After a few minutes of soaking my face in tears, I stood up, glanced at the dead body for one last time, before turning my gaze into the forest. It was getting dark, and I had to get back to the cabin before nightfall. I started to walk on the trail that the trees had moved away from. As seconds turned to minutes, my feet broke into a run. I dashed and turned through trees, tall, short, thin, and thick, all while following the trail. As the trail turned into two way directions, I stopped running and looked at the trail that took me to the right, before turning to the one that took me to the left. Wait, they’ve talked about this before, but…why can’t I remember?

I looked at both trails over and over again. The one to the right was covered by thick clouds of mist, you wouldn’t be able to see the path clearly. The one to the left faded into the darkness, you wouldn’t dare choose that path. ‘I’m just gonna go for the left. It’s probably just a trick to scare me.’ I thought frantically to myself, then, I started walking into the path. As I stepped into the darkness of the forest, the light was blocked, every tree I saw faded into a thick layer of nothingness. It was as if the darkness was eating everything in its way.

I walked slowly, glancing behind my back every now and then. Every step I took felt like a threat, and I slowed down every time I looked back. Suddenly, I heard a voice. It wasn’t the echoes of the man in the white gown, it wasn’t my friends shouting my name, but a mysterious, strange, chilling whisper from behind me that sent chills down my spine. “Hello…little one…”

I pretended to not hear the whisper and kept walking, legs trembling as I went, hands fiddling, each step taking me further and further away from the light and further into the dark. Everything was still and silent, nothing more. Just the sounds of my breathing to the darkness that crept and covered the whole place. Just nothing. Until suddenly, I heard the rustling of leaves from the right, to a low groan on the left, and then, weight pressured down on my shoulders. Something or someone had grabbed onto my shoulder. I stopped in my footsteps and didn’t turn around. I could feel cold sweat trickling down my back, heart racing as I stood rooted to the ground. I tried to not move a muscle, but I couldn’t take it. My body shook fiercely in the person’s grip, sending a wave of emotions and thoughts to my head. I’m doomed.

“Please…help me!” A girl on my right whimpered. It sounded like she was struggling to gasp for air, but, something was off. I waved in the air to feel if anyone was there. None. No one was there. Then, someone grabbed hold of my left hand. I tried to shake it off, but it wouldn’t let go. “Save me from him!” A man’s voice said on the left. “JUST LET GO OF ME!” I shouted into the darkness. Then, the sound of a chain saw erupted from afar. “Lyra…g-go! Leave me be…!” That was the boy. The first boy who died in the game with us. His name was Rodrick. Was this place filled with dead souls…? And most importantly…souls who died playing the game..? It clicked to me. I needed to get out as soon as possible. This was no place for me.

As I turned around and shook away the things grabbing onto my body, I felt a tight grip holding on tightly around my ankle. “LET GO OF ME!” Then, I felt another grip on my other ankle, that turned into multiple hands grabbing hold of my entire body, trying to control me. I struggled and struggled to get out of their grasps, but no matter how many times I tried, I just couldn’t. There was too many of them. Suddenly, I heard the screams and screeches of Martin, that slowly turn into a myriad of screams and voices and shouting. They screeched and scratched the floors that came out as horrible nails scraping on the surface. I tried to close my ears, but I couldn’t. They held me back too tight, and my eardrums felt like it was gonna burst, it seemed like it was gonna last forever. COME ON, LYRA. YOU NEED TO GET OUT! That’s when I remembered something.

“Summon the hailstorm, summon the white dragon. Bring these ghosts a thorn, and make them be gone.” I whispered in the midsts of the myriad voices. FWOOSH! A fwoosh of the breezy wind brushed through my skin. The creature was here. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it, it wasn’t there, but to them it had appeared. They let go of their grasps and everything became silent. Then, I turned around and broke into a run. I ran as fast as my legs could go, and as far as the trail went. I kept running, and after a couple of moments, I stopped to catch my breath. Where’s the light..?

I tried to navigate my way back, but it felt like hours of searching. It seemed as if it lasted forever. I couldn’t find the light, no matter where I turned, no matter how long I looked. Just couldn’t. I remembered something: ‘Time does not exist in the dark path.’ But, how? Hours could have passed. I don’t understand. “No matter how long I look, I still can’t find the light. Is it already dark outside?” I said to the darkness as I sat on the ground out of exhaustion. “But it can’t be, right..? ‘Time does not exist in the dark path’..’Time does not exist..’ ‘TIME DOES NOT EX’- ARGHHH!” I Kept repeating the sentence over and over again to the darkness, but I just couldn’t get it. Isn’t there supposed to be light in the forest still?? Or am I just understanding the sentence wrongly? “ARGHH, I DON’T KNOW ANYMORE!” I shouted in frustration and grabbed a handful of my hair. I regret choosing this path.

Suddenly, I saw myself shutting my eyes slowly, before breaking into a deep sleep.