Chapter Text
Your mind was awake before your body was. Your head was foggy, your muscles were stiff and sore, and as you struggled to open your eyes, you could only think one thing: you weren’t in your bed. The ground, which is what it felt like you were laying on, was hard and unforgiving on your back. You heard birds and the rustling of trees, which meant you were outside. You tried to sit up, but you also realized you could barely move. A heavy feeling weighed down your body.
You felt something in your head, like fingers reaching into your mind, striking pain throughout your skull, and you groaned, but were unable to fight it. It released after a moment.
You fought with yourself, trying to wiggle your fingers, or even your toes, when you heard a voice. It was deep and piercing, but difficult to make out in your haziness.
"Well, that's unfortunate. But maybe that means you really are the one, pal. I suppose we'll have to see."
Your eyelids fluttered, but your body still wasn't listening to you. The voice was suddenly closer, brushing the shell of your ear.
"If I were you, I'd find some kind of shelter before nightfall."
You were confused, but suddenly the fog lifted, and the stiffness in your limbs eased, and you were able to sit yourself up fully.
You blinked rapidly, looking in every direction, but no one was there. But now that you could see, you had an even bigger concern upon noticing just where you were. In the middle of nowhere. Alone. Not in your house, or in your bed, which was the last place you remembered being, but in the middle of a forested area. There were trees and flowers as far as you could see, but nothing looked familiar. You stood up slowly, shaking, trying to get your bearings, but there was just no way to tell where you were, and you sure as hell couldn’t remember how you got here.
“Hello?” you called out. No answer. You had no idea what to do. That man was gone-or had he even been there to begin with? He sounded so real, and something about him was hauntingly familiar, but you weren’t sure of anything at the moment. You did know, however, that you couldn’t just stay here. You had to move, find civilization, get a phone somehow, and then maybe you could call home. Someone had to be looking for you now, your coworkers, your fiancé, you wouldn’t just disappear. Yeah, you thought, trying to hold in a full blown panic attack, that sounds like a plan.
So, you started walking. Very quickly, you began to realize that something was off about this place. You had this weird feeling in your stomach that wouldn’t go away. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just a normal forest, with normal plants and trees, and very normal-looking butterflies that fluttered by. The only abnormal thing here was you. You had no recollection of how you got here, or how far away from home you were. It was all blank, no matter how hard you strained to remember.
The trees around you grew more dense the further you walked, and you could hear the scurrying of all sorts of critters. Birds landed on the low hanging branches near your head, and you could have sworn they were following you, watching you. It was unsettling, and you jumped with every sound they made.
But you ignored them when a particular tree caught your eye. It was larger than the others, and didn’t have any leaves on it. But its most striking feature was the giant face that appeared to be etched into the side. You approached it, curious, and reached out with your hand. You placed it on the bark and frowned.
That’s odd, you thought. It’s warm. Then, under your palm, you felt movement. The bark itself felt like it was moving in and out, like it was made of skin. It was a subtle but unnerving sensation, and you weren’t sure what to make of it, until it clicked. It was breathing.
You snatched your hand back at the realization, and suddenly its face was more than an etching; it was real. Its mouth was gnarled and gaping, and you looked on in horror as its eyes slowly cracked open. They were glowing orange and horrifying, and they were looking right at you.
You felt a twinge of fear creep up your back as you backed away, now terrified and more confused than before, before spinning on your heel and runnin as fast as you could.
You ran until you couldn’t anymore, trying to get as far away from that awful thing as you could. Legs threatening to give out, lungs near collapse, you stopped, putting your hands on your knees and gulping down mouthfuls of air. You managed to get your breathing under control after some time, but your head was still spinning.
Living trees. “Yeah, that’s...totally...normal...” you said between puffs of air. It definitely wasn’t, but you weren’t sure what to make of it. That was the kind of thing you saw in movies, not in the middle of the forest, because trees don’t have faces.
Speaking of the forest, you lifted your head to look around. You had been so caught up in getting away from that thing as fast as possible, you didn’t realize you had landed yourself somewhere new. There were no more pine trees, instead there were now taller, bushier trees surrounding you. Even the ground felt different where you walked. You looked down and a sense almost like relief swept over you. The ground was different because you had found a road! And that meant you had to be close to civilization.
You started walking down the path, perhaps a little bit faster with your sudden rush of excitement, now actively searching for a house, or building of some kind. Maybe there would be a cabin of sorts, if you were this deep in the forest. You could only hope you found something before nightfall, because the sky looked like it was getting darker. You weren’t sure how long you had been walking for since you woke up, but you didn’t think it had been all day. Maybe a couple of hours, at most. Still, you didn’t want to be caught out here in the dark with no light, or a place to sleep.
Who knows what kind of things come out at night.
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Your feet were sore and you were starting to get tired. It was much darker than before, the setting sun bathing the world in an orange haze, but you still had no way to tell how much time had passed. The road seemed to go on forever, twisting and winding and branching off into many different paths. You had a feeling it was better to take the path more traveled by, which hopefully meant more people had gone this way.
There were no buildings in sight, so maybe you had stumbled on a walking trail? But those could go on for miles and miles with no breaks in between. That meant it could be days before you found anything, if this trail even led anywhere.
But the worst part? You had no food or water, and your stomach was beginning to rumble unhappily. You wished you had some food with you, but sadly there had been no time to plan for your impromptu trip to the forest.
You startled when a bird squawked next to you. You stopped and turned to see a cardinal sitting on a large rock mound. It felt like the birds had been watching you before, but now you were sure of it. It was looking right at you, hopping in place and scratching at the boulder with its claws. You stared at it curiously, which almost seemed to irritate it, because it squawked louder this time. It pecked at the rock, then looked at you, then pecked at it again more urgently. Almost like...it was trying to tell you something. You stepped closer, hesitant like it was going to jump out and bite you. It stayed put, letting you reach down and scoop up what it had been pecking at. It looked like seeds.
“Are these for me?” you asked aloud. It squawked in response. “I’ll take that as a yes,” you said. You turned them over in your hands. They looked fresh. Edible. Which was the most concerning thing to you right now.
With your judgement, impaired by how hungry you were, you ate one. It tasted like sunflower seeds. They weren’t much, but at least you wouldn’t be starving any time soon. “Thank you, little friend,” you cooed. It seemed like the appropriate thing to say, even though you were just talking to a bird. You reached down, as if to pet it, when it flew away suddenly in a flurry of red feathers. You shielded yourself on instinct, but it was already gone.
Odd, you thought for the second time today. Things just keep getting weirder.
By now, the sun was very low in the sky. There was little light left, and you realized with a sinking feeling that if you didn’t find shelter soon, you might just have to spend the night in the forest after all. You had just started down the path again when you noticed something in the distance. Among the shadows of the tree line was a small steady light, almost too far to make out. You squinted, trying to make sense of what it could be, when it hit you. It was a house! You internally cheered, heart leaping into your throat as you started to rush towards it. The light was on-someone had to be home! Oh please, oh please, oh please, you silently pleaded, Somebody help me.
But just as you were halfway there, the sun fell behind the trees, taking with it the last light of the evening.
It was night.
Even with the crescent moon high in the sky, it was pitch black. You couldn’t see your own hand in front of your face. As uneasy and downright scared the darkness made you, you couldn’t stop now. You had to get to the house. Its light was the only thing you could see in the blackness that stretched all around you. Your only hope.
But just as things couldn’t get any worse, you heard a low hissing in your ear. It made all the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. You startled, halting abruptly, suddenly feeling like you weren’t alone anymore.
There was something behind you.
You froze, too scared to move. The presence behind you was cold. Like a draft of air in winter. It sent ice down your spine, causing your body to tense in anticipation.
You felt its gaze on you. Slowly, ever so slowly, looking you up and down. It wasn’t friendly, that much you could tell, its gaze predatory, as if it were sizing you up. For what, you weren’t sure. But you were paralyzed, holding your breath like the slightest puff of air would set it off. You felt—rather than saw— it move around you, circling you. It was impossibly dark, so much so that it seemed to be made of the very darkness that surrounded you. You wondered if it could see you, really see you, or if it could sense you somehow. You felt it move closer, inches from your face, a slight breath the only indication it was there. Your heart was pounding-just being close to whatever it was caused your whole body to seize up. You waited, but nothing happened. It seemed to have gotten what it came for, whatever that was, and began to back away slowly until the chill in the air was gone.
You let out the breath you forgot you were holding. You had never felt something so bone-chilling in your life. But just before you could take another step, a blinding pain seared across your back, sending you tumbling to the ground. You gasped, your head suddenly hazy and disoriented, tears gathering in your eyes from the hot sting left behind. You were sure you were bleeding, your clothes torn and skin exposed. Clawing at the ground you couldn’t see, you tried to push yourself to your feet. There was a change in the air, and you rolled just in time to feel the something whiz by your ear as it tried to strike again, just barely missing you. You managed to scramble to your feet, adrenaline overtaking any pain you felt, and you wasted no time in sprinting as fast as you could toward the house. This time, it wasn’t just your last hope—it was your last lifeline.
The creature followed closely behind, its hissing louder and louder, almost deafening as you ran. Your shoes caught on tree roots but you miraculously didn't fall. You were almost there. You couldn’t see the tree line anymore, but the porch light shone bright as day—a beacon in the night.
Just before you reached the house, there was another swipe, this time it connected painfully with your shoulder, almost knocking you to the ground again from the force, but not breaking skin. You cried out, throwing yourself against the front door to the house and banging on it like your life depended on it. But no matter how loud you shouted or how hard you rattled the door, no one came to your rescue.
You heard a low growl and froze. Realizing you were on your own, you whirled around to face the creature.
The porch light shone down in a small circle on the ground, and there you stood as if it were a spotlight. Your heart pounded as you waited for another attack, eyes frantic as you tried to make out where the creature was, but the darkness was like a blanket. The light didn't help at all, but you could have sworn you saw a pair of eyes. Looking down, you saw tendrils of something black creeping its way to your shoes, but they retreated as quickly as they had come. Like it was afraid of the light. There was a rustle—or was it just the blood rushing in your ears?—and then nothing.
It was quiet.
You waited for a few minutes at the very least, though it felt like it could have been hours, until your heart had finally settled down. The creature was gone.
You were shaking, but somehow still alive. But it didn't seem like anyone was coming to the door. You couldn't understand why, it was a small house and the light was on. Someone had to have heard you, right?
Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion hit you, and you slid to the ground, leaning against the door. You had been walking all day, for more hours than you could count, without food or water. Now you had just run for your life, your back was bleeding and you were starving, and you couldn't bring yourself to move any further, even if there was a possibility that creature could come back.
As your eyelids drooped and your head lulled to the side, you held on to the last remaining hope you had—that in the morning, someone will finally open the door to see you laying on the ground, and maybe, just maybe, they'll pity you enough to help you find your way home, and you can put this whole nightmare behind you—before slipping into a dreamless sleep, sitting on the unforgiving ground of this strange and unfamiliar forest.