Chapter Text
Holly Winters leaned back against the old oak tree, tuning her guitar as she hummed a melody that had been grinding away in her head for days. Deep in the heart of the woods, she could play freely, making music with whatever was out there. Sometimes she could swear she heard voices singing with her as she played.
From the days of her youth through her teenage years, she had clung tightly to the legends of the fae realm. Her parents had woven stories about fae in a world beyond Hatchetfield, mischievous troublemakers who stole children from their homes and lured them into eternal traps. The stories frightened her as a young girl, but as she grew up, she found something about them to be hauntingly beautiful.
And so she played in the woods, listening to what she believed to be fae voices singing along with her. Her fingers plucked at the guitar strings, strumming gentle melodies and powerful ballads alike. Sometimes she thought she saw movement out of the corners of her eyes, the flutter of wings or the twirling of feet, something more than just the rustling of leaves in the trees.
“Just run away with me, you won’t feel so alone.” As her last song came to a close, something caught her eye. There, a few feet from the designated trail, was a mushroom circle. That was odd. Had it been there before? She wasn’t certain.
She ran over to it and knelt down just outside it. Her fingers glided across the grass, gently sweeping closer and closer to the mushrooms. A small part of her wondered what would happen if she took one small step in. As the thought drifted into her head, voices started to echo it, calling her to enter.
“Just one step in, little one,” a deep, hypnotic voice droned on.
“We promise we won’t hurt you.” This one was higher-pitched, almost screeching. “We just wanna watch.”
“We just want to play!” A mad cackle followed the statement.
Her fingers continued drifting closer to the circle, lightly brushing one of the mushrooms without a thought. She was too deep in her own wonderland. Were the legends about the fae realm true? Were the mushroom circles really made by fae dances? Would she really be trapped if she entered the circle? Did the fae realm even exist at all, or was the Witchwood all there was? Were the fae a part of the Witchwood? How much control did they have over it? Over her?
The last question was answered quickly as her hand slipped into the circle. Holly tried to pull it out, but it was too late. It was as though it was glued to the grass. Laughter echoed around her, five voices that wrapped around her mind and lulled her deeper into the dream. Her eyelids fluttered slightly, thoughts growing hazy as the fae started to claim their control. She crawled into the circle as they guided her, trapping herself in their cage.
As soon as she was in, they released their hold on her, and awareness came rushing back to her. The energy in the circle shifted, no longer the innocent, dreamy energy she was used to, but something darker. She could make out a force field holding her in. Blue, purple, yellow, pink, and green spread out in spiderwebs around her, holding her firmly in place. Her heart sank as she realized she had been lured in like the legends said. In a moment of desperation of panic and terror, she launched herself against the force field.
It only tightened around her, the ground opening beneath her. Instead of a mound of dirt, however, colors swirled beneath her, the same colors as in the force field, small hints of white joining the array. Holly knew immediately what it was: a portal into the fae world. She struggled to crawl away, scrambling to her feet in hopes of making a run for it, but the force field only closed in further. She stumbled back, her foot slipping out from beneath her. With a scream, she tumbled down into the portal.
The first thing she saw was a swirl of blue, music notes circling around her and clinging to her skin. They felt sticky, like they were made of some strange blue goo. She struggled to shake them off as she fell deeper into purple. Eyes seemed to follow her as she fell. Everywhere she looked, there were more eyes, staring right at her. She closed her own eyes for a few seconds, relieved when she realized the lighting behind her eyes had changed.
She opened her eyes to see a yellow maze. Clocks ticked around her, the walls of the maze shifting endlessly. She bounced between the walls like a pinball until she was launched into the next part of the portal. Pink surrounded her immediately, and with it came the smell of rotting flesh. She crinkled her nose and tried to ignore how many teeth were floating around her.
At last, she found herself falling into a green hue. A huge throne stood before her, jagged and intimidating. Tentacles reached out, wrapping around her and pulling her out of the portal.
Slam! The tentacles dropped her directly into a tree, the impact nearly knocking the breath from her lungs. She clung to a branch, trying to gain her bearings. The branch was cold beneath her touch, and as she finally managed to regain her focus, she realized it wasn't just any tree. It was made of glistening emeralds, with strange vines wrapped around it. As her fingers brushed against one of them, she noted a slimy texture. They must have been the tentacles that pulled her out of the portal.
She climbed down from the emerald tree and took a look around the strange world she found herself in. All of the trees were made of the same crystal in varying shades of green, wrapped up with tentacles that seemed to reach out towards her. She started walking along a stone path, eyes constantly darting around in search of any fae.
A young man leaned against a tree a few feet ahead, a mischievous smirk gracing his freckled face. As Holly approached, she studied his features, searching for anything that might be considered threatening. His hair was blonde with green streaks, and it curled down to his ears like the tentacles in the trees around them. A golden crown sat upon his head, slightly tilted without much care. His ears were pointed, a clear sign he was a fae. But what struck Holly the most about him was the shocking green color of his eyes. They almost seemed to glow as he looked at her.
She stumbled back in shock. She had wandered upon one of the fae kings. She tripped on a stone, losing her balance and stumbling against a tree. A weak gasp escaped her as she tried to regain her breath. “I-I-I'm sorry! I…I didn't mean to be here!”
The fae just chuckled in response. “Hehehehic, hehehehic, hehehehic! That's quite alright, my little fwiendy-wend! I was hoping you would come join me! Now tell me, what is your name?” He skipped closer to her.
She pressed herself tighter against the tree, the words getting tangled up on the way out. “H-H…Miss Holloway! Call me Miss Holloway.”
The trickster smirked at her, a twinkle in his eyes. “You were sooooo close to telling me, weren't you? But you're a clever human, I can tell.”
She blushed slightly at the compliment. Such remarks from the fae were considered rare. She remembered something in the legends about complimenting them too. “Oh, um, thank you. You seem quite clever yourself.”
She started walking along the path again, and the boy followed her. “You know a lot about us, don't you?”
“My parents told me a lot of stories, but I'll admit I wasn't sure if they were true.” She doesn't look at him. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back home.”
The fae king reached out and latched onto her wrist, painted green nails sinking into her skin. “Nuh uh uh! You can’t leave without an eensy, weensy wittle dance first! After all, you entered our circle, Holloway!”
“Our circle…?” She hesitated at that. She hadn’t seen any other fae around.
“Oh, my brothers and sister and I! Don’t worry, you’ll probably meet them all soon enough!” He gave her an impish grin.
Holly raised a brow, not sure whether to trust him or not. She had heard a multitude of legends about the fae as she was growing up, but nothing stuck out to her about fae dances. If she joined in, would it really be that bad? As he removed his hand from around her wrist, she reached for it. “Wait! I’ll dance with you!”
His smirk grew wider, and he whisked her into a mesmerizing dance before she had a chance to think twice. The world around her became a blur of colors. Her feet whirled around, faster and faster, unable to stop, moving at a speed she had never achieved before. For what seemed like a few mere minutes, every thought in her head went blank.
Her awareness finally came back as her hand slipped from his grasp. She stumbled back, gasping for air as she finally managed to make sense of her surroundings again. It was dark, and she seemed to be far deeper in the woods. That made no sense to her. It had been broad daylight when she started dancing, and it hadn’t been that long. So how did she get so far in such a short amount of time?
The king noticed her look of confusion. “Hehehehic! You don’t realize, do you? You fool! Well, it seems you need a place to spend eternity! Come with me.” His voice darkened slightly on the last sentence, and Holly quickly realized it was an order. She rushed back to his side, hanging her head slightly. He had mentioned eternity. She was the prisoner of a fae king.
She followed him down a narrow path to a looming palace. The color of it stood out amidst all the green of the forest, but it blended so well with the night sky that she struggled to make it out. Obsidian spires rose up so high that she strained her neck trying to see to the top. That was odd, though. She would have had to bend her back to see the top before. Why did she just have to move her neck now? Had she…grown since she started dancing?
She whimpered slightly as she entered the palace. The king led her promptly down a spiraling staircase with no windows and very few torches. She descended at a tortoise pace, not wanting to fall and do further damage. Her legs were already weak enough from the dance. She probably wouldn’t get up if she toppled.
The stairwell led exactly where she was expecting, a cold stone dungeon shrouded in total darkness. The fae grabbed her arm and led her to an empty cell, throwing her in so hard that she tumbled to the floor. She tried to scramble back to her feet, but he slammed the cell door before she could escape. She could barely make out his silhouette walking away from her. “Wait!” She cried out in one last desperate attempt. “You haven’t even told me your name!”
He turned to her, and she could see the glow of his eyes grow brighter. “You won’t find out.” With that, he left, and she was trapped in utter darkness.