DARK WOODS
Part 4
By Shadow-Owl

She was fully unprepared for a situation like this. Celeste quickly put her glasses on and grabbed the first pair of bottom wear she had, which was a pair of slightly loose jeans. Celeste quickly threw them on, not caring if it got dirty, and headed in the direction where she thought Raiya went. She shone a torch in front of her, as she hurried her sprint to catch up with her friend. 

While she was running, she started to lose track of where Raiya was. She was wondering what was going on. Why was Irene and Elaine not in the tents? It would be weird to just go off on their own! 

After a few seconds of running, Celeste had to slow her sprint to pace herself. She heard Raiya shouting her friends’ names out there, which helped her keep some level of track on Raiya. 

She realized Raiya went off the trail, and pulled out her compass so she didn’t get lost. She huffed as she tried to sprint in the few moments of her having energy. She was also still slightly groggily, but not as much as when she was at camp.

Raiya’s voice was getting more distant, as Celeste groaned internally. It had been close to a few minutes since she was forced awake, and at this point, she was pondering if this was a prank, not that she was doubting the situation, but she had been pranked before, however, from the screams heard, as well as Raiya’s reaction, it seemed more and more genuine and less like they were trying to scare her. 

While walking in though, she saw a strange black fog surrounding the area they were in. The fog was thick, and was difficult for the flashlight to penetrate. This confused her, why was there fog on a mostly clear night? She didn’t have her watch, so she wasn’t sure if it was the right time for fog.

Celeste could vaguely hear Raiya, but she sounded quieter than before, as if she was getting farther away. 

“What’s with this fog?” She asked, looking around as she could barely see anything. The moon was now moving behind some clouds, making it harder to see without a light. She was able to adjust to the dark a little, but not by much.

Celeste decided to do what she should’ve done in the beginning and call emergency services. She remembered there was a tower near the main road. If she could get there, she could call for help! 

She glanced down at her compass, but was stunned when seeing what it was reading. The compass was spinning around rapidly, which confused her beyond belief. They were in an area where compasses shouldn’t be having trouble identifying north, yet for some reason this one was. 

Celeste tapped on it, swearing at it. 

“Ugh, come on! Stupid thing!” She shook her head, as she didn’t understand. She looked around, the fog only allowed her to see at least five to ten feet around her. The grass was tall, with several dead branches on the ground and tall trees surrounding her, with a few rocks sticking out of the earth. Now that she was too deep in the wilderness, she was lost. 

Celeste briefly checked her phone in the hopes of using an online map, but realized the battery was only 5%. After mentally slapping herself, she turned it off to save power as she just waited for Raiya to shout again.

The cat realized that it was next to impossible to navigate, only adding to her anxieties. How was Raiya able to get through this? Now Celeste was trying to help herself, as she tried navigating through the maze-like forest. 

The way the trees stood ominously made her feel uncomfortable, surrounding her as she could only see what the flashlight illuminated. Celeste took a second to wonder why this was happening.

“All I wanted was to explore nature…not this.” She thought to herself, as she felt like this was a nightmare, but everytime she slapped herself, nothing happened. 

After nearly a minute of walking in one direction, she heard a scream from Raiya!

“Celeste! Help me!” Raiya was heard from her left, and Celeste felt chills down her spine. She’s never heard Raiya like this. Celeste started running toward the direction she heard her friend’s plea at, as she called out in return, “Raiya!? Raiya!!” 

While running, she didn’t look down as she held her flashlight in front of her, before she felt her bare foot trip on something…sticky? 

The cat girl then face planted as she dropped her flashlight! She groaned as she felt herself needing a moment, as her glasses also fell off her face. The girl tried to stand up, but felt her right foot being snagged on something, it felt like several cold droplets pulling on her fur. She blinked, before she put her glasses on, grabbed her flashlight and looked at what her foot was trapped on. 

Celeste felt chills run down her spine, as she saw what it actually was. What she tripped on was a long, semi-flat sundew tentacle, with thousands of needle-like tendrils tipped with sugary dewdrops that stuck to her fur and skin like glue. 

What unsettled her was the sheer size of it, as it extended outward like a huge vine, being the width of her flashlight, how long it was she had no idea. The plant seemed to be camouflaged with all the discarded branches on the soil. 

“What’s a sundew doing here? W-Why is it so huge…?” She stuttered under her breath, as she tried to rationalize what she was seeing. 

By now, Raiya went quiet, which worried Celeste. She tried to call out to her, but all she heard was an echo. The entire forest fell silent as she was now alone with her thoughts. She looked back at the exotic carnivorous fauna, and guessed it must be an invasive species, but she didn’t know any place on this earth that was home to such a frightening sight! 

The cat gritted her teeth, as her glasses fell slightly downward, threatening to fall off her face. 

“Raiya! Help!” She shouted, but the forest only provided her with echoes. She knew there was no escaping a sundew plant, after a few seconds of Celeste feeling the light fade from her eyes, she remembered she had her backpack!

She pulled it off her shoulders, and started digging through in the hopes of finding something to help her. She placed her flashlight down for a moment, when suddenly the plant sprung to life! It started dragging her leg with surprising strength for a plant! 

“What the fuck!?” She protested, and Celeste fell backward. The leaf-like vine held firm as she was pulled into the brush! 

She started digging her fingers into the soil as she tried to crawl away! After a second, she felt a root in the dirt and grabbed it! The plant began pulling her with greater force as she held onto the stiff root of a nearby tree! Celeste grunted, as she quickly lost grip on the root! 

Her glasses fell off her face as Celeste was dragged deeper and deeper into the brush, with the cat trying desperately to grab onto something as she was screaming colorful words of confusion mixed in with cries for help! 

She kept trying until she rolled onto her back, narrowly dodging her other leg from getting caught in the vine! After a minute, she saw the fog slowly disappearing as she was approaching some kind of secluded area. She didn’t see this during the hike, not that she would’ve since she was off the trail! 

Celeste grunted as she tried to pull free, before she gasped deeply while looking up ahead, seeing where the tentacle was leading to. By this point, it seemed the moon finally peaked through the clouds, and provided her the much needed light to see without her torch. 

She couldn’t see too well without her glasses, but she saw a large pitcher plant sitting in a bundle of presumably sundew vines, the base seemingly on the ground with no stem under it. 

“Help me!!!” She screamed, Celeste really began to panic, as she tried to pull her leg out of the sugary tendrils, but her fur was practically glued to the sundews!

The cat kept trying to pry her leg out, that was until she was only a car’s length from the pitcher. It rested on the ground, as it loomed over her. Even more tentacles, much like the one holding her leg emerged from the pitcher above her, with an extra set unwinding around the pitcher’s base! 

“No!” The cat cried, and found a small discarded branch, which she grabbed and tried to swat the tendrils away! The tendrils backed up slightly, before one got caught by the branch, and tried to pull the branch away! Celeste, not wanting to let go of her one weapon, gripped it with both hands. Instantly she regretted it, when one vine suddenly striked, and wrapped around both her wrists!

She released the branch and screamed, throat almost hoarse by this point as the plant began lifting her up! The cat wiggled as she whimpered. This had to be a nightmare! This was all impossible! 

“N-No..no! No-hoho…!” She cried, as they rubbed themselves onto her jeans, before pulling downward, like they were trying to pry them off. Her terror was now mixed with confusion, a plant showing intelligence? 

“H-Huh?” She couldn’t ponder on this at the moment, for that two tendrils grabbed a hold of her shirt, before pulling on it. This behavior both fascinated, and terrified her at the same time. While they struggled to get her clothing off, she had a small moment to speculate if maybe it’s doing this to prevent itself from absorbing the fibers in her clothes?

One dark thought crossed her mind, which made Celeste more afraid. What if the pitcher plant evolved to do this from…previous victims? After some resistance from Celeste, the tentacles successfully tore her shirt away, her soft breasts bouncing free! 

Celeste cringed, as the tentacles finally pulled her pants off, revealing her dark purple panties! As soon as most of her clothing was off, the tendrils lunged onto her like lampreys latching onto skin, she suppressed a sob as she felt the sugars mix with her fur, only making the feline’s escape even less likely. 

She thrashed her body, yelling out both in frustration, and a hint of pain as she felt her fur being pulled by the dewdrops. 

The poor cat knew her fate was sealed, but wanted to at least try in the hopes one tendril would let up. The plant rose her slightly over the pitcher, before it began lowering her onto the open mouth of the fauna, her feet standing on the outer lips as she tried again to resist, or at least prolong until rescue came. Unfortunately, her foot slipped, and both legs fell into the narrow plant! 

She tried to resist again, trying to move her arms as the plant manhandled the poor feline into submission. The tentacles holding her wrists receded back into the plant, pulling her arms behind her back to rest on her buttucks! 

Celeste yelled out one last, “Nooo!” 

Before the plant pulled her in swiftly, the pitcher closed its outer lips as soon as her ears went inside! 

---

For a moment, everything was dark, before suddenly the inside started to glow with bioluminescence! Celeste was forcing a lot of tension toward the vines wrapped around her arms, but they remained firm. 

Celeste shifted around, the pitcher inside had a little bit of space for her to wiggle around. The cat tried to figure out how she could escape this, but who was she kidding? There was no escape from a man-sized sundew pitcher plant hybrid!

It was then, with the vines securely pinning her arms and legs together, Celeste felt the space inside getting smaller. She blinked, before she gasped lightly feeling the cool wet interior touch her warm breasts. The air was quickly being vacuumed out, and she felt the plant now fully wrapped around her, the cocoon hugging her curves and legs, quickly becoming skintight!

Added with the inside juices, which had the same stickiness as the sundew tendrils, she was truly not going anywhere. She could feel the plant’s enzymes caressing her sensitive flesh beneath her soft fur, making her whine helplessly. 

Her face was vaguely seen through the sealed cocoon, her breasts squished against the smooth, slimy interior, nipples completely flattened, and her ears were pressed against her scalp. She moaned, feeling everything oozing around her, the tentacles loosened up a little, letting the sundew tendrils do the work of keeping her arms and legs pinned, with her only able to squirm and wiggle like a caterpillar trapped inside its chrysalis. 

No matter how hard she screamed, it was immensely deafened behind the plant’s thin but tough exterior. After several seconds of panicked struggling, she had to stop, losing energy and panting against the now skintight prison. Celeste found it hard to breathe through, and realized she wasn’t getting enough air!

Even worse, she felt something warm and tingly between her toes and paw pads. Eyes widening, she realized it was going to digest her! Although she couldn’t look down at her feet due to how the cocoon conformed around her head and curves, she could feel the watery liquid slowly rising. It was coming up slow, only reaching her ankles in a matter of a minute. 

Now the panic returned, as she resumed struggling against the plant’s tight grip on her, trying to breathe as it practically was smothering her with its pod. For outside observers, the plant had a feminine shape, squirming side to side, bending down slightly before shaking violently in a desperate attempt to escape. 

Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. Trapped inside an undiscovered flora fauna, with all she could do is scream and yell. For the girls caught in their respective prisons, there was no escape from the dark woods…

….The End…?