I felt a sudden chill and wrapped my arms around myself, wondering how I ended up in the middle of a dense forest. The trees stretched high above me, their branches twisting and curling into claw-like fingers that blotted out the moon. Darkness pressed in, thick and suffocating, as if even the air had turned against me.
I tried to remember how I had gotten here, but my mind kept drawing a blank. Yet, one thing was clear—something I desperately wished wasn't true—I wasn't alone. I could feel it in my bones: the chilling presence of a predator. I gulped down a shaky breath and glanced around. There was no path, no clue where to go. Just endless rows of towering trees, their trunks rough and gnarled like the faces of ancient gods staring down from above. And I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched, that unseen eyes were tracking my every move, lurking in the shadows, waiting.
