Her lungs burned as she took in the stagnant air, the breath scraping its way down through the dryness of her throat.

  It had an unpleasant taste — a mix of dirt and musk undercut by a tang of something vaguely acidic. She focused on swallowing down the bile that rose in response, wincing at the sharpness of the motion.

  On an average day she would just assume she’s coming down with something. The symptoms line up: pharyngitis, difficulty breathing, lethargy — a variety of ailments could fit. But there was something different about this time. A sense of disconnect between herself and her body, completely foreign to anything she’s experienced before. A form of disassociation perhaps?

  It unnerved her almost as much as her current location. She had woken up here, flat against the ground with no idea how she had arrived. Could she have a concussion? Slight memory loss and brain fog would align nicely with that. But wait no, her head wasn’t in any pain. Damn.

  She needed to regroup. Carefully lifting her torso, she rose from the ground to a sitting position. Her limbs groaned with the effort, the movement stiff and decidedly unnatural — like something that had been immobile for quite some time. How long had she been here? Long enough to get dehydrated certainly. Could she have been drugged? Taken?

  No, that was too far, there were no signs of foul play just yet. Plus, she had immediately noticed the open doorway to her left, one that seemed to lead directly outside given the amount of sunlight streaming through. She could leave whenever she wanted — it would have been stupid to keep her here unattended. Or genius. Lower her guard and…she held her breath at this thought, all her senses firing at once to find anything that might insinuate she wasn’t here alone. All that came back to her was the faint rustling sound of the grass before her, dancing in the light breeze. Hm. She was being paranoid.

  She continued to scrutinize the room around her, hopeful it would yield some answers. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the stone walls of the chamber. Intricate carvings covered every inch of them, the images a massive collage of both flora and fauna embarking on some sort of journey to the back of the room. She followed them on their path, turning slowly so as to not injure her fragile body further. When she fully rotated, an involuntary gasp escaped her lips at the sight.

  Before her stood the most stunning wood carving she had ever seen. A tree, dense in both foliage and root, stretched across the entire wall, providing shelter for all that gathered beneath. Vines descended from the canopy, their form elegant as they tenderly embraced both plant and animal without discrimination. All before it bowed in reverence, some even appearing to shed tears as their maws made contact with the ground. It was an art piece of quality far beyond what she had thought possible.

  For a moment she just sat there, unable to tear her eyes from the majesty of the tree. It oozed sanctity from every curve — though she was never the religious sort, she could not deny the air of holiness in this place. But this revelation only served to confuse her further. Why had she been brought here? She was just an average med student with an average job living her average life. She had no ties to any religious sect. No matter how much she pondered she couldn’t make any sense of it.

  She gently chewed at her bottom lip, holding it between her front teeth as she rolled it back and forth. What does a person do in a situation like this? She bit down just a bit harder, using the pain as stimulation for her mind. Make a timeline. The last thing she remembered was going to sleep in her apartment. That was normal. She thought back through the entire day: school, library, then home. Normal. So what changed? She didn’t know. Next thing she woke up here, alone, in different clothing, with no phone or anything other than herself. She felt ill, like—

  Wait.

  She took a deep breath, completing the entire process with ease. She swallowed. No pain. She lifted her hand, inspecting it as she wiggled each finger. No janky movements. A deep sense of unease washed over her, the cold settling in the center of her chest. She had been so ill when she woke up, at the very least severely dehydrated — she was certain of that. But now she was completely fine. That wasn’t right.

  The room tilted, distorted. She focused again on her breathing, familiar with the signs of hyperventilation. Calm. It’s best to remain calm. There must be a logical explanation somewhere. Regulate first, then move.

  She took two fingers and set them on the side of her neck, seeking that rhythmic beat that always seemed to ground her in difficult moments. Closing her eyes, she waited.

  Nothing.

  The carotid is a strong indicator for pulse — she must not be pressing hard enough. She dug in harder.

  Still nothing.

  Her mouth began to go dry as she pressed hard enough to cut circulation.

  Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

  Her fingers slid to her wrist.

  Nothing.

  Desperate, she placed her hand over her chest.

  Nothing. Nothing was there. She couldn’t find her pulse anywhere.

  Her hands began to tremble as her mind raced. Hallucinations. She was having some sort of neurological event. Yes, that’s it. These sensations cannot be trusted, they don’t make any sense otherwise. She needed to make her way to the hospital, to get checked out by someone other than herself.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  With great difficulty she rose to her feet, her disorientation becoming only more apparent with each movement. She needed to get outside, call for help. Someone could take her to the hospital and get all this sorted out. Yes, that’s it. Careful not to trip on any of the stones, she slowly made her way out of the chamber towards the light of the exit.

  There was a short stone staircase leading out to the surface, just around ten steps. Though she stumbled once or twice, she managed to quickly ascend, bursting out from the doorway into the world above.

  As soon as she exited she brought her hand up to her face, instinctively shielding her eyes from the brightness of day. She stood there for a moment while she acclimated to the light, anticipation coursing through her veins. It was all going to be fine. She would be back home by the end of the day, safe in her own bed.

  It was only when her eyes fully adjusted that she saw the truth, a hollow laugh escaping from her lips at the sight.

  There, surrounding her on all sides, was a vast sea of trees.

  They were tall things, hulking behemoths that stretched so high they obscured most of the sky. Any gap between them was filled with more greenery, a dense undergrowth that seemed to swallow everything in its path. Her jaw clenched as she turned, desperate to find any sign of civilization. There was nothing. No roads, no houses, no people — nothing. It was all just fucking wilderness.

  She looked back at the doorway she had just left. A stone archway covered in moss and vines stood there, stunning but lacking any distinguishing features that might help her figure out where the hell she was.

  She nibbled at her bottom lip as her unease began to morph into dread. What was she supposed to do now? Start walking? It wasn’t the best plan but it’s not like she could just stay here either. There were too many unknowns — what if staying put her in more danger? Dammit.

  She took a cautious step, her bare foot sinking deep into the carpet of moss stretching across the ground. Forward. For now she would go forward to check what might be out there. Maybe she would even get lucky and find a group of campers or nature enthusiasts to help her. It was a start at least…and she could always turn back before nightfall.

  The moss muffled her steps as she began to walk, her head on a constant swivel for any dangers lurking in the vegetation. It was a tranquil place, the only sound coming from the wind rustling the leaves of the canopy above. Strange. She would have expected to see a few small animals or insects in such a lush forest. And the plants were…well they were all somewhat unfamiliar, each exhibiting slight deviations from the norm. She may not have been the most experienced botanist but she still felt confident in her ability to recognize native species. Just how far was she from the city?

  Lost in these thoughts, she failed to notice the object beneath her feet until it was too late. Her foot caught the edge and she stumbled, barely managing to regain her balance before she fully fell. What the—?

  She turned back around, irritation flaring at her own carelessness — this was not the time to be distracted. She glanced down towards her foot to confirm that it didn’t suffer an injury from the encounter. What she saw there instead surprised her. It looked like some sort of black sludge had transferred onto her from the object, thick and tacky against her skin. Definitely not something she would expect to see in a forest. Curiosity sufficiently piqued, she decided to take a closer look at what exactly had tripped her.

  Her mind froze as soon as she pushed aside the foliage, momentarily unable to process what she was seeing.

  It was a body.

  A long dead, rotting corpse that oozed black fluid from every orifice. Fucking hell. Was this a hallucination too? She felt a tingle in her skin where that same ooze sat, the sensation now causing her stomach to churn. No, this seemed real…she had even tripped over it. Flicking her foot aggressively to dislodge the fluid, she gagged a little as she began to investigate the body further.

  The body seemed to be in the mid stages of decay, exhibiting significant loss of mass and skin. Maybe a week or two postmortem? That made things difficult — she wasn’t experienced enough in forensics to determine anything from a corpse that deteriorated. And there was something about the body itself that bothered her. Where was the smell? The insects? A body this decomposed should have both in excess.

  It was at that exact moment she saw movement beneath the body’s flesh, a slight undulation characteristic of something burrowing within. Ah, there they were. She watched intently as the skin began to bulge, the insects preparing to break free from the flesh prison. The skin split slowly and out emerged…green? Her brows furrowed in confusion as what looked to be a vine slowly stretched upwards, its leaves unfurling a bit before it reattached itself to another piece of skin.

  That was when the pulsing started. It was quiet at first, a soft beat like someone lightly tapping. Thump. Thump. Thump. With each pulse the sound grew louder, the vine swelling as the skin beneath it tightened. It was…drinking. Greedily sucking all the moisture and nutrients from the corpse, growing ever more vibrant with each gulp. She saw another vine break free from the flesh, quickly reattaching to a juicer spot. And another. And another. There were dozens of them now, all pulsing together in a terrifying rhythm of absorption.

  Her skin crawled as her body and mind quickly arrived at the same conclusion — get out of here now. She began to slowly and deliberately back away, trying her best to draw no attention to her movements. On her third step she felt her weight shift, her foot slipping on the ooze she had flicked off just moments ago. She crashed down hard onto the forest floor, the pain radiating up through her spine. She had to bite back the cry threatening to spill from her lips, desperate not to make any more sound. But it was too late.

  The silence was deafening. Then came the first pop. Then the next. And another. A symphony of pops echoed as the vines detached themselves from their meal, angling themselves towards her instead. For just a moment both parties were still as they assessed the other.

  The next thing she knew she was running. Fast. As fast as her body could take her. It was pure adrenaline and instinct, her flight-or-fight response screaming at her to escape right fucking now. She didn’t know if any of this was real. It all seemed so insane, like a psychotic episode mixed with drugs mixed with a neurological disorder…just absolutely unreal. But she still ran. She had to; there was no real proof in either direction after all. No matter how much she tried to rationalize, she wasn’t someone willing to bet their life on anything less than certainty.

  The rustling sound behind her grew steadily louder with her every stride. It was as if the forest itself had suddenly come alive, invigorated by the thrill of the chase. Her legs burned as she pushed them to their limit, desperation fueling each thunderous step. Was this how she’d die? In the middle of nowhere, devoured by a man-eating plant? Or was this all still her mind playing tricks? She didn’t know…and that terrified her more than anything else.

  Ding

  It was soft but she still heard it — the clear chime of a bell.

  A screen materialized right before her eyes, translucent and perfectly matching her stride.

  In silver letters it read:

  [Sound and movement increase probability of detection

  Remain still

  Control respiration]