Her eyes were closed.

A woman was lying in cool grass, surrounded by overgrown foliage and twisted, aging trees. An autumn breeze drifted by. The leaves made soft rustling sounds.

Wet dew clung to her cold, bare skin. The light of the sun just barely peeked over the rim of the horizon. It cast a pale glow on the slick blades of grass.

She was lying there, straight and stiff. Her hands were by her sides with her legs out straight, slightly apart, as if she was deliberately placed. Her eyelids didn't stutter, her chest didn't rise. She was merely lying there. Like a child's discarded doll.

The forest's critters found her presence disturbing. Their eyes glimmered in the dim light as they stared at her. Squirrels, raccoons, and the like. Some dared get close. They prodded at her with tiny claws. They turned to each other, fluffing their tails and bickering. They weren't sure what to make of her.

Who knows how long she'd been lying there. The stiffness of her body might make one think she was dead. Though her skin was still pink.

The scene was surreal. Like a picture from a long-winded fairy tale. Nothing out of place. Not even a strand of hair.

And then suddenly, as if breaching the surface of an ocean after being submerged to the point of drowning, she inhaled.

Her eyes shot open and her chest heaved. Her back arched off the ground as she gasped for that first breath of air. The racoons and the squirrels scampered off in shock.

As soon as she breathed in, she began to cough. The deep gasp caused her to choke. She rolled over onto her side as she wheezed into the grass. It burned her lungs and made her eyes water.

Once the burning sensation in her throat subsided, she looked around. Her hands placed flat on the ground for support.

Her senses were dull, her mind was muddled. Everything she looked at was clouded over as if she were looking through a foggy mirror.

Nothing looked familiar.

Leaves and twigs clung to her hair, and she raised a hand to pluck one of them out. She examined it briefly before letting it fall from her hand.

Crickets chirped around her, and she lifted her hand quickly when she felt something under it move. A grasshopper jumped high with its newfound freedom. She held her hand close to her.

"Hello?" she called out. Her voice was raspy and strained as if she hadn't spoken in years.

She lifted a hand to her throat as she coughed again, but recovered quicker this time. She brought her legs up close and leaned on one arm.

"Hello?" she tried again, sounding slightly better than before. She still didn't get a response. It seemed she was alone in the dense forest she had found herself in. "Is anybody here?"

She looked around once more. Everywhere she looked there were trees and shrubs. No discernable path or opening. She tried to think. Where was she? What happened? Had she somehow simply wandered off into a forest? There had to be some explanation. Her head began to ache.

She was about to call out again, at a loss as to what else to do, when a jolt of what felt like electricity shot through her head and made it ache to the point she doubled over from the pain. Her head hit the grass as brief flashes of images ran through her mind.

They weren't very detailed. Just short snippets. With the images came brief feelings, sounds, like laughter. There was somebody smiling, their face was bright and cheerful. Then, as suddenly as they came, they faded.

She let out a pained moan. After the splitting ache faded with the flashes, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees.

She was panting. A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek from her temple. There was still a dull pain in her skull, and she raised a hand to touch the back of her head as she winced. As she did, she felt something wet and slick. When she pulled her hand away to look, she saw a dark red stain streaked across her fingertips. Her heart gave a thump.

"Somebody?" She called out more desperately. Her voice was still shrill, but her increasing anxiety made it stronger. "I… I think I need help…"

But nobody answered.

Fear and anxiousness pushed through to the forefront of her mind as the foggy confusion was pushed back. Her limbs felt heavy, but the emotions fueled them. She pushed herself up off the ground to stand. She stumbled from the momentum, and nearly tipped back over onto the ground, but managed to stable herself.

"I… I'm hurt…"

She looked down at herself. She looked unharmed. Her arms were covered in goosebumps. She shivered as she ran her hands over her skin. It didn't do her any favors when a breeze blew past her. She looked around at her surroundings from her new vantage point. As far as she could see, there were trees. Shrubbery and leaves covered the ground. The endless shroud looked haunting.

Had someone left her there? A kidnapping gone awry? Was somebody out looking for her? Why couldn't she remember anything?

As she stared, the branches rustled and swayed, almost ominously. Like long spindly fingers, reaching for her. The noises the wind made as it came through the forest sounded like dark whispers. The hair on the back of her neck raised.

Something about this place wasn't right.

She could feel it. Something in the air. She couldn't place it. It was like energy. The forest felt alive.

She took a step back.

The wind picked up, and the dead leaves swirled in its grasp. Those dark whispers sounded louder. The forest suddenly felt as if it was closing in on her.

Something's coming.

It spooked her. She spun quickly on her heel, glancing over her shoulder as she hurried in the opposite direction.

She didn't know where she was going, she was just moving. Fallen twigs snapped underneath her feet. Thorny vines cut at her arms as if reaching for her.

Her chest was heaving. Every harsh breath of cold air felt like knives in her lungs. But she dared not stop. She knew she had to run. To get away. There was a presence in this forest. It felt wrong.

As she ran, her eyes began playing tricks on her. She saw a shadow to her left, and she glanced to it quickly, but there was nothing there. Her pace quickened.

She was losing endurance quickly. She felt like she couldn't breathe.

Another shadowy figure, to her right this time, and her breath hitched as she looked. A vine snagged her foot and she tumbled forward—down a slope. She rolled her way to the bottom, hitting rocks and debris until she hit the bottom. Hard.

It took her a while to move. Her body felt beaten. She tried to curl in on herself. It immediately made her wince. She let out an "…ahhh…" as she did.

She took a second to just breathe as she rolled out onto her back. It hurt to move. She stared up at the tops of the trees. The tall trunks looked as if they went up for miles. She could barely see the sky.

"…What is this place?" she muttered. "How did I get here?"

The wind blew again, rattled the leaves. It was the only answer she received.

"What's going on?" her voice hitched, sounded like a plea.

She didn't get to contemplate the question for long.

There was a shift in the space just in front of where she was lying. She let in a sharp breath. There was a presence.

She rolled carefully over onto her stomach. She tried to quiet her erratic breathing.

She tried to move, slowly, quietly.

There was a thud as something hit the ground just in front of her. She shook, but she didn't scream. It was like she was in a trance. She looked up slowly, and saw a gnarled set of feet. Talons were connected to the joints. They looked like what a human's feet might with claws instead of toes.

Shock kept her from feeling much. It was as if her mind wasn't making the connection that she might be in danger.

Her eyes traveled further up the humanoid body. Dark wings stretched out like a bat's while glimmering red eyes stared at her. Serrated teeth filled the creature's mouth as it opened. She stared at it. Caught in the trance.

"Baldok is hungry."

Its voice was shrill, and the sound made her stutter. Her heart started to thud against her chest.

"Baldok found prey…"

It gave a crooked smile.

It was only when it let out a high pitch shriek that her body started to move. It reached out to grab her, or perhaps claw at her with its talons, but she rolled out of the way. She scrambled up onto her feet to run.

"Help!" she yelled. Her legs felt like they were on fire. Her chest burned from exhaustion. "Something's trying to kill me!"

She ran faster than before, ignoring the pricking of the vines and stray branches. She could feel its presence behind her. It was very close.

From behind her, or maybe from in front, she couldn't tell, she began to hear phantom, high-pitch laughter. The more it kept up, the louder it got, surrounded her. The presence she'd felt behind her now felt like it was everywhere. She looked around desperately, but didn't see anything.

"Help!" she called out again, but it didn't seem like there was anyone else in this forest. No one except the thing that was chasing her.

As she ran, she stepped on a dead branch. Its jagged edge cut into the sole of her foot. She let out a startled cry before she ran into one of the many trees' thicker branches. The way it jutted out from the trunk made it seem as if had intended to stop her. That small moment of distraction was all it took. It hit her in the face, and for a moment her vision went white from the impact before she shut her eyes and it faded to black. She fell backwards onto the ground. Tears streamed from the corners of her scrunched eyes almost involuntarily.

There was more laughter. It sounded like it was just above her now. She felt her heart sink in her chest, give a thump from the exhilaration, but she found it hard to move. She might have a concussion.

"Baldok likes it when they run."

She opened her eyes. There was a hazy silhouette above her.

"Makes it more fun."

When her vision came into focus, she saw a toothy grin. She wanted to scream, but the creature moved faster than the sound could come from her throat.

In the blink of an eye, or maybe faster than that, it reached out to stab her. Right at her heart.

An immediate wave of pain enveloped her, but strangely, it didn't feel like a stab. It felt more like what it might feel like to be electrocuted.

The pain pulsed from her chest, and radiated out to the rest of her body. She gasped, and felt her back arch off the ground without control of it.

"What?!" she thought she heard the creature shriek. She screamed in agony with it. Felt her eyes roll back. All she saw was white.

And through the haze she noticed something. There was someone or something else in the forest now. It was hard to discern. She couldn't focus. Just knew it existed.

And suddenly, there was a wave of something. Heat? She didn't know how to describe it. A force? It lit up the forest with a brilliant blue light.

Whatever it was, as soon as it washed over her, the pain subsided.

It was the last thing she remembered before she fell unconscious.