The silence was deafening.
I stood frozen at the edge of the road, the forest behind me still thick with shadows that felt too sentient, too aware. My lungs ached, chest rising and falling in broken heaves. I couldn't tell how long I stood there—seconds? Minutes? Time had twisted itself into something cruel and meaningless.
But no one came.
No figure burst through the trees. No whisper slithered through the leaves.
I was alone.
Or… forgotten?
The thought chilled me.
I scanned the road. Empty. No headlights. No signs of civilization. Just cracked asphalt stretching into nowhere and the low hum of insects reclaiming the night.
My body couldn't take much more. Every muscle quivered. My side throbbed in sharp pulses, and my gown—soaked with sweat and blood—clung to me like a second skin. I needed to hide. Just until morning. Just until someone came by.
I limped off the road, staying low, slipping into a tangle of bushes just a few meters away. Thorns snagged my gown and skin, but I didn't care. I pushed deeper, past a fallen tree trunk that arched like a shelter. It wasn't perfect, but it was hidden. Safe enough.
Curling up beneath the thick roots, I pulled my knees to my chest, trying to shrink into the earth itself. The cold bit into me. I couldn't stop shivering. My thoughts were frayed—fragments of voices, flashes of lights, the echo of my name in the trees.
Sleep came in fits.
Eyes closing. Jerked open. Heart hammering.
Then darkness again.
When I woke, the world was pale with morning. A dull, grey light filtered through the trees, brushing everything in silver. Dew clung to my lashes. My limbs were stiff and my head spun, but I was alive.
Alive.
Somewhere, a bird sang. The first sound that didn't sound like a threat.
And then—
Crunch.
Footsteps.
Not fast. Not chasing.
Just… walking.
I held my breath.
And waited.