The Forevermore

"What about Lyn and Gale?" Bell asked. Their anxiety must be through the roof, just like Polina's, so she took a deep breath and placed two hands on Bell's shoulders before the voice could interupt them again.

"Listen to me," Polina said, "Right now, we need to get out of here. Or, atleast find shelter. Lyn and Gale are together, hopefully."

Her eyes darted to either side of them, before she grabbed Bell's hand and pulled them with her, "Maybe we can find a cave. I have a feeling they fell into one. Maybe that'll lead us to them, and then we can get the freak out of here!"

As Bell stumbled along behind Polina, they glanced back at the clearing behind them. Through the trees, they could just barely make out a dog-like shape, padding through the dense forest. The foliage seemed to move out of the way of its large body, allowing it to move through easily, like Moses in the Red Sea.

"It's following us," Bell gasped, now taking the lead as adrenaline jumpstarted their heart. "Come on!"

Lyn couldn’t tell if her eyes were open or closed. “Mushrooms?” she cried. Wait. No, that wasn’t what she’d meant to say. “Friends? Polina, Bell, Gale, Timothee, Charlotte, anyone?”

Lyn tried to blink. She passed her hand across her face and nearly poked herself in the eye, but she still couldn’t see anything except pitch blackness.

Above her, a muffled voice rang out. It said something about a Furry Grimoire. Hmm, that didn’t sound quite right. At any rate, it sounded like the intimidating (and rather annoying) voice that had come from the sky before. Lyn paused as she tried to make more words out (something about a Narrator?), then shrugged. She probably didn’t have to worry about it right now.

She waved her hands around, trying to feel her way around her surroundings.

Charlotte hadn't spoken the whole time they'd been wandering the forest, but she'd mentally taken notes.

Now, her notes didn't make sense.

Who was the Narrator? What did It want? And for that matter, where was she? She heard a voice calling out. It sounded like gibberish at first, but as she got closer, she realized it was saying names.

And the voiced ended with saying her name, and at that instant she recognized the voice.

"Lyn! Lyn, I'm coming!"

Tell my own story?

Polina heard the voice, but tried her best to remind herself that this was just a dream. A scary, screwed up dream. She could feel the mist on her skin, could taste the sweat dripping down her forehead and into her mouth-- but in order to feel better...

It's just a dream.

She continued running, through the foliage and between the broad trees. She could hear heavy footsteps behind her and Bell, but chose not to look back. The howling in the distance grew closer.

She spotted a break in the trees ahead, and a cliff yonder. This could be their escape!

She looked back at Bell, who was trailing not far behind, and yelled, "When I say jump, we jump!"

The distant sound of flowing water was the only thing they could depend on to get them to safety. A lake or waterfall beneath the cliff would ultimately save their lives. But it's either jump, or get eaten.

The wolves were catching up to them.

She approached the cliff and hesitated, "Ready? Jump!"

"Wha--AHHHH!" Bell screamed as they pitched forward into nothing, legs wheeling in the air as they tried to find purchase on ground that was no longer there. Polina went flying past them, yelling something about rivers as she went down.

Bell fell with all the grace of a baby bird, screeching and flailing like their feeble human arms could somehow save them from the icy water waiting beneath. Naturally, they didn't, and Bell crashed into the river with an enormous splash. A few seconds later they came up again, gasping and sputtering. Their glasses were gone and their hair was soaked flat on their head and in their eyes.

"Polina?" they coughed over the rushing of the river. "Polina, where are you?"

"Guys? Is that you?" Gale was wandering, looking for their voices. "Where are you? I would look for you, but ya know... being blind and all."

“Chloe?” Lyn tried to stumble in the direction of her voice. A moment later, Lyn heard another voice, coming from slightly to the right of Charlotte’s. “Gale? Gale, you’re not the only one who can’t see anything right now. It’s so dark. Are we in like an underground cave system or something?”

Lyn strained her eyes against the darkness, but had no success. Suddenly, she bumped into something— or someone?

Timothee walked alone through a dense fog, occasionally calling out to his friends and mainly remaining silent to avoid attracting any creepy creatures. He got lost, I didn't get lost, he definitely got lost.

He walked clumsily on uneven ground in a seemingly hidden dark space, the air thick around him. He held his rucksack tightly as he walked. Without it, he would have (definitely) freaked out.

'Guys... Guys," he called, his voice echoing

"Help me, I don't want to die alone," he said with a shiver in his tone. "I have many projects to finish, many questions to ask, and many things to uncover!"

The mist quickly transformed into darkness, and an unsettling silence began to spread. Timothee gulped. He stood still for a moment.

There was rustling sound of leaves, no sigh of the wind, not a single sound. At least one sound than none, the silence creeped the hell out of Timothee. Goosebumps slowly started to form on Timothee's skin as he stood frozen like an effigy.