Chapter Text
THE grey clouds taking up most of the space on my bedroom window did nothing to help my mood. Waking up to another bland Monday and attending my lectures in my pajamas were all I had planned for the entire day, although the chances of me actually attending my classes were becoming more slim as my mood worsened and my will to leave the bed was non-existent.
My laptop dinged with a chime as another email from one of my professors came through reminding me that they still hadn't received last week's assignments. Sighing, I burrowed even deeper into my blankets.
Yup, I'm definitely not going to class today.
Even though my schedule was suddenly clear, I still had no urge to move. Rubbing my eyes strenuously, I reached for my phone on the nightstand. Aimlessly scrolling through my third app, my eyes got heavy. I tried fighting the sleep away, raising my eyebrows in a weak attempt to keep my eyes open, but soon gave in. My fingers loosened their grip from my phone and let my hefty eyelids shut at last.
Something had grazed the tip of my nose, tickling it and I briefly woke up. I lazily scratched at my nose and settled back into sleep when I realized how cold it was around me.
Geez, I thought I turned on the heater.
Reaching for my comforter, my fingertips were met with coarse tips and something wet. I bolted up with a gasp and snapped my eyes open.
What the...?
Swiveling my head back and forth at the sight of a forest around me, I scrambled to come up with a logical explanation. There is a forest nearby my house, but the forest I was currently in looked nothing like a Texas forest with its larger pine trees and something more reminiscent of something from Twilight. Maybe I sleepwalked to a different part of the forest? My mind was moving a mile a minute, struggling to comprehend what the hell was going on.
A COUGH echoed into the trees from behind me.
Being so startled that I couldn't even let out a sound, I whipped my torso around so fast I heard my back crack several times in response.
"Excuse me, what are you doing in our backyard?" The smooth voice asked.
I felt my face lose all color and fingertips freeze. Swallowing the large stone in my throat, my eyes met his golden eyes. My heart was beating like a train was running through it and I felt nauseous. The forest began blurring and it felt like life was sucked out of me. My eyes started to close, but my consciousness was still reeling.
What the fu-