In the forest, the sun is almost nonexistent.
Shadows dance around the base of tree trunks and in the branches of the tall ancient oaks, letting hardly any light touch the forest floor. Morning looks and feels like night; a sight that is both gorgeous and horrifying to behold.
Irina treaded through the untouched snow – so deep it came up to her ankles – teeth chattering as she wandered, hoping to find a post marker, or some sort of landmark to guide her. Everything looked the same.
The hood of her mantle whipped in the howling wind as she looked over her shoulder, deciding to backtrack. But as Irina glanced down at her shoe prints, she noticed in horror that they had vanished. How did this happen? Was the forest cursed?
Fear tightened her gut, but an idea came to her. Reaching into her basket, she took out a jar of plums, dropping one in the snow near her feet; it stained the snow red.
This way, she thought. I will know which way I've gone.
She continued, releasing a plum every 20 steps. Once a jar emptied, she would open another, then the process repeated.
For a while, the crunch of snow beneath her feet and the snapping of tree limbs under the weight of the ice was the only sound she heard.
Odd, she thought.
Where did the wind go?
Irina continued, her heart, pounding rapidly in her chest. Something was not right here.
In an instant, as if her fear alone gave it life, she heard a voice. It slipped through the trees, faint at first. Then she heard it.
"Come and play," it begged in a childlike way.
From the corner of her eye, Irina saw something move. She darted her head in its direction and to her horror, a wooden hand reached around the base of a tree.
What is that?
She didn't wait to find out.
The wooden thing screamed for her to come back as she ran, too scared to look over her shoulder in fear of it being at her back. A howl rose above the trees as Irina fled; lungs burning and panic in her head. The wind swooped in to devour her and she slipped, crashing onto her backside with a loud oomph.
"That hurt," she whined.
Glancing at her side Irina noticed a plum smashed in the snow. She must have slipped on it. How clumsy. However, she also noticed that her footprints had vanished again; the ones behind her as well.
How is this happening?
It was like the forest was messing with her mind. Was the thing around the tree an illusion too?
Irina stood and dusted the snow from her clothes; the items in her basket were unharmed. She took a moment to catch her breath.
"Are you lost, child?"
Irina whipped around to see a woman behind her; a woman who loomed over her in a dress as elegant as her pale and gorgeous features. Stumbling on her words, Irina stared up at her in fear.
Her painted lips lifted into a grin. "Delicious. I've been craving a drink."
Her nails extended to unnatural lengths, shooting into the woman's arm. Irina cried out in pain, dropping to the ground.
She licked the blood from her nails and immediately she eyes widened.
"Do I know you?"
The pain sent Irina into shock and she passed out, unable to escape.
So, it is true. Monsters do live inside the forest.
She had been warned.