"Steven!" The childish voice came from outside of my bedroom window. It was mid-winter, and my breath fogged the glass. Upon seeing that it was the little joy that was my sister, I placed my finger on the cold pane and drew a smile in response. "Come out and play in the snow!"
I leaped out of bed and pulled my trousers up to my waist, tightened the belt, and threw on boots and a coat. I grabbed my knit cap and ran outside. It was a beautiful, cold winter day. The sun shone on my face as I jogged to where my sister was standing just minutes ago. However, she wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Kiley?" I hollered, awaiting a response from my greatest joy in life. My sister was the closest thing to me ever. We were not real siblings; we both were orphaned and brought to a foster home. We became friends almost immediately and loved going out to play. We were never allowed to leave the property, however. Our "home" was surrounded by dense forests that we were forbidden to enter, not that I would want to. I always hear howling sounds that sent chills down my spine. My sister and I would always think about what was out there, and we would think of horrid beasts rampaging and eating smaller monsters out in the open. They were so large that they would knock down trees in their paths, creating their own territory. They were horrifying, and she always teased me to be a scared-y-cat. I had every right to be thought of as so. Even today I am as nervous as I always had been. But, now I have a REASON to be scared.
I jokingly twisted my head back and forth chanting, "Come out, come out wherever you are!" and "You can't hide forever!" After searching for 10 whole minutes, I started to grow nervous. The property was only so large, and she couldn't had gone inside, since that is where I had just come from. I started calling for her name, louder and louder. There was no answer. Suddenly, I spotted foot prints. I followed them, until I realized something that had horrified me. The footprints led into the woods. The woods that we were not allowed to enter. I started wondering whether these were really her footprints. The girl I knew would never break any rules, especially ones as important as this.
All of that meant nothing after I heard the sounds of beasts howling. What if she was in there? She would have had to be there for at least 15 minutes by now. Even if it wasn't her, I had to help them out. The beasts would have devoured whomever was in there by now, but I felt there was still a chance. Pushing all of my fears aside, I sprinted after the prints. I had entered what I was afraid of for so many years, the forest of beasts and deception that travelers got lost in all of the time. Or at least, that's what we imagined back then...
Upon entering, I became immediately lost. I had no idea where I had entered from, nor which direction the foster home was. I was already devoured before I had even entered the bulk of it. I had no sense of direction, so I just ran. I ran until I was out of breath, calling for my joy ever few steps. No respond. Anywhere. I found myself having to sit down from exhaustion, until I was frightened by the yellow, hazy glare of a pair of seemingly floating eyes. Before I knew it, the beast had charged me. I was done for. I was dead. No way I could survive this. I flinched in fear, only to find the tree devouring me whole. I fell for quite some ways, only to find myself in a completely different world. This is where my adventure begins.