyle by the arm and pulling him away. We ran again, all of us. Kyle was next.

他回头张望时绊倒了。黑雾随即袭来，如等待多时般覆上他。他的声音加入珍的循环。我跑得更拼命。马库斯跌倒了，山坡地面塌陷，他撞上倒下的树干，发出令人毛骨悚然的碎裂声。

He looked over his shoulder and tripped. The black cloud came for him then, rolling over him like it had been waiting. His voice joined Jens on repeat. I ran harder. Marcus tripped, the ground giving out beneath him on a slope, and he crashed into a fallen tree with a sickening crush.

瑞秋想折返，但我拽回了她。我们没看见黑雾吞噬他。几秒后只听见他的尖叫加入循环。我们冲进比上个更小的林间空地，周围古树如肋骨般拱卫头顶。

Rachel tried to go back, but I yanked her away. We didn't see the cloud take him. We just heard his scream a few seconds later, added to the loop. We broke into a clearing smaller than the last one. It was ring with old trees that arched overhead like ribs.

片刻间我们以为安全了。艾米丽突然停步捂着肋骨喘息，但为时已晚。她还没开口，尖叫声就强行冲破喉咙。她满脸惊恐，仿佛有东西在强制挤出这声音。接着黑雾从她身后树冠降下，将她整个吞没。

For a moment, we felt maybe we were safe. Emily stopped short and clutched her ribs panting and trying to catch her breath, but it was too late. Before she could open her mouth to speak, the scream forced its way up and out of her. She looked terrified, like something was forcibly pushing the sound out of her. And then the cloud dropped from the trees behind her and swallowed her whole.

她的声音加入了合唱。瑞秋啜泣着继续跑。我紧随其后。我们穿过树林，躲避枝桠，踉跄跨过石块，直到她重重摔倒在地。我伸手去拉，但黑影已缠上她的脚踝。

Her voice joined the others. Rachel sobbed and ran. I followed. We tore through the trees, dodging branches and stumbling over rocks until she stumbled and hit the ground hard. I reached for her, but the blackness was already circling around her ankles.

她抬头看向我，用口型说着‘救命’。我不知道发生了什么，只能拼命奔跑，身后回荡的只有尖叫声。不知跑了多久，小径消失了，我的肺像燃烧般灼痛。

She looked up at me and mouthed, help. I didn't know. I ran, and all I could hear were the screams behind me. I don't know how long I ran for. The trail was gone and my lungs burned.

我的双腿颤抖到失去知觉，重重摔在地上，脚踝在身下扭曲。剧痛如灼热的利刃顺着腿窜上来。就在那时，万籁俱寂，仿佛有人给世界按了静音键，连森林都屏住了呼吸。

My legs shook until they gave out. And I hit the ground hard, my ankle twisting beneath me. Pain shot up my leg sharp and hot. And that's when everything stopped, like someone hit mute on the world. Even the forest was quiet.

接着近在咫尺——近得前所未有——有耳语声贴着我的耳朵响起。轻柔得让我汗毛倒竖。它低语道：‘下一个就轮到你的回声了’。我还来不及尖叫，那团雾气就已笼罩住我，却没有带走我。

It seemed like it was holding its breath. And then close, closer than anything has ever been, a whisper right in my ear. So soft it made my skin crawl. It whispered, yours will echo next. The cloud was over me before I could scream, but it didn't take me.

它穿过了我的身体。所有声音瞬间涌回耳膜，但不是来自树林——是从我体内发出的。突然间我明白了它为何尖叫，为何带走他们，又为何放过我。它需要载体，需要传播的媒介。我张开嘴，尖叫声破喉而出。

It passed through me. All the sound rushed back in at once, but not from the trees. It came from inside me, and suddenly I understood why it screamed, why it took them, why it spared me. It needed someone to carry it, someone to pass it on. My mouth opened and the scream came out.

不是我的，不是他们的，是我们的。如今我独自徘徊在林间，被困在原地等待，因为它需要新的猎物。某个不幸踏入我的森林、听见尖叫的人。只需等到回声找到他们就够了。

Not mine, not theirs, ours. Now I walk the woods alone, trapped and waiting because it needs another. Someone unfortunate enough to make their way into my woods to hear the scream. Just long enough for the echo to find them.