Thana jolts awake, gasping for air as though she'd just surfaced from drowning. Her lungs burn, her breath ragged. Her vision blurs, shapes and shadows swimming before her eyes, but the sensation beneath her hands is unmistakable. Damp soil, soft and cold, clumping under her fingers as she claws at the earth.
Her hearing sharpens before her sight returns. While she waits for the world to come into focus, the forest makes itself known. She hears the wind whispering through the trees, leaves rustling in reply like a hushed conversation.
Crickets chirp a relentless rhythm, only to be interrupted by the haunting call of an owl.
The air is crisp and earthy, filled with the scent of wood and dirt. As she sinks her fingers into the ground, the truth sinks deeper. She is in a forest. A real one.
Her vision finally clears.
And instantly, she freezes.
"Bloody hell…" is all she manages, her voice hoarse, eyes wide as she takes in the surreal landscape around her.
Beyond the skeletal branches, which loomed overhead like gnarled monster claws, stretched a clear and tranquil night sky. Stars blanketed the heavens in dazzling numbers, their brilliance overpowering the illusion of peace.
Thana had never seen anything so stunning and so enchantingly surreal.
Then again, she'd never once laid beneath an open sky this late at night. Certainly never on bare soil, either.
With a frustrated exhale, she pushed herself upright from the uneven ground. Tiny stones had lodged themselves into her back, jabbing through her coat. She winced, brushing her spine with one hand, flicking away whatever clung to her clothes.
The first thing she notices is her outfit, it is still the same clothes she wore that morning when she left her miserable house. She cringes, lifting her hands, spotting dirt crusted beneath her fingernails.
A quick glance around confirms the worst: nothing but dense trees, thick underbrush, and darkness. She's stranded in the middle of unfamiliar woods, exposed to whatever wild beasts might be lurking nearby, drawn to the scent of a lost human.
Still, she doesn't fear the animals. They're called man-eating for a reason and she's learned, through more than just instinct, that animals tend to fear her more. The memory makes her chuckle dryly.
But her smirk fades quickly.
Her mind finally latches onto the one answer that explains this absurd nightmare.
"That old geezer!"
The old man had played a dirty trick on her. He must have drugged her.
Then, to make matters worse, he dumped her in the middle of nowhere, likely assuming she'd never wake up. He had called her by her name Thana, which, according to him, meant death.
Just the memory of it makes her grit her teeth. He was a lunatic. She knew from the very beginning that something was off about him and that dusty little bookstore.
But still… what was it that had pulled her into that shop in the first place?
Now, here she was, stranded in the woods, left with two choices: try to find a way out or stay and camp for the night.
She weighed her options, though neither felt particularly safe. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall any forest being remotely near where she lived.
She was a city girl and always had been.
There weren't any dense woodlands around her neighborhood, let alone a place like this that stretched on endlessly. And then it hit her, the air. It was warm and heavy, far more humid than the London weather she was used to. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and with an irritated grunt, she shrugged off her coat.
This couldn't be London.
But that thought alone was absurd. Impossible.
Thana could no longer argue with her own thoughts. The only choice left was to stand up and face whatever danger might be lurking. If wild animals were out there, so be it—she needed to figure out where that old man had taken her.
Her senses were on high alert, especially her hearing. Amid the stillness, she picked up the faint trickle of running water somewhere nearby.
"I'm going to kill him," she muttered, each word laced with fury. "And burn his stupid bookstore to the ground."
The thought alone fueled her steps forward. As she walked, she rolled the hair tie from her wrist, ready to tie back the strands that were beginning to stick to her face. Her fingers reached for the familiar texture of her hair—only to freeze in place.
Thana's hand dropped the handful of hair, now cascading past her shoulders in soft waves. Her breath hitched. The strands were a pale platinum blonde, smooth and silky. Nothing like the short, thick brunette hair she remembered having just that morning.
Staring in disbelief, she tugged at the unfamiliar locks, trying to convince herself they weren't real. She raked her mind for explanations. Had she dyed it? Did it grow overnight? How was this even possible?
She slapped her cheek hard, desperate to wake up from what must be a twisted dream. But nothing changed.
This wasn't just a nightmare. She was still in the middle of an unknown forest, trapped in a reality that felt increasingly wrong. Something inside her stirred—a tight, anxious knot that whispered that the worst was yet to come.
The owl hooted again, piercing the silence. Thana hissed in a mix of rage and despair, casting a wary glance around before finishing tying her hair. The mystery of her new hair color could wait. Right now, she needed to find someone, just anyone, who could tell her what the hell was going on.
More than anything, she needed shelter. The idea of wandering this eerie forest until sunrise made her stomach twist. She usually never wore a watch, a habit born from her attempts to lose track of time but anything to avoid returning to that house.
But now, she regrets it.
For all she knew, she wasn't even close to home.
Judging by the endless stretch of night sky above, the sun was still far from rising. The cool wind tousled the loose strands of her poorly tied bun, brushing them against her cheeks.
With a determined breath, Thana stepped forward, pushing through thick bushes that rustled against her legs. The sound of water guided her to a stream. Finally something useful because it always leads to somewhere.
Then she heard it. Splashes.
She froze.
Someone was bathing.
Thana blinked, confusion flashing across her face. Who in their right mind would be swimming in the middle of the night?
And yet, she moved forward.
Branches scraped her skin as she pushed them aside, ignoring the way her heart pounded. Her steps quickened. The forest seemed to change as she went deeper and it was almost enchanting.
Fireflies danced in the air, and blue flowers bloomed by her feet, glowing faintly in the moonlight. Even the trees seemed to shimmer, as though part of a dream.
She wasn't sure if the forest was guiding her or luring her in.
Her palms landed against the rough bark of a tree as she came to a stop, chest rising and falling with shallow breaths.
Just beyond the tree and some thick bushes, she caught the shimmer of a stream. The water glowed silver beneath the moon, sparkling so beautifully it made her eyes ache.
She leaned forward, squinting. Was someone in there?
Movement.
Thana's heart skipped. Carefully, she shifted her weight, craning her neck to get a clearer view, only to curse softly as branches blocked her sight. She rose onto her toes, scanning the surface of the water.
A short waterfall spilled into the stream, flowing gently south. But no one. The water was still.
No. That wasn't possible. She heard someone.
Intent on confirming what she saw, she lifted her right leg to climb over the thick roots, only for her foot to catch on a pile of twigs. A sharp snap cracked through the air. She gasped in frustration, the sound escaping before she could stop it.
And that was all it took.
The water rippled.
A figure rose.
Thana's heart dropped as a man's head emerged from the stream, his eyes locking onto hers.