A teenager in hiding. A pitchfork wound festering with infection. A village drug dealer circling like a vulture. Welcome to Emmerdale’s latest descent into darkness — and it’s only getting deeper.

Dylan Penders once walked away from the village with the promise of healing. He left for rehab, seemingly determined to change. But when he returned, things had already taken a sinister turn. Under the thumb of local villain Ray, Dylan quickly found himself dragged back into danger — this time, with blood on the ground and fear in his eyes.

It started with a job. Ray, ever the manipulator, sent Dylan to Moira Dingle’s barn. Whatever he was meant to retrieve — drugs, goods, leverage — it went wrong. Very wrong. Kyle, Moira’s young son, caught him in the act. There was shouting. A struggle. Then the sickening sound of pain as Kyle struck out with a pitchfork.

Now Dylan’s lying low, hiding in the Cricket Pavilion with a growing infection and an even bigger problem: he’s trapped between the threat of exposure and the wrath of Ray.

And no one knows just how much danger he’s in — except April Windsor.

April, brave and stubborn, finds Dylan in hiding and urges him to go to the hospital. But Dylan, scared of both the law and Ray’s reaction, refuses. Instead, the pair come up with a desperate, dangerous plan: steal supplies from the local vet clinic and treat the wound themselves.

Their attempt at DIY surgery is reckless and terrifying. But it’s Paddy who finds them — and instead of turning them in, he does something unexpected. He helps. Seeing the pain in Dylan’s face, the desperation in April’s, Paddy decides to treat the injury himself. He even gives Dylan a place to sleep for the night, his instincts as a vet giving way to his heart as a father.

But safety is fleeting in Emmerdale.

Ray soon finds Dylan again. He talks smoothly, as if nothing’s happened. Like the stabbing, the fear, the infection — none of it matters. He offers Dylan more jobs, talks about future deals, the money that’s waiting, the power he could have. It’s the same old song: you belong to me.

Dylan tries to resist. Shows him the stash of drugs he’s hiding. Says that’s all he’ll do. A limit. A boundary. But Ray doesn’t accept boundaries. And Dylan’s refusal might just paint a target on his back.

Meanwhile, April is increasingly pulled into a world she doesn’t understand. First it was loyalty. Then compassion. Now it’s desperation. She’s already broken into a vet’s office. Already helped a boy avoid medical care. What happens next if Ray decides she’s standing in the way?

And where’s Kyle in all this? The young boy who lashed out with a pitchfork — is he safe from legal consequences? Or will this spark a whole new fallout?

There’s a quiet terror in this storyline. Not the kind with explosions or screaming, but the kind where choices pile up. Where every decision pulls these teens further from innocence and deeper into chaos.

And Ray — calculating, manipulative Ray — is at the center of it all.

Joe Absolom brings a chilling edge to the character, a villain without theatrics. Ray isn’t loud. He’s patient. Persistent. He makes Dylan think he has options, then closes the door before he can escape. It’s the kind of slow-burn menace that Emmerdale does best — and it’s about to hit a boiling point.

With Dylan trying to walk away, April standing too close, and Paddy caught in the middle, the stakes have never been higher.