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Thoughts swirl, and darkness envelopes. Static images flicker like a lamp in your mind, like hideous creatures slipping silently through the forest. Shapes, shadows, figures. Shifting. Everything's a blur. All that's heard is your own heavy panting, and moans of exasperation that slip through your lips. You're breathing fast, and your head is pounding. The night, like a sea thirsty for the blood of sailors, drowns out any hope. You're alone. The trees are bare, just remnants of a once beautiful forest. Branches and twigs lie stiff on the ground, cracking under your feet. It's silent... but alive. A nervous laugh comes out from between your dry lips. Alive. What a funny word to use here. Because everything around you seems to have died an eternity ago. How you ended up here, you do not know. All you know is that someone's coming for you, and that your only chance is to find a way out, of this forest that claimed the lives of your companions. You don't even know how long you've been walking. All you see is your friends lying dead in front of you. One after the other. Lined up neatly, as if on display. Scrubbed till clean. With not a blemish on their skin. With no evidence of what this forest holds Your senses sharpen, and you feel the chill against your skin, even though there was no breeze, nor gust of wind. You take a step forward, and hear the crackling of leaves, accompanied by something...something lost in the wind. You strain to hear it. ...hooves. Beating rhythmically against the forest floor. You whip around, happiness filling your heart as you see the horseman and his steed arrive. A live man, opaque and with a strong steady horse. Your ticket out! Your saviour, your hero! You wave your hands in the air, to lead him to you. Your relief illuminates the abyss of your heart, extinguishing the black flame of fear that had threatened to consume you. But wait. Something's off. As he comes closer into view, your pupils dilate. Your breath stops stop. Your smile disintegrates, like bones to dust. A strangled scream escapes from your locked throat, and you can almost feel hands grabbing at your ankles, holding you down in your spot. You can't move. Your heart palpitates as Death draws near. The horseman stops his horse, and you feel the cold tremor echoing into the empty pits of your stomach as he reaches out for you. Your sobs are internalized, as he clamps a hand over your mouth. Thoughts swirl, and darkness envelopes.
All is quiet.
All is quiet.