The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the sky with streaks of amber and crimson. I wandered into the woods, chasing fireflies that flitted through the air like tiny golden stars. The forest seemed alive, its rustling leaves whispering secrets I couldn’t quite understand.
I didn’t realize how far I had ventured until I stumbled upon a strange clearing. It was an unnatural circle, the grass glowing faintly under the twilight. At its center stood a massive oak tree, its bark twisted into grotesque patterns that looked eerily like faces—smiling, grimacing, and even screaming.
A melodious yet haunting voice broke the silence.
“You’ve come,” it sang, and a small, radiant figure appeared—a fairy, her wings shimmering with an iridescent glow. She was beautiful but unsettling, her eyes too large and her smile too wide.
“You’ve been chosen,” she said, her voice both enchanting and chilling. “Tonight, you shall become an honorary fairy.”
I laughed nervously. “This is a joke, right?”
She tilted her head, her smile faltering. “Do you think magic is a joke?”
Before I could answer, the clearing erupted in a flurry of movement. More fairies emerged, each more disturbing than the last. Their beauty was a façade; up close, their faces were lined with malevolence, their teeth sharp like needles.
They began to dance around me, chanting in a language I couldn’t comprehend. My body froze as if roots had sprouted from my feet, binding me to the ground. The oak tree creaked, its bark splitting open to reveal a hollow filled with glowing, golden sap. The fairies dipped their hands into the sap and painted strange symbols onto my skin. It burned, but I couldn’t scream.
The leader smiled again. “The transformation is beginning.”
I felt my body shift, my skin hardening and glittering as if covered in frost. My hands shrank, my fingers elongating unnaturally. I wanted to run, but my legs refused to obey. A mirror-like pool of water appeared at my feet, and I saw my reflection—I was no longer human. My eyes glowed, my hair shimmered, and delicate wings sprouted from my back.
The fairies cheered. “Welcome, sister.”
But their joy was short-lived. The oak tree groaned, its hollow darkening. A chilling wind swept through the clearing, and the fairies’ smiles vanished. They turned to me, their eyes filled with terror.
“You’re not one of us,” the leader hissed. “You’re something else.”
The ground beneath us trembled, and the forest seemed to come alive with rage. The oak tree’s branches twisted and clawed at the air, its hollow spewing darkness. The fairies scattered, leaving me alone in the cursed clearing.
I tried to fly, but my new wings were heavy with dread. The darkness consumed the clearing, and the last thing I heard was the tree’s guttural voice.
“You don’t belong here. You belong… below.”
When I woke up, I was back in my room, my body human again, but my reflection in the mirror told a different story. My eyes still glowed faintly, and a faint shimmer trailed behind me whenever I moved. The fairies hadn’t given me magic; they had given me a curse.
Now, I hear whispers in the night, calling me back to the woods. I fear the next time I return, I won’t come back at all.
The whispers in the night grew louder with each passing day. They weren’t just voices anymore; they became vivid visions. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the twisted oak tree, its hollow pulsating like a heartbeat. The fairies’ faces loomed in the darkness, their expressions a mixture of pity and malice.
One fateful evening, as the moon hung full and heavy in the sky, I found myself unable to resist the pull. My legs moved on their own, guiding me back into the forest. The air was thick with tension, and the fireflies from before were replaced by glowing, blood-red orbs hovering like watchful eyes.
When I reached the clearing, it was no longer enchanting—it was nightmarish. The glowing grass had turned to ash, and the oak tree’s bark wept black sap. The fairies were there, but they were different now. Their radiant wings were tattered, their once-beautiful faces distorted into monstrous masks.
“You returned,” the leader said, her voice a low growl. “But it’s too late.”
I tried to speak, but my throat felt like it was filled with thorns. The fairies surrounded me once again, their bony hands clutching at my arms, pulling me toward the tree. This time, I didn’t fight. Deep down, I knew there was no escape.
The oak tree’s hollow widened, revealing a swirling void of darkness. The leader’s voice echoed in my mind.
“To become an honorary fairy was never your destiny. You were meant to be something more… or something far less.”
The last thing I saw was the void consuming me, dragging me into its cold, endless depths. My screams echoed, but no one was there to hear them.
When I awoke, it wasn’t in my bed or even the forest—it was a realm unlike anything I had ever known. The sky was an inky black sea dotted with distant, pulsing stars. The ground beneath me was soft and spongy, like moss that glowed faintly with each step.
I wasn’t human anymore. I wasn’t even a fairy. My body was translucent, a specter of what it had been, tethered to this strange, haunting world. The other souls around me floated aimlessly, their faces blank and unrecognizable.
Now I wander this place, caught between realms, neither human nor fairy but something in between. I have no voice to call out, no hands to touch, no way to return. The whispers still haunt me, but they no longer call me back to the forest.
They call me deeper into the void.