I had expected all sorts of things, and tried to prepare myself for each one of them. I had expected to be deafened and blinded to the point of searing, excruciating pain, like in my dream. I had expected to feel nothing at all, to simply be swallowed by the darkness of the trees, the cold, winter wind continuing to blow uninterrupted on our exposed faces. I had expected to not be able to see a thing, so immense was the gloom around us.

​

I had not prepared for what actually happened to us that night. Immediately as we broke through the line of the woods, the world changed completely. The air was warm and still, soupy and humid, and I began to sweat almost instantly. Insects buzzed all around us, and my eyes were filled with light. It didn’t hurt to look, though. It seemed like we had stepped into the pits of summer, though we had only just left winter behind.

​

I was so dazzled by what had happened that it took me a moment to notice I was no longer connected to Keba. I realized the absence and started searching for her. Quickly I caught sight of her again, but she was several yards away from me now, looking as bewildered as I was. I ran towards her and she met me in the middle.

​

“What was that?” she gasped. “How is this…? Is this real?”

​

“I don’t know!” I answered. “One second it was freezing and now it’s like the middle of August! And how did you get way over there?” At this point I was hastily pulling off my winter coat, sweat, gloves and hat, trying to cool down. Keba did the same.

​

“I don’t know either! I was holding onto you before we stepped in and then everything changed and we got separated.” She looked concerned. “We’d better make sure we stick close from now on. I don’t want either of us to get lost in here.” She looked around, her face serious. “I don’t trust this.”

​

I took her hand in mine and together we forged ahead into the woods. Well, we walked the way we were facing, at least. It was impossible to tell which direction we were actually going, because everything looked the same, and when I looked back, it was just more forest. The exit was lost to us. The only way forward was deeper into the heart of it.

​

I was more grateful than ever that I had Keba by my side, and I was more and more glad I had come after all. I didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if she had been completely alone in here.

​

She was right: there was definitely something unnatural about this place, besides the obvious fact of its existing in summer when outside it was winter. The noises we heard should not have been in this type of forest; it sounded more like a jungle. Outside I had become used to hearing owls hooting and crickets chirping. In here mosquitoes whined and I could sometimes hear a frog’s ribbit.

There was something else, too. After we had walked for a long while, I began to feel like we had seen everything before. I worried for a moment that we were somehow going in circles, but it was more like… like the forest was made of a pattern that was repeating itself. It seemed unique for a good stretch, but as we kept walking, I saw distinctly the same rock in the same place, the same branch fallen just so, and heard all the same sounds in the exact same order. It was horrifying.

​

“Keba…” I squeezed her hand very tightly. We stopped and she looked at me. Her eyes were wide and she had gone quite stiff.

“I know. I noticed it too,” she hissed. “It’s like we’re stuck in a piece of fabric or something. Everything is exactly the same. It just keeps going!”

“What do we do?” I had to stop myself from shrieking.

“I don’t know, Cass. We don’t know how to get out! We’re lost!”

​

I couldn’t accept that. I broke into a run, dragging her with me back the way we came. I ran and ran and ran, until finally she yelled, “Cass!” and made me stop. Nothing around us had changed at all. The pattern remained the same everywhere.

Any direction I looked, I couldn’t see anything different at all.

​

A cold and evil despair slunk its way through me. We would be trapped here forever. We would never get out. I sank to my knees and began to cry. Keba let go of my hand as I buried my face in my palms and sobbed.

​

She didn’t say anything, letting me cry for a long time. I cried for myself, and I cried for her, and I cried for our parents, who we would never, ever see again. I had never felt more scared and alone in my entire life. It was completely and utterly hopeless. What had I done? In my sixteen year old madness I had entered a dark and dangerous forest, not having any sense of how risky it would be, and now it had turned out that I would be stuck here until I died. This was the end for us, and all just because I was curious and foolish and pig-headed. Now we were both doomed. Stupid!

​

At long last, I was able to steady my breathing again. I felt empty. My face was damp with perspiration and my tears, but I didn’t bother wiping anything away. Why should I? I got shakily to my feet and turned to look for Keba, who I thought was handling things remarkably well, at least in comparison to me. But she wasn’t where I’d left her.

​

“Keba?” I cried out, darting my eyes across everything I could see. She was gone! I hadn’t heard her walk away, but where did she go? Suddenly I heard her voice, but it was much farther away than it should have been. I located the source of the sound and there she was, perhaps a hundred yards from me. I started running towards her again, and when we finally reached each other, I held onto her tight.

​

“Keba, what happened? How did you get so far away?”

“I don’t know! As soon as you let go of my hand, it was like I got picked up and deposited somewhere else.” The words were spilling out of her in rapid succession. “I was still close, and I could see you, but when I tried to walk back over to you, I couldn’t move. It was like there was something holding me in place. I tried to stay calm, because you hadn’t moved at all, so I knew we weren’t completely separated. Then a few seconds went by and it picked me up again, but this time I went even further away. It kept happening until eventually you stopped crying and got up. Then you called my name and I could speak again. Then when you started running towards me, I could move again!”

​

I was reeling. This place was even worse than I thought. I grabbed her hand and held it as tight as I could. “Okay,” I said. “So I guess we have to hold onto each other from now on. I don’t even want to think about what could happen if I lose you again. It’s dangerous in here.”

She nodded. “I want to go home.”

“Me too. But I don’t know how to get there. Maybe if we keep going, somehow we can find our way back.” It was a ridiculous idea, supported by nothing, but what other option did we have?

​

We soldiered on. We walked and walked, seemingly for hours, and nothing changed. The heat and humidity, combined with the stress of the situation, was getting to me. I was exhausted. Our pace had slowed considerably (not that it mattered), and I could see Keba was tired too. Finally, I just stopped.

​

“Keba, I’m tired.” I groaned and lowered myself down to the ground to sit.

“Me too, Cass. We’ve been in here for hours and nothing’s changed. The pattern just keeps on going and this heat is awful. I almost prefer the snowstorm.” She let out a weak little laugh. I smiled.

“I don’t want to be stuck in here like it seems like we are, but I don’t know what else to do. Continuing to walk just feels pointless. I need a nap.”

“I know,” she said. She looked at the trees above us. “I don’t know if I want to fall asleep here though. I don’t trust this place. And what happens if one of us lets go of the other while we’re sleeping?” She returned her gaze to me, and her face was full of worry.

​

I was worried about that myself. I knew I couldn’t keep going like this forever. There was no way to mark time in here, and neither of us had brought a watch. We obviously hadn’t anticipated getting stuck inside a supernatural, unchanging jungle in our plan for the day. I was overwhelmed.

​

My eyelids grew heavy as I thought about what to do, and though I fought it as hard as I could, I couldn’t keep them from closing. I made sure I was still holding on to Keba’s hand before I slipped into unwilling unconsciousness, and before the blackness of sleep consumed me, I saw that Keba was falling too. A little voice inside me was overloaded with panic, but there was nothing I could do. Something was putting me to sleep, and fast.

​

The slumber was thick and dense, unlike any sleep I had ever experienced. When finally I fought myself awake, my face felt like it was filled with lead. I had the distinct feeling of being weighed down by something, and I imagined this felt something like coming back from a completely comatose state, or perhaps even death. It was so heavy. Slowly, slowly, I regained feeling in my body and found I could move. Eventually, I felt my fingers still intertwined with Keba’s and a wave of relief washed over me. Once I could move my head, I turned it to look at her. Her eyelids were fluttering, like she was in the middle of a dream, but beyond that, she simply looked like she was asleep. I pulled her arm a little, trying to wake her, but it didn’t work. I pulled again, harder and harder, but she seemed determined to stay asleep. As the last of the weight was lifted from my legs, I got up and crawled over to her unconscious form. Not letting go of her hand, I touched her face and spoke to her, shaking her a little by the shoulders when she still didn’t wake up. At this point, I was getting worried, but I didn’t know what else to do. I remembered my surroundings for the first time in that instant. The light hadn’t changed, and maybe that’s why it took me so long. We were still in the forest, or jungle, or whatever it was, but now it seemed we had reached the end. Just a few dozen yards beyond where Keba’s feet lay, there was a distinct separating line between the wilderness we knew and something else. This something else looked like more trees too, but it appeared to be like the forest we had come from originally. The trees were pine and spruce, and it was dark like it should have been. I turned back to Keba, still out of it on the ground. I shook her some more, frantically trying to wake her before the other forest had a chance to disappear.

​

At last her eyes snapped open, and in them I saw her panic with helplessness. I didn’t know if she could hear me, but I tried to tell her what happened.

​

“Keba! You were asleep! I was too a minute ago. You probably can’t move yet, but don’t worry, you’ll be able to in a second, I think. I don’t know how it happened, but something put us to sleep and dragged us or maybe teleported us to the edge of the forest.” I pointed to the line. “As soon as you can move, we have to run for it. I don’t know how long it will last.”

​

I felt her hand start to twitch in mine, so I knew she would be able to move again soon enough. I kept my eyes on the tree line. After another minute or so passed, she got to her feet, and then we ran together as fast as we could toward the dark forest. I had never wanted to get back home so badly in my life, away from the monotonous din of jungle bugs and sweltering jungle heat. Soon we would be back in winter where we belonged, and we could forget this whole thing had even happened. I was almost giddy with the idea. I let out a whoop and Keba laughed behind me. Almost there, almost there!

​

We broke through the line together. Immediately, I knew something was wrong. We had escaped the jungle, certainly, but we were not back home. We were struck immediately with an unbearable quiet, a silence so deafening in contrast to the whine of the other forest I instinctively reached to cover my ears. It penetrated my skull like a lateral blade, in through both my ears at once, forcing itself into the hollow it made. I winced and shut my eyes tightly to try and survive the awkward pain of it. There was no ringing as maybe there should have been. There was absolutely no sound at all.

​

Suddenly I remembered: Keba. Her hand was no longer in mine. I opened my eyes and searched for her again. Luckily she had not gotten far, and I only had to walk a few steps to reach her. I braved letting one of my hands drop from my aching head to grab hold of her. I discovered that the silence and pain was the same, whether I shielded my eardrums with my hands or not. Keba did the same and soon we were connected once again.

​

The sound was not the only thing that had changed. All around us, the forest was dark again, true, but the darkness was cut by tiny floating lights. They illuminated the life nearby, and I saw that everything but the trees was completely white. The fallen branches, the little grasses, the stones on the ground were all purest white, like fresh snow. As I looked up, I could see the full moon, bigger than ever, in the sky above us, shining bright and undaunted by the canopy. I could imagine that the moon had bleached the forest floor, just like the sun. I knew it didn’t make sense, but it was so beautiful.

I saw something move in the darkness to my left, and there appeared a pale stag. He made no sound as he walked, and he seemed not to notice us at all. From the tips of his magnificent antlers to the hooves he walked on, he was completely unpigmented, except for his eyes. His eyes were black as the night that surrounded us, with no pupils or irises I could discern. Pure, unending darkness, buried in a vastness of white.

​

Eventually, he moved out of my sight, and the spell was broken. The little glowing orbs were still there nearby, lighting much of the floor for us to see. They were very pleasant to look at, and I was tempted to reach out and touch one.

Keba apparently shared my impulse. As I watched, her free hand extended toward the closest one to her, well within her arm’s length. Right before her finger landed on it, it jerked itself away from her and changed color. Where once it had been a soft, gauzy gold-white, it now became a harsh and upsetting green. In response, all of the other lights changed to match it. They shook violently, and suddenly they took off ahead of us, leaving us in utter darkness.

​

“We have to follow them! Run!” Keba yelled.

​

We sprinted after the lights, but they were fast, and they had a head start. Low-hanging branches sliced my arms and face, stinging my skin, but I didn’t have time to care. Keba ran in front of me, pulling me along behind her. I lost sight of the orbs more than once, but I had to assume Keba could still see them up ahead. We kept up our breakneck pace until I almost couldn’t breathe anymore. My lungs burned and my face was sticky and hot with blood. It was still completely silent, not a single sound even coming from our hasty footsteps on the littered forest floor. It was deeply unnerving. All of a sudden, we broke through another patch of dark branches and Keba stopped running. I slammed into her, grinding to a halt and very nearly knocking us both to the ground. I struggled to right myself and catch my breath, and then I saw why she had stopped. The lights had halted in this clearing, their soothing color returned from that sickly green, and they now formed an evenly-spaced ring, lining the edges of the clearing, completely still. Before, in the darkness of the trees, their light had been welcome for my eyes adjusting to the dimness, but now they were unnecessary. The clearing was almost blindingly bright, and I was struggling to see. The trees that had been dark until a moment ago were now pure white like their surroundings, and when I looked up I could no longer see the moon through their branches. It was like we had entered another alternate dimension, one where color could not exist. I checked my clothing and hands, trying to grant my eyes some reprieve from the brilliant pain. I was relieved to see the skin on my hands was still its same shade of dark, smooth brown, and that my jacket was still the same deep maroon. When I looked over at Keba, her dark hair had survived, and her eyes were still radiant hazel with little flecks of gold. I don’t know what I would have done if I had found our coloring had been bleached from us too, but at the moment, I was just glad it hadn’t. Not yet, at least.

​

Now reassured, I braved another look out into the insufferable white. I found that my eyes had adjusted a bit more, and I could now see with some clarity. I stifled a gasp. In the center of the clearing, I saw two figures, seated on massive and ornately decorated thrones. They were looking straight at us.

​

It is difficult to describe just what these figures looked like, since only the two of us, Keba and I, can say we actually saw them. And when I talked to her about that day, I know we saw very different things. She insists they looked like pale, incandescent and perfect (“hauntingly beautiful”, I think are the words she specifically used) versions of her mother and father. She said when they spoke they sounded like her parents too, even though she had forgotten what her mother’s voice had sounded like. When I talk to her about it, even now, she can’t keep from crying for long. So mostly, I was on my own.

​

They were beautiful, these creatures, and humanoid, but there was definitely something wrong with them. When I looked at them, my face flushed and I felt ashamed, sick to my stomach, almost, but I couldn’t look away. At least, it was very hard to. Something about the way they looked reminded me of my own parents, but the more I tried to figure out why, the less I could understand it. I just knew that they did. They were devoid of all color, just like their surroundings, but some shading seemed to fall on them indiscriminately, so that in one moment they appeared angry and thin, in the next, happy and fat. It was revolting and hypnotic at the same time.

Somehow I got up the nerve to speak first.

​

“Hello,” my voice tremored. I tried to steady myself quickly. I was afraid, but I didn’t want them to know that. “Hello. My name is Cassandra, and this is Keba. We are… humans from the world outside the forest, and we would very much like to return home now. Can you help us?”

​

The figures smiled slowly, in unison, and my legs turned to jelly. Their mouths were perfect in every way, like movie stars, but their eyes were all wrong. There was menace in them. They looked like lions who had just found two little mice underneath their paws, begging to be eaten.

​

The creature on the left moved first. It rose from its throne and walked slowly over to us, maintaining eye contact with me. The smile faded from its face and now its expression was unreadable. The second one stayed behind, still seated and still smiling.

​

The creature stopped in front of us and stretched out its hands in a welcoming gesture. A smaller, warmer smile played on its face now. I felt compelled to give it my hand, and when I did, it closed its two hands around mine. Its grasp had no warmth to it, but it wasn’t exactly cold either. It felt like two stones had enclosed my palm.

​

“Welcome, Cassandra, and welcome, Keba,” the creature said. It let go of my hand and its arms returned gracefully to its sides. “I am Grand High Glorious Majesty Zinnygriphonious, but you may simply call me Majesty Zinn.” Its voice sounded a lot like Mom’s in my ears, and I shuddered. I could feel myself starting to trust this thing, but I didn’t know why. And I didn’t like it. The creature continued. It gestured delicately to the other figure still seated on its throne. “And this, dear ones, is my beloved, known to all as the Great Fein.” The Great Fein nodded at us. The smile from before had melted into a dignified and distant expression. Majesty Zinn returned its attention to me and Keba. “You are most welcome here, my children, into our glorious kingdom. We are so glad you made it. I trust your journey was not too difficult?” Here its face looked deeply concerned, and it scanned us with its unsettling eyes, noting the injuries we had sustained. “Oh dear! You’re hurt! I’m so sorry about that. Let us help you.” Majesty Zinn took my hand first, then Keba’s and pulled us back toward the thrones. The Great Fein, still until now, raised its hands as we approached, and reached out to touch my face once I was close enough. Part of me didn’t want it to touch me, but something else wanted that more than anything. I got a warm, aching feeling inside of me, like I needed to be held by it more than I needed to breathe. I fell to my knees, and the Great Fein put its hands on my cheeks. I worried momentarily that its beautiful skin would become tainted by my blood, but it didn’t seem to care. Once it touched me, a gentle, expanding chill spread throughout my body. I was surprised that it didn’t make me shiver, but instead I felt like I had been almost dying of heatstroke and the creature had somehow created an oasis inside my skin where I could rest. I closed my eyes and was completely at peace, blissfully happy. Behind my eyes I could see someone running and playing in a forest, and I could hear their laughter, high and bubbly. They raced through the trees and I wanted to catch up to them. We were playing together. That was it. Oh, this was so much fun! I had never laughed like this in my life. I pushed myself to run faster, and I could see I was gaining on them. Their long white hair flew out in undulating waves behind them, and when they looked back, I could see their eyes, breathtaking hazel with shavings of gold in them. They were the only spark of color in their pure white face. Keba. She grinned at me, and finally I caught up to her. I took her hand and pulled her into a hug. I had never been so happy.

​

Suddenly the vision faded, and I felt the calming coolness retreating from my body. When I opened my eyes, I saw the Great Fein’s hands pulling away from my cheeks. Its eyes flickered with color for a moment, maybe green, but then it was gone, and on its face there was a satisfied smile. I looked to my side for Keba, and found her staring at me, along with Majesty Zinn. The blood on her face was dry, but her cheeks and arms were crisscrossed with a thousand little scratches and her shirt was stained. She looked like she had been through hell. I reached my hand up to touch my own face, expecting my wounds to match hers. My cheek was completely smooth, softer and cleaner than it had been in years. Shocked, I looked down at what I was sure was my ripped clothing – it was spotless, pristine even, without a tear in sight.

​

Majesty Zinn smiled. “Feeling better, Cassandra dear?” My eyes must have given my surprise away, because the creature began to laugh, an airy, tinkling little sound. It was like pleasant music, like listening to a wind chime on a sunny day. Still, it startled me. “The Great Fein has many abilities, not least of which is their ability to heal and comfort poor children like you. It is an incredible sight to behold. Tell me dear, what did you see?” I saw the Great Fein smirk out of the corner of my eye. I blushed.

​

“It was… I saw… myself and Keba.” I paused and shot a glance at her. She just stared at me. “We were… running through a forest, laughing.” I smiled in spite of myself. “I think we were playing a game or something. I was chasing her, and when I caught up to her, I hugged her.” I paused. “That’s all. It was so… nice.” Now I was confused. It was nice, right? But saying it out loud, it sounded sort of ridiculous; how could something that simple make me that happy? I was sure I had been overjoyed, exultant – but why? Because Keba and I played tag in the woods? That was odd. I furrowed my brow. Something was wrong here.

​

Majesty Zinn looked concerned. “Anything else, Cassandra? Did you see anything else?” Its tone was a little desperate, like I needed to find something else to tell it or I would be in big trouble. It really did remind me of Mom.

​

I wracked my brain, but I couldn’t think of what it might mean. There was nothing else. I shook my head. “No, I didn’t see anything else. That was it.” As I got to my feet, I saw the clear disappointment on Majesty Zinn’s perfect face. Quick as a flash, though, its expression changed and soon it was smiling again, this time at Keba.

​

“No matter. Keba, my dear, will you let us help you now?” The Great Fein’s hands reached out again, waiting for her to get closer. She looked at me, and I could see she was worried, but I couldn’t say why. I gave her a reassuring smile.

“Go on,” I said. “It’s painless. It actually feels really good, I swear. Plus I want to know what you see.” Majesty Zinn brightened with satisfaction.

​

Keba stepped closer to the Great Fein, her hand still tightly intertwined with mine. She knelt, and the creature put their hands on her cheeks, one on each side, just like it had done with me. Her eyelids drooped and she went limp for a moment. I read the bliss on her face. The scratches on her skin faded and the bloodstains shrank until there were none. Her long dark hair seemed to comb itself, washing out the dirt and debris from our long day – days? —in the forest. Her skin took on a kind of soft glow in the light and the Great Fein looked deeply pleased. After only a few seconds, they removed their hands from Keba’s face and her eyes blinked open again. She looked just as incredulous as I was. The Great Fein sat back in their throne again, and Keba stood.

​

“Wow,” she breathed. “That was… unbelievable. I…” She inspected her hands, felt her face and hair. “I mean, I saw that all happen to you, but I didn’t imagine it would feel that good! I feel amazing!” She was beaming, and it was contagious. I couldn’t help but smile back at her, after all we had been through together. Majesty Zinn looked thrilled too, and it moved over to sit back in its throne.

​

“Keba, my darling,” it said softly. Keba turned toward the seated figure. Its eyes had gained an intensity, and I could have sworn I saw Keba shudder when she met them.

“Yes?”

“Tell me, what did you see?”

My friend stiffened, straightening up where she stood next to me. “I saw my family. We were here, in the forest, all together, sitting under the trees.”

Majesty Zinn kept looking at her. “And? What else, my child?”

“Everyone was there… you, Mom, Buvi, and me. Cass was there too. We all looked so… different…” I saw Majesty Zinn’s face harden a little.

“Different how, Keba?”

“We all looked the same… all white, like you. Except for our eyes. They were the same. It was amazing. Mom looked so pretty.” She looked at the Great Fein, who blinked gently at her. Then she turned to me. “And you did too, Cass! Your hair – well, it was the same-- still curly--, but it wasn’t dark anymore. Like mine. We all looked like them, but like us too. But better. Happier. Prettier.” She sighed. Majesty Zinn grinned. “Was that… was that real?” Keba sounded so hopeful. For her sake, I felt myself wanting the answer to be yes. Maybe it would nice if it was. I still remembered how happy I was in that dream world myself. Did they have the power to make that real? Or were they showing us what would be?

What were these things?

​

Majesty Zinn looked at the Great Fein and then at Keba. “It can be real, sweet one. Would you like that? To join us here in the forest? To look like me and them? To be truly happy?” On this last question, Majesty Zinn’s voice grew deeper and more insistent. It felt like its words vibrated within my body, echoing in my head for an eternity.

​

I heard Keba draw in a sharp breath. She turned to me. Her eyes searched mine, but I didn’t know what she was looking for. Who wouldn’t want that?

​

In my periphery, I saw something moving into the clearing. No, that wasn’t right. It was a lot of somethings. As I looked, hundreds, maybe even thousands of small, pale figures came toward us. They looked vaguely human too, but they were all devoid of color just like the two on the throne. They were all astonishingly beautiful, each with an enchanting pair of eyes set in their little faces. Some of their eyes were dark brown, like mine. Others blue, green, gray, hazel, like Keba’s. As they came in, I couldn’t help but stare at them, these ghostly children, not one among them smiling.

​

Majesty Zinn and the Great Fein rose simultaneously, turning to face the flood of small figures that came toward us. Their faces lit up as they looked upon them.

​

“Ah, my children! I am so glad you have arrived. Thank you, my darlings, for coming to welcome our new friends. This is Keba and Cassandra.” Thousands of unblinking little eyes now watched us with interest. The quiet was still so eerie, so completely intact around us. None of the children said anything. None of their faces even changed. They just stared. My insides began to squirm with discomfort.

​

Majesty Zinn spoke again. “Keba, my darling. You were saying?”

Keba was just looking at the children. It was hard to read her expression, but I thought I saw a million things go through her face at once. Wonder, disgust, curiosity, terror, admiration, skepticism, excitement. Maybe I just saw in her everything that I was feeling myself. What to make of these creatures? There were so many of them. Where did they come from? How did these creatures have so many children?

​

A horrible thought came into my mind.

​

No. No way. That was nuts.

​

On the other hand… they were so beautiful. And they didn’t seem to be in any danger or pain. They didn’t look particularly happy, but maybe they were just shy with strangers. They were just kids, after all. So are we, I thought. I shook that away. I looked at their faces more closely. Some of them were definitely very young, maybe five or six years old. Others were older – ten, eleven, thirteen. I didn’t see any that could possibly be my age. See? We’re too old. I felt satisfied, a little more at least. I still didn’t trust what was happening here. I returned my gaze to Keba, her gaze now locked in Majesty Zinn’s. She began to shake her head slowly, then more insistently. Majesty Zinn looked quizzical.

​

“Keba? What’s wrong, my dear?”

Keba looked like she was trying to speak, but nothing came out. Finally a horrified whisper twisted its way out of her throat. “What have you done?”

Majesty Zinn’s eyes narrowed, and the beautiful face turned hard and angry.

“What do you mean, Keba? Choose your words carefully.”

She looked at me pleadingly. Her eyes were full of terror. “They stole them.”

​

Suddenly the Great Fein was right in front of us, so close I could see every single pale eyelash on their face.

Majesty Zinn spoke again, its voice at once placating and stern. “Keba, dear, what are you talking about?”

​

I don’t know how she did it, but Keba moved her head to look past the imposing Fein and stared right at Majesty Zinn. In a steel voice, she said, “My grandmother told me about them. Your ‘children’.” She laughed mirthlessly, and my blood chilled in my veins. “She told me scary stories when I was little about creatures like you. I thought she made you up just to frighten me, but now I see everything she told me was real. All of you. Beautiful and alluring, with wondrous powers, hiding in the woods. Waiting for unsuspecting children to wander into your kingdom so you can steal them, taking their souls to feed your own thirst for power! You trap them here forever. But you won’t get us!” She spat.

​

Majesty Zinn’s face must have been flooded with rage, but I couldn’t see it past the creature that stood in front of me. In an instant, the Great Fein grabbed my hand, the one that was linked with Keba’s and wrenched it away from her grasp. I lost my grip on her, and I watched her get picked up by some invisible force and deposited a few feet away. The Great Fein still held my hand, smiling hungrily at me. I could feel my pulse galloping in my ears, but I was paralyzed with fear of what would happen next. If that thing got their hands on my face, I would be lost to the world. Who knew what else they could do? I had to get away from them. I had to get back to Keba. I pulled my hand violently from its clutches, attempting to escape as fast as I could. I made it about two and a half steps in Keba’s direction before I slammed into the ground. The wind was knocked out of my lungs from the force of the impact. As I struggled to draw air back into my chest, I felt a foot step onto my back and press down hard, pinning me to the spot.

​

“Children?” I heard Majesty Zinn say. The foot eased off of my spine, but it didn’t matter, because I was soon restrained and pulled upright by thousands of tiny hands. The children raised me to look straight into the stern face of Majesty Zinn. Its hands were now clasped behind its back, and its eyes inspected me closely. I refused to make eye contact, looking instead for Keba. I found her fighting the restraints of the Great Fein, seeming to struggle intensely while her opponent looked almost bored.

​

“What do you want from us?” I growled at the monster in front of me. A sickly sweet smile crept across its face.

“Cassandra, dear, why are you angry? Have I offended you?”

I scoffed.

“I’m sorry, dear. You must know that was not my intention. Although you must know your little escape attempt just now was ill-advised. I understand you want to stay together, and we want that too, believe me! However, if you both intend to leave us behind just like that, of course we have no choice but to speak with you separately. Dreadfully impolite little thing, you are. Where are your manners? Think of what we are offering you, dear! A life of beauty, a life without pain, without arguments. You will never be in trouble here. We love our children, above all else. All you have to do is say yes. Accept, Cassandra. Accept, and remain here with us. I assure you Keba will do the same. The Great Fein is quite persuasive.” Majesty Zinn grinned.

​

My mind raced. What was there to do? How could I fight these creatures, magical where I was so decidedly not? Their children still held me tight, and there were so many. Unflinching little minions of these monsters. Enslaved. I wished there was some adult here to save us, someone bigger and more powerful than us. I shut my eyes tight, my heart pounding. My mind welcomed the break from all the whiteness that lay in the terrible world just beyond my lids. Gentle darkness. I had to think. What could I do? What could I do?

​

Just then, I had an idea. I didn’t know how solid it was, but it was something. Something big. And it would be arriving soon.

​

I opened my eyes again and was met with the expectant glare of Majesty Zinn. I was the one smiling now.

“Well?” it asked impatiently.

Slowly I moved my lips into an O and blew a controlled breath out. The whistle stretched out in the profound silence and flicked up at the end, beckoning. Calling.

​

I saw the Great Fein freeze and Majesty Zinn’s face contorted with fury.

“What are you doing?” it demanded.

I whistled again, even louder this time. Adrenaline was surging through me, and I didn’t know if I would collapse with fear or exhilaration.

​

Majesty Zinn’s hand flew up to my mouth, clamping it shut. The Great Fein appeared again in front of me, and their hands took hold of both sides of my face. Immediately I was again transported, but this time I was flying high above the forest. I was holding Mum’s hand, but Mum looked a lot like the Great Fein. Or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, together we soared in the night sky, the silent stars twinkling right next to us as we rushed by. It was breathtaking. I looked down and saw the trees whip by us on the ground. Mum smiled at me and squeezed my hand. I could have flown with her forever.

​

As it turns out, I didn’t get to, because even through the thickness of the dream, I heard somebody whistle. Then, as the vision began to fracture, I felt the ground start to shake violently beneath my feet. I returned to reality swiftly. The ground was still convulsing, like some powerful earthquake was approaching the clearing. The children let go of me and began to scatter, disappearing into the white trees and blending in instantly. Majesty Zinn screamed with uncontrollable rage.

​

“What have you done?” it roared. “He’s coming! You foolish, despicable brats! You’ve ruined everything! I’ll –” Fortunately for us, it didn’t get to finish. Our savior was here, and none too soon. There was a thunderous crash, and then everything I could see vanished into darkness. The blackness was so total, so complete, I couldn’t see a single thing. I waited for my eyes to adjust, but the brightness that had just been trampled left its stain on my retinas. I kept blinking, trying to catch sight of something, anything. At least I could still feel the ground beneath my hands and knees, and I remembered vaguely where Keba had been. I started crawling, even though I could see absolutely nothing. As for what I could hear, the silence was broken certainly, but it was replaced by an unbearable cacophony of thumps, groans, crashes and cracking noises. I couldn’t worry about what was going on beyond me now – I just had to get to Keba. I kept crawling in the direction I thought she was, silently praying not to bump into anything else. Finally I landed on something. I tried to feel out what it was, but it was impossible. It was warm, though, and it moved too, so I was almost certain it was Keba. I seized upon her, trying to tell her to hold on to me, but my voice couldn’t be heard over the din. I held her as closely as I could and together we laid still, waiting for it all to be over. I noticed I had squeezed my eyes shut, and though in the darkness it made no difference, it comforted me a little. My body was tense and I felt completely overwhelmed. I couldn’t think about anything but holding onto Keba and how much I wished this day would end.

​

I can’t possibly say how long we crouched there, hanging onto each other for dear life. All I know is that at some point, it stopped. The first thing I noticed was the cold. Before I even opened my eyes, a sharp current of frozen wind whipped across my face and shocked me awake. I opened my eyes and saw Keba, unconscious and blue from the icy temperature. Before I braved loosening my grip, I checked our surroundings. It was still—still?—nighttime and I could see the stars and the full moon in the dark sky above. That was a good sign. I could also see the forest, and more than that, the fact that we were definitely outside of it. We lay in the short grass outside the edge of the woods. Relief swept over me. I released Keba and searched the grass for our forgone coats. Miraculously, they had made the trip as well, and I quickly put my sweater and coat back on, along with my hat and gloves, grateful at once for their warmth. Then I turned my attention back to my friend.

​

She didn’t look good, but when I put her jacket back on her, gently as I could, she stirred a little. Some color came back to her skin, though not much. I looked in the direction of town and found the outline of her house. There was only one thing I could think to do. I thanked my lucky stars Keba wasn’t too heavy, and that her house was so close to the forest, as I picked up her frozen body and carried her back home. I went as fast as I could. I was strong, but I admit I had never carried another human being this far before, and as soon as I reached the gate, I nearly collapsed with the effort. I pushed it open and brought her up to the door. Before I could even knock, the door jerked open, revealing the old woman inside.

​

“Bring her in, Cassandra,” she said to me in her accented speech.

The house inside was boiling with heat, and if I hadn’t been freezing myself I would have found it impossible to stand. I carried my friend into the living room and laid her on the couch. After a tense minute, she began to wake.

​

“Buvi?” Keba asked, confused. The old woman nodded.

“I’m here, shirin.”

Keba reached her hands out to me. I knelt by her side and took them.

“Cass? What happened?”

“I’m not completely sure, Keba,” I told her. “I think that thing in the forest – the darkness – I think it saved us. It destroyed those awful creatures and helped us escape.”

​

I wondered briefly if we should be talking about those things in front of Keba’s grandmother, but it was too important right now for me to care much. If she thought we were crazy, so be it.

​

“But, Cass, how did we call it to us? I heard you whistle, and I thought maybe you were signaling to me. Were you calling the creature?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I remembered my dream about the dog, and what your grandmother said, and I just had to try it. I didn’t know if it would work, but evidently, that was exactly what I needed to do. We’re out now, Keba. It’s over.”

​

She closed her eyes and sighed. She seemed to relax more fully now. I felt myself doing the same.

It was over. We made it. We were not trapped in there. Not anymore.

​

Keba’s eyes flashed open. “Cass, how long were we in there? What about your parents?”

Panic washed over me in an instant. Oh no. How long had we been gone? My moms were going to kill me.

​

Keba’s grandmother stepped in.

“Girls, do not worry. You were only gone a few minutes. An hour at most. There is nothing to fear.”

“An hour?” I stood. “No, there’s no way. We were in there forever! I mean—we were in the jungle for probably at least an entire day, and then after that…” I trailed off, not wanting to remember the monsters we had just so narrowly escaped.

Keba’s grandmother was looking at me curiously, like she wanted me to go on. “After that, Cassandra? What did you see?”

I felt sick. Suddenly a wave of nausea threatened to overtake me and I bolted for the nearest bathroom. I barely reached the toilet before the vomit shot out of me, making me heave violently and filling my eyes with tears.

​

An hour at most. An hour at most. What did you see? Cassandra, what did you see? The old woman’s voice turned in my mind.

​

My breath came in ragged gasps and I struggled to steady myself again. When finally there was nothing left, I got to my feet and rinsed my hands and face in the sink. I flushed the toilet and swished cool water in my mouth. The heat in here was starting to get to me, now that I had thawed. I tore at my jacket until I was free of it. I walked back into the living room, disoriented and furious without fully knowing why. Keba was sitting up on the couch now and they both looked at me as I approached. There was still a horrible taste in my mouth and my brain felt like it was drowning.

​

“So you have seen them?” the old woman said to me, after a moment.

I looked at Keba.

“I told her what we saw,” she said. “She’s not surprised.”

Keba’s grandmother shook her head. “Not at all. I knew there was something in that forest. Now you have proved it. And now it is done.”

“Done? What do you mean?” I asked.

“The darkness is free,” she replied. “The monsters are not easy to find, even for one so powerful as he. They wanted you, and you called him to their lair. They were no longer hidden from him, and now their reign is ended. No more children will they take. Look outside, Cassandra. You will see them go.”

“See who go?”

Bewildered though I was, I walked to the closest window that faced the woods. When I pulled back the curtain, I saw the trees, as expected, but their darkness was different. It was not so full now, and I could make out individual branches and trunks, instead of just the uniform black mass the forest had been before. Then I saw something even stranger. Above the canopy, something was happening. There seemed to be a mist of some sort rising from the tops of the trees, a white wispy fog climbing up in thin tendrils toward the sky. The mist was pure as snow. The tendrils snaked upwards, like thousands of slender arms reaching for the moon.

​

When I couldn’t watch anymore, I turned away from the window and found that I had been crying. I wiped the tears from my face and swallowed hard.

​

“Cass?” Keba said softly.

“Keba, I… I gotta go home,” I whispered. I couldn’t bring myself to look at either of them. I put my jacket back on and reached for the door handle. I turned it and stepped back out into the cold night. Before I closed the door behind me, I heard Keba say my name again, but I didn’t answer. I just walked through the garden gate and took myself through the streets once more, alone.

​

When I reached my house, I saw that there was a light on inside. I inserted my key into the door and turned, but I didn’t need to. It was open.

​

My parents were both seated at the kitchen table, and it was clear they had been talking, angrily and about me.

Mum stood. “Cassandra, what the hell were you thinking? Running out into the cold like that, just thinking you could shout ‘Hey I’m going to Keba’s!’ and it would all be fine? Just because you’re getting older doesn’t mean you can go out at night whenever you want to now. Something could happen to you! You do know that, don’t you?”

​

By now I had reached the table. I didn’t say a word to her, but instead reached out and hugged her. I didn’t care if she was angry. I just cared that she was the real thing. Not some colorless monster with an inhuman smile and thousands of stolen children. Flesh and blood, and mine.

​

“Oh!” She was surprised by the hug, but she quickly recovered. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight. I heard Mom’s chair squeak on the floor and she stood up, and soon she was holding me too. Safe.

​

They didn’t end up grounding me, thankfully, since I was only gone about 45 minutes. What evil could I have possibly done in that time, after all?

​

Keba called me the next day to make sure I was okay, which I wasn’t, but I didn’t care. After all we had been through, we became closer than ever. I got to see her grandmother more, and she told us all kinds of stories. Stories of magic and evil, but mostly with happy endings. I liked those.

​

As for the creature in the woods, I didn’t know if I would ever see it again, now that the monsters were gone and it was free once more.

​

About a month after that fateful night, I was leaving Keba’s house for the evening, bundled up against the continuation of winter. I spared a glance toward the woods as I always did, never expecting to see anything but the static trees.

​

Instead I saw the face of an old friend. The beast was sitting still, looking right at me as before, its ever-shifting face fixed in a funny sort of smile. I stopped walking and turned to face it entirely. It allowed me to look at it now with the full force of my gaze, not just in my periphery anymore. I saw behind its massive form something like a tail wagging. I smiled back.

​

The beast stood up, its tail thrashing excitedly. It was waiting. Waiting for me.

​

I put my lips together and whistled, the sound piercing the night air thin and clear like a bell, and the beast began to run. And I ran with it.

 

The End