The narrator sets out at night to warn Richard Brent of a dangerous escaped convict, Tope Braxton, believed to be hiding in the pine forests referred to as Egypt. On his way, he discovers Jim Tike, a local black man, brutally murdered with wounds resembling animal attacks. Soon, he encounters a mysterious figure whose presence instills an inexplicable fear, leading to a struggle where the narrator barely escapes with his life.

Continuing his journey despite the danger, the narrator meets Brent's servant, Ashley, and his niece, Gloria, who have also encountered the beastly figure. They seek refuge in Brent's cabin, but Brent, driven to paranoia and madness, refuses the narrator entry, suspecting him to be in league with his supernatural stalker.

After being denied entry, the narrator stumbles upon the scene of another murder just outside the cabin and overhears inside a chilling confession from Brent. Brent reveals his past betrayal of his expedition partner, Adam Grimm, in Mongolia, which led to Grimm's transformation by the black monks into a monstrous creature bent on revenge. Brent admits to fleeing and hiding to escape Grimm's wrath, which has now found him in the remote woods.

Adam Grimm, now a horrific beastly figure, attacks the cabin, targeting Brent and his niece. In a desperate struggle, the narrator, still outside, shoots through the cabin window, trying to stop Grimm from killing Brent and Gloria. Despite multiple gunshot wounds, Grimm's monstrous determination allows him to fatally wound Brent before dying himself from his injuries.