Ren's breath shuddered as tears streamed down, his chest rising and falling in uneven gasps. His fingers twitched in the pool of cold blood, gripping at something solid—something real.
"I should be dead."
The thought pulsed in his head, over and over again, but his body refused to accept it.
He had felt himself die.
He felt teeth pierce his flesh, bones splinter under crushing jaws. How his body was torn apart. His mind had been shattered by the sheer agony of it, the unbearable suffering.
And yet—he was whole.
His body was intact, his skin unbroken.
Ren's chest tightened, his breathing quick and uneven.
His heartbeat pounded.
His throat was dry.
"No...It's not real. It isn't...This is just…just another pain episode. Just another hallucination. I've had them before."
His mind scrambled for answers.
This wasn't real. It couldn't be.
Ren pressed his hand to his chest, feeling the slow, steady rhythm beneath his palm.
The pain was gone. All of it.
His body felt foreign.
Swallowing hard, his breath came quicker.
"Yeah, yeah, that's it. The pain hit too hard, and now my brain is just—just filling in the blanks. That's all this is."
He couldn't just sit there.
With a shaky inhale, Ren forced his hands flat against the ground and pushed himself up.
"Why...why can't I wake up?" Ren clenched his fists. "Why isn't anything changing?"
Then—
A gust of wind howled through the trees. The cold air rushed past his face, slipping into the gaps of his cloak.
And that was when it hit him.
Ren froze.
"No..."
The ground beneath him—solid and undeniable.
The scent of ash and decay to his lungs.
This wasn't a hallucination.
This wasn't just another pain episode.
"This...this is real!"
Taking a hesitant step back, Ren turned around and broke into a sprint. His legs screamed in protest as he ran, weak and unsteady, but he refused to stop.
"It's not fair." His voice cracked under the weight of his own exhaustion. "Why do I have to keep going?! Why am I the only one suffering?!"
And then, a thought came to him.
"Why bother?"
It slithered into his mind, soft and cold, settling in like a parasite.
"There's nowhere to go."
Ren took a step forward.
"You're alone..."
Another step.
"Just sit down..."
The weight of his words pressed down harder.
"Just stop."
Ren gritted his teeth, the fear forcing tears from his eyes.
No.
That wasn't him.
That voice—it wasn't his.
A chill ran down his spine, but this time, it wasn't fear. It was realization.
The forest itself was pushing into his mind, slipping thoughts into Ren's mind where they didn't belong, making surrender feel natural.
His pace faltered.
Like it was his choice.
Like it had always been his choice.
Slowing to a stop, he bent forward, hands on his knees, his chest rising and falling in heavy gasps. He squeezed his eyes shut, focusing only on the in and out tempo of his breathing.
He had to control it. Had to steady himself.
"No, get out..." Ren shook his head, still catching his breath. "Get out. Get out of my head!"
Then—
A groan came from behind Ren.
Slowly, he turned around, his stomach churning at the sight.
A corpse hanging from a blackened tree.
Its neck was snapped at an unnatural angle, its body limp as it swayed in the unseen wind.
Ren's mouth went dry.
The tree next to it held another.
And another
And another
His breath caught in his throat.
Bodies, dozens—hundreds.
The trees were lined with them. Some hung limp, lifeless. Others twitched. Their chests rose and fell weakly. Their fingers scraped at the air. Their mouths opened, gasping—silent screams that would never be heard.
Ren took a staggered step back, his vision swimming.
"What the actual fuck..." His voice came out barely audible.
Is this what the forest does?
Drowning souls in their despair. Suffocating them in their grief, their exhaustion, their hopelessness—until they give into their own sorrow.
And this is the outcome?
Left gasping for eternity, waiting for an end that will never come.
Ren's knees nearly gave out beneath him as his own words came back to him.
"Why am I the only one suffering?"
He clenched his teeth.
"How could I be so selfish?" Ren questioned as he took in the sight.
He wasn't the only one.
Everyone suffered.
Everyone here had been broken, crushed, and left to die.
Throughout all the pain and confusion, Ren couldn't help but feel guilt.
He clenched his fists tightly, forcing himself to turn away. He couldn't stay here and let this forest claim him as well. As he took a step forward, ready to leave it behind—
A voice
Weak
Trembling
Filled with pain.
"Help me..."
Ren froze in place, his breath hitching. The voice was unmistakable.
A woman, desperate and pleading.
The groans of the cursed filled the air, but among them, he heard it.
Someone who still had a voice.
Someone who still had hope.
The woman's voice echoed in his mind.
"Help...Help...Help"
It was a plea he couldn't ignore, but his instincts drowned out the thoughts.
He couldn't stay. Not yet. Ren turned his heel, forcing his body to run. And as he sprinted, the feeling of dread ate at him—the voice, the despair, the guilt. He couldn't face it. Not now. Not when he was still so fragile, so uncertain.
But his throat burned with words he wanted to say.
"I'm sorry," Ren whispered to the empty air, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "I promise, even if you're just a voice in my head…I'll come back."
It wasn't time yet. He couldn't save her if he couldn't save himself first.
Even if he couldn't save her now, even if the forest had twisted her voice into nothing more than an illusion, he would find a way to return.
It was only just a matter of time.