There I lay, at a center of a shallow pond the air masked with a smell metal
A scent familiar but not one am used to
Gasp!
I jolted awake, my heart hammering against my ribs like a caged beast. A gust of wind kissed my skin, carrying the metallic tang of blood that twisted my stomach into knots. Yet, as my eyes darted around, there was no crimson stain to be found—only a serene pond, its surface unnaturally still, reflecting the daylight in a way that felt... wrong.
Beneath the water, eerie fish pulsed with an otherworldly glow, their luminescent bodies darting in patterns that seemed almost deliberate, as if they were watching me.
"Where the hell am I?" I muttered, my voice trembling in the alien silence.
I shoved a hand through my tangled hair, frustration bubbling up.
"Come on, Ellen, one sip of alcohol, and now you're... what, lost in some godforsaken nightmare?" My sarcasm did little to quell the rising panic.
A heavy sigh escaped me as I noticed the dampness clinging to my clothes.
"And, of course, I'm soaked. Perfect just perfect."
I staggered to my feet, ignoring the glowing fish that seemed to track my every move, their unblinking eyes boring into me. With a shudder, I stumbled toward the pond's bank, muttering curses under my breath as I tried to piece together how I'd ended up here. The scent of blood lingered, a nagging whisper in the air that grew sharper with every passing second, sinking claws of dread deeper into my chest.
"Screw this place."
I needed to move. Any sane person would've bolted from that creepy pond, and I wasn't about to play the fool. The forest loomed ahead, its dense canopy swallowing the daylight, but it was better than staying here with those fish and that oppressive, bloody stench. I took a step toward the trees, my boots squelching in the mud, determination overriding the fear creeping up my spine.
But fate, that cruel, smirking bastard, had other plans. The moment I passed the first gnarled tree, a cold, bony hand clamped around my ankle with a grip like iron. My blood froze. Slowly—oh, so slowly—I turned, dread pooling in my gut. There, half emerging from the tree as if it had birthed her, was a woman. Her body melded seamlessly with the bark, her skin pale as death, veins pulsing faintly beneath it like roots. Her eyes, sharp and glinting like polished steel, locked onto mine, and her head tilted at an unnatural angle that sent a shiver racing down every part of my body
"She definitely felt my fear" I thought
Her lips parted, and a voice like rustling dead leaves and distant thunder slithered into the air.
"Oh one who sorrows I see you have fallen again,haven't you?"