Thorns. Cold. Pain.
I woke up tangled in something sharp. My body was twisted in a patch of black vines, each one pulsing faintly with violet light.
"Ow, ow, ow," I gasped, trying to move. "What the hell…" I blinked hard.
No glass. No museum walls. Just forest.
A forest unlike anything I'd seen in any book or movie. Trees with silver bark and dark purple leaves arched overhead like cathedral columns. The air shimmered with tiny golden particles, like the forest itself was breathing.
And yet… it felt wrong. Everywhere was Too quiet. And too still.
"Where am i"?
"What is this place?" I whispered. "Oh my God. How did I get here? Where is here?"
I twisted and yanked myself free of the thorns with a scream. Blood trickled down my calves.
"Help!" I called, staggering upright. "Somebody? Anybody?"
But all i could hear was the cold breath of silence.
Then the trees whispered back, mocking. I spun. No one.
"Oh no," I whispered, panic rising. My heart pounding.
I patted my coat, frantically. "Phone. Phone. Where's my—Aha!"
My hands trembled as I stared down at my phone screen.
There was no Service.
I itched my head in confusion. "What do I do now?" I thought to myself.
I tried moving around to see if I could get any network. But it was
Just a glowing rectangle of useless hope.
"Seriously?" I whispered. "Not even one bar?" I held it higher, spinning in a circle.
Still nothing.
I laughed. A dry, desperate sound.
"What is this place?"
I turned in a slow circle, staring at the silent, pulsing trees. The thorns around me moved like they were watching. The moon hadn't moved at all.
"Why… why thorns?" I whispered. "Why does everything hurt?"
I reached down to brush a thorn off my leg. It sliced my fingertip with barely a touch.
I gasped. Blood bloomed instantly.
"Okay!" I yelped. "Okay, okay—don't touch the thorns. Got it."
I backed away. Slowly.
"This is such a strange place…"
I looked up. The sky was still a deep navy purple. No stars, just mist. The trees groaned softly, swaying without wind.
Then I blinked.
"How… how did I get here again?" I asked myself. "I—I don't remember walking into a forest."
My mind felt foggy. Scrambled. Like I'd been yanked from one dream into another.
"No. Wait."
I gripped my head.
"There *was* something before this."
A flash. A sound like bones cracking.
Then—
"Yes!" I gasped. "The mirror. The mirror in the museum—it cracked. It pulled me in!"
I stared around at the endless woods.
"Oh my God. The mirror brought me here."
Then it clicked.
And my voice cracked as I spoke.
"If the mirror brought me here…"
I clutched the phone tighter.
"Then it's the only thing that can send me *back.*"
I spun around.
"Okay. Okay, I just have to find it. Find the mirror. Get out. Just like in the movies, right?" only this wasn't a movie.
I shoved the phone into my pocket and started walking.
And every step I took felt strange.
The forest didn't crunch or crack beneath my feet. It pulsed. Like I was walking across something alive.
"Focus," I whispered. "It was just behind me. If I retrace my steps…"
I turned left, past a crooked tree with a knot that looked like a face.
Then right.Then straight.
I walked for what felt like hours.
But when I stopped—I was right back at the same spot.
My throat closed."No... no, no, no—"I ran this time. Full sprint.
I didn't stop until my legs screamed. But the forest didn't change. The sky didn't move. The air didn't shift. And i was back at the same spot, I couldn't supress my anger or should i say fear no more and i broke.
"No!" I shouted. "Somebody help me!" My voice echoed once, then vanished. I screamed louder.
"HELP ME!"
Nothing.
The vines rustled. The trees hissed. But no answer.
My knees gave out. I dropped to the ground, sobbing.
"I'm alone," I whispered.
My voice was nearly gone.
"I'm really… alone."
I curled up against the roots of a tree, arms around my knees. The vines seemed to breathe near me, like a heartbeat.
I didn't know when I fell asleep.
But I must have, because when I opened my eyes. A pale violet light filtered through the trees. Mist clung to the forest floor. I couldn't tell if it was dawn or not.
And then—