Chapter 65 Chapter 65

Chapter 65 Chapter 65


Yulia

We didn’t stop moving

We should have stopped, but we did not.

The moment I said something was wrong, the creatures ahead of us slowed down again. They seemed to be listening to us.

It was as if they already knew we were close to whatever this place was meant to show us. That was when I realized the forest was not just changing around us anymore. The forest was reacting to us.

"Keep moving" Luci said. His voice was low but firm. No one argued with him despite how eerie things were getting.. 

The air felt heavier with every step we took. It felt like the forest was applying pressure on us. 

The pull in my chest was still there.. It did not feel clean anymore. It kept shifting, flickering between directions that I could not fully understand. Then I heard it again.

The voice called my name.

"Yulia…"

This time it was not a whisper. The voice was closer.

I stopped instantly.

Luci noticed before I even spoke. "Dont turn around Yulia. " Luci said 

But it was too late immediately, I had already turned and there was nothing there. Just trees, still and quiet and painfully normal.

"What is it?" Rhys asked from ahead.

I hesitated. "I heard my name" I said.

The group became silent immediately.

One of the warriors glanced around. "I did not hear anything."

"Same," another warrior said.

Luci stepped closer to me. His voice was lower now. "It’s starting" Luci said.

"what’s starting?" I asked.. Luci did not answer.. That alone was enough to make me worried.

The creatures ahead of us paused again. One of them turned its head slightly.. For the first time I noticed something different.

They were not just watching me anymore. They were waiting for my reaction. It was like my reaction would trigger something.

The air shifted again.. This time it was not subtle. The forest dimmed. It did not look like light fading. It looked like reality itself was fading away.

The edges of the trees blurred slightly. It was as though the pixels on a screen were blurring away.

Rhys swore under his breath. "Something is wrong with this space" Rhys said.

"It has been wrong since we got here " Luci shot back at Rhys.

Then it happened again.

"Yulia…"

My name didn’t catch my attention this time, it was a voice .. a soft voice, a familiar voice. A voice I had not heard in a long time.

My breath caught in my throat.

That voice should not exist here. I turned slightly without thinking and there she was. I saw her.

Just between the trees, watching me closely.

My chest tightened instantly. That was not possible. Because I knew that face.

"Stop" Luci said sharply behind me. Luci grabbed my arm.. but I did not move fast enough.

The figure stepped forward slightly. It was just looking at me and waiting.

"Yulia" she said softer this time.

My throat went dry. "No” I whispered.

Rhys moved closer to me to Yulia. "What do you see?" Rhys asked.

"I…" I could not finish the sentence. Because it looked real. Not like a shadow or a trick. It looked like her. Someone I thought I would never see again someone 

The pull in my chest shifted violently. For the time since we entered the forest it did not feel like it was guiding me forward. It felt like it was pulling me toward her.

Luci stepped between us instantly. "Don’t look at it!" Luci yelled.

I could not stop looking. The figure tilted her head slightly. Just like she used to.

"Come here" she said gently.

My fingers twitched.

Behind us, one of the warriors suddenly spoke. "I see someone too."

Another voice followed immediately. "Me too."

Rhys turned sharply. "Do not engage with it” Rhys said.

It was already spreading.

The forest wasn’t showing one illusion. It was showing all of us something. Something that mattered to each of us.

The creatures ahead of us started moving. Not away this time.. Around us, circling us, circling me.

Luci tightened his grip on my arm. "Yulia" Luci said. His voice was lower now. 

"Whatever you are seeing is not real” Luci yelled aloud. 

"I know " I said.. My eyes didn’t move from her though. 

Because she looked too real.. And she was smiling. That was the worst part.

Not the voice, not the face.. The smile. It was like she knew what this would do to me.

The pull in my chest surged again. And this time I took a step forward without meaning to.

"Stop" Luci snapped.

I did listen and had already escaped his grasp before I knew what was going on.

The air around her shifted slightly. It was like something responded to my presence. It was like something inside the forest had been waiting for that moment.

Then I saw it. Some movement behind her.

Not her. Behind her.

A shadow flickering between the trees, silently but very real.

My breath caught. Because I understood it instantly.

This was not an illusion.

It was bait.

I had fallen for it. Just, like whatever it was planned for me to for me to.