Sleep, although light, had finally overtaken me when I felt a hand gently shake my shoulder. It was Marc, his face tense in the darkness.
-I have to go to the bathroom, he whispered to me.
I sighed, heavy with fatigue, but I knew he couldn't go alone.
-You destroyed my dream, I said to him, yawning.
-Sorry but I'm really in a hurry, Marc smiles at me
I reluctantly got up and accompanied him a little further, away from the camp. The forest was quiet, disturbed only by the sounds of the night creatures and the blowing of the wind through the trees.
-Go that way, I told him, pointing him in a direction, before turning around to give him some privacy. I waited, my thoughts still muddled by interrupted sleep, when I heard Marc whispering behind me.
"I hear voices," he said, his voice thick with worry.
-What do you mean?, I replied with furrowed eyebrows.
I turned around immediately, adrenaline starting to build. Marc's eyes were wide, filled with silent terror. Something was seriously wrong. Before I could react, the world around me began to blur, the edges becoming vague and indistinct.
-Marc, what do you see? I asked, trying to keep calm.
But before he could respond, I realized the truth with icy clarity: I had been fooled. It wasn't Marc, not really. The image before me was decaying, like a mirage dissipating in the heat. The figure transformed into an unfamiliar figure, ethereal and strange.
I tried to turn around, to shout to alert the others, but my voice was lost in my throat. A strange and disorienting feeling came over me, as if the ground was slipping away from under my feet. My mind struggled to focus, to understand what was happening.
What was happening?, I thought worriedly
The voices of the forest seemed to blend together, turning into a constant, oppressive murmur.
My legs gave way beneath me, and I collapsed to the ground, unable to resist the force pulling me into unconsciousness. Before I completely lost consciousness, I heard one last whisper, indistinct but strangely familiar.
Then it was complete darkness.
When I regained consciousness, the first thing I noticed was the smell of damp earth and vegetation. I blinked, trying to discern where I was. The morning light filtering through the leaves above me indicated that day had broken.
I slowly sat up, my limbs aching and my mind still foggy from the previous night's experience. Marc was by my side, still unconscious but breathing regularly. Around us, the forest seemed strangely silent, as if it were holding its breath.
With effort, I managed to shake Marc until he opened his eyes, his pupils dilated with confusion.
"What happened?" he asked hoarsely.
"I don't know," I replied, the truth of our situation weighing heavily on my shoulders. "But we need to get back to camp. Something strange is happening here."
Supporting each other, we made our way through the dense forest.