Pain dragged me back.
It didn’t come gently.
It tore through me—sharp, splintering, alive.
A scream ripped from my throat before I could stop it.
My body convulsed. Something inside me shifted wrong—bones grinding, muscles screaming as if they had been torn apart and forced back together without care.
The world lurched.
I hit the ground.
Hard.
Air fled my lungs in a broken gasp.
“Silence.”
The word cut through the pain.
I looked up.
The man stood over me, his expression no longer amused. His eyes were sharp now—cold, alert, listening to something beyond me.
“If you can’t stay quiet,” he said, voice low, controlled, “I’ll kill you myself.”
The forest held its breath.
My scream died in my throat.
I bit down hard, choking on it, forcing the sound back inside. Tears blurred my vision as my body trembled, every nerve still burning—but no sound came out.
Not even a whimper.
The man watched me for a moment longer.
Then he turned—
And walked away.
Just like that.
Leaves shifted under his steps, then silence swallowed him whole.
I was alone.
The pain didn’t leave.
It settled in, deeper now. A slow, grinding agony that made every breath feel like it scraped against something broken inside me. I lay there, shaking, staring up at the unmoving canopy.
Time stretched.
I didn’t know how long.
The light above dimmed, fading from pale gray into something darker. The air grew colder. Heavier.
Watching.
Something moved in the distance.
I shut my eyes.
Don’t move.
Don’t breathe.
Don’t exist.
Minutes—or hours—passed like that.
Then—
Footsteps.
I flinched.
They came closer, steady, unhurried. Not the frantic skitter of something hunting.
Human.
My eyes snapped open.
The man stood over me again.
“Ah.”
A grin pulled at his lips.
“Still alive.”
He let out a short laugh, shaking his head.
“Good thing nothing decided to eat you.”
I didn’t answer.
Couldn’t.
He glanced at the sky through the gaps in the trees. What little light remained was fading fast.
His expression shifted.
“It’s getting late,” he muttered.
A pause.
Then, more serious—
“Those things swarm after sundown.”
My chest tightened.
He stepped forward and grabbed me without warning, hoisting me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.
Pain flared instantly.
A strangled breath escaped me.
“P-please…” My voice came out raw, barely there. “G-gently… sir…”
He didn’t stop.
Didn’t slow.
“If you can still complain,” he said flatly, adjusting his grip, “you’re not dying yet.”
The forest moved around us as he walked.
Faster than I expected.
Branches brushed past. Shadows stretched longer, thicker. The air shifted with the coming dark, something restless stirring beneath it.
I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t.
All I could do was endure the pain, each step sending shockwaves through my body as he carried me deeper into the unknown.
Far ahead—
A faint glow flickered between the trees.
Firelight.
The man didn’t speak again.
Not until the forest began to thin.
“Don’t wander,” he said.
A warning.
Not advice.
Then we stepped into a clearing—
And for the first time since I woke on this cursed land,
I saw something that looked almost… human.
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