Chapter 12

The runes continued into the forest, going further than she anticipated. The forest continued on its quest to guide her down the right path by continuously keeping the sunlight shining on the trail. Ava´s gaze kept wandering around the forest as she walked and after a while, she looked back down the trail she had previously been walking on.

The trail behind her was now unwelcoming, in such a way that she could not believe that she had walked there a few minutes ago. Once again, the forest had this unique way of making something feel eerie and haunting without doing much. The moment the trees blocked out the sunlight, the scenery in front of her turned into something out of a nightmare.

Ava gritted her teeth together as she came to a halt. Her feet were aching from all the walking, her stomach growled with the sound of a hundred whales and the energy she had stored up from before was now all gone. The more she walked, the worse it got.

Eventually, she gave in on the walking. Her knees crashed onto the forest ground, before her hip broke off the soft fall, leaving her almost laying on the ground. Now, she didn´t know what drained her the most; the walking, or the fact that she didn´t know when she would stop walking. Due to the forest having a life on its own, she had automatically followed it, as if she had no will on her own. She had no idea if it even had good intentions.

With trembling hands, she opened the bag Raven had packed for her and found the two slices of bread stacked up onto one another. Without batting an eye, she took a bite and slowly chewed on the dry bread. Her gaze kept wandering about as she ate silently, but quickly, to get herself back on the move without being heard by anyone in the forest. Not that she believed anyone would be in the forest anyway.

From what she assumed, the runes weren´t common and would automatically be recognized as witchcraft by the public's eye. After eating half of the dry bread, she stuck it back into the bag before getting back up on her sore feet. With a dry mouth that was aching for a single drop of water, she continued further into the forest in hope that she would find water soon.

After walking for a while, she could see the treeline starting to spread out. As she looked around, she could see the clearing shining through in some areas. A brush of relief struck her, which made Ava quicken her pace. Deprived of water, she was begging for it to be water at the other side, she would even settle for a puddle.

The second she got to the clearing, she came to a halt. Her heart dropped in her chest as she looked at the cabin in front of her. She looked around, in shock, only to realize that she wasn´t back home. Someone had built a replica of her home, in just a completely different spot.

Unsure if her mind was playing tricks on her, she rubbed her eyes. It didn´t matter how much she rubbed her eyes, the cabin was still standing in front of her. Judging by how much the grass had grown in the front yard, someone had been living here up until recently. Her gaze wandered about as she was trying to figure out where she was, or who could be living out here. Yet, it was just a forest, birds chattering and a small breeze that came from behind her.

The wind seemed to encourage her to get closer to the cabin, but she didn´t dare. What if someone lived in the cabin? What if they knew who she was, and brought her back to the village? Just the thought of it gave her goosebumps and sped up her heart rate. Quickly, she hid behind a tree to prevent from being seen if there was anyone home. Even though she had judged the height of the grass and concluded that no one lived here, she could be wrong.

Ava looked out from behind the stem, before glancing around once again to see if anyone was nearby, which it wasn´t. Even if she didn´t go up to the cabin, she would have to walk over the small yard to get to the other side of the forest. Annoyed, she leaned her head back with a grunt. She looked back into the forest as she tried to find the path she had just been walking on, but it had vanished into thin air.

Panicked, her gaze wandered about the forest as she tried to relocate the disappearing path, but she came out empty. It was as if it had never existed. The runes caught her attention as she looked around, and she noticed how some of them had changed, but it was mostly the same ones around the treeline.

She could not think of a sane or logically explained reason as to why the forest was having a life on its own. Was it because of the runes? She lightly hit the back of her head frustrated against the tree stem as she was desperate for something to go back to normal. The forest on the other side of the river didn´t have any of the runes, so the runes could not explain how that side turned eerie out of nowhere.

Even if it was witchcraft, why was it targeting her? She had never been involved with it earlier, nor had her family before they had passed. Or had they? Her mind started to look for memories that could indicate that they had been messing around with witchcraft, but she came up empty. Both of them had been doctors, and they had been ever since she was young.

So why did she feel like this entire forest wanted her to move forward towards the cabin? Let alone, why was the cabin designed in the same way as her previous home? At first glance, she hadn't seen a single thing out of place, which she didn't already remember from back home.

"What the hell is going on?"