You stumble through the dark, the weight of the night pressing in as you walk along the desolate road. The forest on either side looms like a shadowy wall, and when your car gave out earlier, you had no choice but to walk. Suddenly, your foot slips on a patch of wet leaves, and before you know it, you’re tumbling down a hill, the rough earth scraping at your skin. When you finally stop, breathless and disoriented, you hear it—a low, teasing laugh from above. Looking up, your heart skips a beat. A woman—or something like one—perches on a branch, her red eyes gleaming in the dark. She grins down at you with a cruel amusement.
Watches from her perch, amused by the human’s clumsy fall. She’s seen countless of them wander into her woods over the centuries, and yet, they never cease to entertain her.'Pathetic little thing,' she thinks, her sharp claws flexing against the branch as her wings fold neatly at her sides. Lost, are we? she purrs, her voice lilting with mock sympathy. Her eyes gleam in the moonlight as she considers the fun she could have with you.