The rain had slightly eased, but thunder still echoed across the sky, like war drums rumbling from the distance.
Meri stood motionless at the forest's edge. Her soaked clothes clung to her body, and her tangled hair danced wildly in the wind. Her eyes, filled with doubt, stared into the darkness ahead.
The forest before her was more than a cluster of trees—it was another world. Ancient, mysterious, and unknown.
The longer she looked, the more the forest seemed to change. Shadows slid between the trunks, and thick fog devoured the path.
Something unseen pulsed deep within the blackness—an invisible yet tangible force that whispered:
If you step in, there will be no return.
Behind her, the storm still breathed.
The wind howled. The drizzle cut across her face like thin blades.
Lightning ripped the sky again, and Meri shivered involuntarily.
She was trapped between two terrors:
One—a storm that had chased her like a beast;
And the other—a forest that stood silent, yet wide-mouthed, inviting her in.
Her breaths grew short and uneven. She wanted to turn back, but her legs refused to obey.
Doubt spread through her like roots gripping the soil of her soul.
Should she move forward? Was there even a way back?
Then came a familiar voice from behind—calm, yet trembling with anxiety:
"Go back. The storm isn't as big as it seems. No one knows what's inside the forest... Go back!"
Meri turned around. The girl in yellow stood there—the one she had seen many times in her dreams.
Someone between memory and imagination.
A faint smile appeared on Meri's lips.
Perhaps she was right.
Perhaps all of this had been a mistake.
Perhaps the storm, for all its noise and fury, was easier to face than what waited inside the darkness.
Perhaps it wasn't as big as she thought.
But when she looked again into the depths of the forest, a familiar feeling rose within her.
No sound. No movement. Just a silent presence.
Something ancient.
Something alive.
And most of all—something that seemed to be waiting for her.
Doubt slithered through her mind like a snake.
Every instinct screamed: "Go back!"
But another voice—quieter, deeper, from the core of her being—whispered:
You've already crossed the line. The first step has been taken. Just keep going...