A lady and a man came out of a rustic car as they stared upon the drab hill with its eroded stone steps leading up to the hill’s top on this very cloudy day. The lady who came out was Eiriko Faltina. She was in her early 30s, had fair skin and a tired visage with countless eye bags underneath her dull blue eyes. She wore a very plain, but old white dress. She ran her fingers through her unkempt long black hair as she waited for the man to come over to her while tapping her leather sandals.

The man was her realtor and looked a lot spiffier and clean looking compared to Eiriko. He had dark skin and his visage was very fresh. He had a clean checkered suit and pants and constantly patted them with his large hands. He also wore a snazzy bowler hat on top of his clean bald head and some snazzy black shoes.

“Well, here we are Eiriko, your new house!” He exclaimed as he pointed up the drab hill.

He pointed at this run-down and damaged home at the top of the hill. The house’s exterior appeared to be very faded with noticeable damage along the roof and some chunks revealing the house’s insulation and inner walls. The house also had a decently sized, but also worn down front porch, with a large old dirt-ridden widow.

Eiriko went over to the trunk and opened it, revealing her large luggage trunk within. Her realtor walked over to her as he noticed her taking it out of the trunk. With his assistance, he and Eiriko managed to pull the trunk out. He and Eiriko slowly trekked up the drab hill with the trunk. After trekking up and almost tripping on the stairs, the two of them managed to arrive at the house’s porch, creating loud creaks as they stepped on it. The realtor and Eiriko placed her trunk on the porch’s side, which created even louder creaks and caused notable damage on the porch as well.

“Whoops.” He commented.

He took out the house key and unlocked the house’s old ruined door. It took him several nudges before the door managed to open, revealing the house’s dirty living room, with the light from the widow revealing its many unsavory features. It was larger than most living rooms and had a small corridor farthest away from the entrances on the left side leading into the rest of her home. It contained a dirt-ridden and hole-ridden couch, a fireplace with a large damaged mantle, and finally, there was an old CRT T.V with a solid layer of dust on it along with its stand. The both of them carried the trunk into the house and dropped it on the living room floor creating many loud creaks.

“I’m surprised you’re still going through with buying this house, Eiriko. It’s utterly filthy in here and this place almost seems to fall down at any moment. Not to mention that you’re just stuck out here in the middle of nowhere.” Her realtor commented. “Are you sure you really want this place? I understand it’s roomy and all, but there are other cheap options y’know?”

Eiriko nodded her head yes, continuing not to say a word in response.

“Oh well, you at least got this burden off of me.” He noted. “Before I go though, I should at least tell you this, don’t go down into the basement under any circumstances whatsoever. There will be a guy that’ll come in the upcoming days who’ll go down there, but until then don’t go there.” 

Eiriko formed a confused expression, which hid her slight fear from hearing that, on her tired face after hearing him. Her realtor noticed her expression but didn’t answer back.

Several minutes of silence passed before he responded back, “Look, just don’t go down there alright? I don’t even know why you shouldn’t, but just make sure you don’t.”

Eiriko was not satisfied with the answer she was given, but she accepted his answer regardless.

“I’ll leave you to it then, hope you enjoy living here.” Her realtor told her.

He tipped his bowler hat as he gave her the house’s key. As she gripped it, she could feel it expanding. He made his way out of the house, closing the door behind him. This left Eiriko all alone within her house, a feeling she was sadly familiar with. As he was out of the house, she examined the key that she was given by him. Something caught her eye as she examined it. There was this odd hourglass emblem on its bow. Something about the hourglass emblem felt off to her, as it appeared to have just unnaturally formed as it was given to her. She gripped the key tightly not wanting to lose it.

Pit Pat Pit Pat

She faintly heard this peculiar noise as she stood there. She brushed it off, possibly made due to the old nature of the house. She felt an eerie vibe, but more of a particular malevolent aura the longer she stayed in here. But this was her new home, she can’t go back. She had a lot of work to do to make this place at least somewhat liveable.

She headed over to her trunk after examining the hourglass emblem on her house key, putting the key away in a small pocket. She knelt down on the dirty floor and opened her trunk. She took out her clothes, which were layered on top of all of her other belongings. She placed them aside on the floor, revealing her other personal belongings underneath. One half of the trunk was stuffed with Madame Alberossa memorabilia, a show where she was the lead role portraying the mysterious Madame Alberossa. Most of the memorabilia were pictures of her in character along with her fellow cast members. Her most prized of her memorabilia was hidden underneath her photos; it was the very dress she wore for Madame Alberossa in perfect condition.

It had three parts to it, a Victorian hat, a black eye mask, and the iconic ornately designed dress. Its Victorian hat already set the feeling about how meticulously all of these pieces of clothing were made. It was perfectly dyed black all over from its crown down to its wide brim, with no part of the hat faded away. There were these perfectly encrusted faux gemstones colored in varying shades of purple scattered throughout the hat. There were also these beautifully crafted black flowers pinned on the crown of the hat.

Her eye mask was definitely the least ornate out of the three, but it still had lots of care put into it. The mask was made from this expensive and delicate indigo fabric that was extremely pleasant to touch. It was pinned with many dark purple feathers, which were made from real swan feathers.

The dress in itself is a piece of artwork. The top part of the dress had another black flower pinned on it and had many ruffles with several shades of purple, blue, and black blending harmoniously. This very same pattern continued toward the bottom of the dress, with it also having some beautifully implemented transparent black areas, dotted with black cloth shapes. To top it all off, there were some ornately placed faux blue and purple gemstones of many shades all over the dress, further intensifying the blue and purple shades when they lightly gleam.

Still seeing this dress after all those years when she was on the show still gives her chills. It’s such a surreal feeling for her to see the dress she’s dreamt of being physically there. However the longer she looked at it, the more she felt depressed at looking at it. She sighed as she put it away and went back into her trunk.

The other half of her trunk was occupied with a cardboard box. She started shivering as she placed her hands around the box. She took a deep breath before taking out the box. She slowly opened the box up; trying to brace herself for the items she fully knew well that she had in there. Within the box, there were her framed photos of her family neatly packed up. She took them out one by one, trying not to lay her eyes on any of them.

The first two photos she took out were of her mother and father’s smiling faces. Her mother had long black hair, a fair complexion, and also had her warm purple eyes staring out. Her father had a similar fair complexion, medium brown hair, a scruffy goatee, and his blue eyes staring out.

She got out most of them as they lay on the floor without looking at them. She felt herself calm down as she went over to take out the last framed photo. As she put her hands on the framed photo, she immediately started to shiver again. She knew what framed photo she was holding onto. Its shape she felt was undoubtedly from ‘that’ photo.

She took it out, unable to look away from it. It was a photo of her, her beloved Edmund, her daughter, and her son.

Her beloved Edmund had similar fair skin to Eiriko’s. He had a young handsome face despite his age, along with young energetic green eyes, short black hair, and stubs of facial hair. His white polo was covered up in the photo by his children. His hands rested on his daughter's and son’s short black hair in a joking manner. Her daughter energetically smiled in the photo with her eyes closed. Her son gave a smaller smile with his blue eyes shyly open.

She teared up as she continued to stare at the photo. Her beloved Edmund looked the exact same the day she lost him. She couldn’t bear holding back her tears as she saw her son and daughter smiling. She knows they shouldn’t be smiling at her, but yet they still are. She hastily put the photo away in the box, closing it up tightly and putting it away, never to see the light of day ever again.

She was able to slowly recollect herself as she closed the trunk and moved it aside. All of her possessions within the trunk lay on the floor. She took another deep breath before she would finally get herself set up in her new home. It was relatively trivial for her to put the photos and memorabilia off the floor and onto the damaged mantle of the fireplace. She put her exquisite Madame Alberossa costume on the closed trunk, so it wouldn’t get any dirtier. She walked out of the living room and went further into her new home.

She passed through the small corridor, passing by odd stains and walking over the creaking floor boards. As she arrived, she ended up in her home’s kitchen. It was only a slight improvement in cleanliness compared to her living room. The granite flooring was slightly less stained and sturdier than the floor in the living room. It is also pretty small, with the damaged granite counters taking up a majority of the free space. A large stained refrigerator evenly split the counters, humming quietly as it was powered on.

She looked around before going to the room over on the right. It was another living room area. It was around half the size of the first living room. Despite being half the size, it was just as dingy. There was another, but smaller couch by the wall of the walkway towards the kitchen. It was parallel to the stained sliding glass door, whose stains covered the view from outside the house.

She didn’t find any interest in looking further into the living room and headed over back to the kitchen to the opposite side. On this side, there were several windows stained like the glass sliding door. It was slightly smaller than the living room on the other side, but still just as dingy. There was only one notable thing in this small room, and it was the door of the basement on the wall to the left of her. 

She stood in front of the door with curiosity. Even though the door appeared to look like every door in the house she’s seen, old and decrepit. However, there was something about it that she couldn’t take her eyes off of. She examined every nook and cranny, every inch and centimeter to find the oddity of this door. There was nothing off about the door, but she was still convinced that there was. Her curiosity continued to grow as she still stood looking at the door. She was told that she couldn’t go down there, but that just made it more interesting to her to see what was behind the door. 

She continued to stand there, tapping her fingers restlessly. All she had to do was put her hand on the knob and turn it to see what lay behind the door. There was a constant tug and back between her thoughts of not going down there and going down there. Her hand shivered as she moved it closer to the door. She put her shivering hand on the doorknob. The constant tugging back and forth intensified, making her hand shiver even more. Her hand slowly turned the knob as these thoughts further grew. At the last moment, she jerked her hand off the knob stepping away from the door while doing so.

Her hand still shivered, despite it being off the knob. She felt this malevolent aura flow through her as her hand continued to shiver. It was as if the house transferred its aura right into her as she touched the knob. She still stood in front of the door, still curious as to what lay behind it, but yet she also didn’t want to know as well.

She had to put her curiosity aside as she further went into the house, passing by the basement door and feeling somewhat relieved being away from the door. As she walked through, she ended up in this decrepit hallway. It was relatively bigger than the hall she had to go through and had one door each on the side, far away from each other. There was also a large, and oddly clean, rectangular mirror on the left side of the hall parallel to the only door on the left. At the end of the hall, she noticed a large staircase leading upstairs. She walked through the hall, gradually passing by the common sight of the stained walls. 

Each step created gradually louder and louder creeks as she made her way to the stairwell. She found herself getting closer to the mirror, with the creaking reaching its peak. She passed by the mirror, but then she immediately found herself paralyzed in place. She could feel the same malevolent aura come through her. She wanted to go back, but she swallowed her curiosity as she forced herself to walk over to the stairs. Despite overcoming her curiosity, she felt an itchiness within her.

The farther she got away from the mirror and closer to the stairs, the less she felt the malevolent aura. She walked up the old withered stairs, creating loud creaks with each step she took. She had finally found herself upstairs, where she was greeted with this large room. It was around the size of the kitchen and the first living room she was in combined. The whole room was dimly lit by the small round window, letting some of the light come in from outside. There was an old dirt-ridden and decently sized bed tucked away in the corner by the small round window. 

Beside the bed was another trunk, just the thing she was looking for and thankfully where she requested it to be. She quickly headed over, knelt down, and opened it. Within the trunk, there were other miscellaneous items she owned. Out of the items there, one popped out to her compared to the rest. It was a broom with a dustpan latched on the handle. The broom appeared to be handmade, with many familiar names and other familiar pictures engraved on the handle. She took it out and gripped the handle tightly while hyperventilating.

“Never again…” she muttered to herself.

She struggled, but slowly managed to calm herself again as she held onto the broom. She stood up with a newfound calmed mind and stretched her body. There was a whole lot of cleaning she had to do. She looked around the room searching for the light switch. As she patted around the walls, she eventually found the light switch relatively quickly. She flicked it on, but the room still stayed dark. She knew this house was very old and patiently waited for the lights to turn on.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She faintly heard that quiet noise as she stood there. The noise slightly unnerved her, but she tried to reason with herself, thinking the noise was due to the condition of the house. But she knew how hard it was to keep her curiosity in check for so long. She painfully continued to stand there as she waited for the lights to turn on.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She again faintly heard it, but she continued to brush the noise aside as she stood there. The lights slowly flickered on after what felt to her hours. The large, dusty electric chandelier illuminated the whole room, revealing what was hidden beneath the shroud of darkness. It revealed the dirt-ridden and dusty floors covering the old wooden floors. It also revealed another thing she hadn’t noticed, a door on the other side of the bed. 

She made her way to the door passing by the dirt-ridden floors. She put her hand on the knob and wiggled it around. The door didn’t open. She continued to wiggle the knob around, but she was still unable to open it. She kept on trying to find a way to open it. She needed to please the whims of her curious mind.  However, all of a sudden, she stepped back with a shocked expression on her face. She felt her hand burning, but when she looked at it, there were no burns.

All she could do was stand in front of the door, which was still locked, thinking about all sorts of things. “What could be behind it?” and “What is with all these odd occurrences?” were the two questions she continued to ponder. However, she knew her questions wouldn’t be answered. That and she also had a lot of cleaning to do in her dirty home. So again, she put aside her curiosity to focus her efforts on cleaning around her new home. 

She took her handmade broom and promptly swept the dirt and dust on the floor. Her progress in cleaning around was hindered in a particular area or the floor. The dirt was extremely hard for her to brush off. In the end, she finally managed to sweep the dirt and dust in a neat clumped pile in the dustpan. With the floor done being swept, she headed over to her trunk, scrounging around.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She heard the same noise again. She couldn’t hold in her curiosity anymore. She stopped scrounging around the trunk and stood up. She made her way toward the stairs, trying to finally figure out the source of the noise.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She heard it louder than before, despite the loud creaking of the stairs. She stepped off the stairs and down into the corridor. The noise created by the creaking of the stairs ceased. It was very quiet in the hall. The only things making noise within the hall were the wind and Eiriko’s breaths. She continued to breathe heavier and heavier.  Her curiosity needed to be satiated. It’s been so long since she’s last done it. Over the course of many years, her curious mind became harder and harder for her to contain. She needed to find the source of the noise.

Without skipping a beat, her steps filled the once-quiet halls. She continued to walk through the halls, with her steps echoing as she continued to walk through the hall. She walked by the mirror still determined to find the source of the noise.

However, she found herself stopping in place as she passed by it. She felt herself shivering in place as the door parallel to the mirror jiggled around in place. She saw something else reflected in the mirror. Something she couldn’t describe in her own words. She pondered if she should be doing this. She knows not to do this in light of her better judgment, yet her curiosity needed to be satisfied.

“I must…I must find the source of the noise.” She muttered.

Her curiosity got the better of her again.

She walked straight out of the hall with apprehensive determination.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She heard the noise again, this time more audible than before. She couldn’t stop herself from continuing toward the source of the noise. She walked through the kitchen and into the thin hallway.

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Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She walked into her living room, hearing the noise coming from the outside. She went out onto the porch, listening for the noise. She couldn’t hear the noise again as she stood there in silence.

What a bother for her. She couldn’t handle the fact that all this walking led to nothing. She knew that she had to go back to clean her home, but instead she continued to stay out on the porch. The brisk weather cooled her frustration as she stood there, looking down on the drab hill from her porch. She then peered out into the distance. Everything looked so small and far away from her, giving her a beautiful view of the world below her. She had no one else to enjoy this with.

As she peered out, everything looked so small and far away from her. There were no houses, as she continued to stare out into the empty and lifeless plains in the distance. She turned her head over to the left, with something that caught her attention. It was this large forest, with many tall and hulking trees sprinkled throughout it. This piqued her interest, shrouding her interest in the noise. She decided that she will go into the forest and stroll through there as the task of cleaning became increasingly more boring to her. Besides, she wouldn’t think she would be gone for too long. And so, she made her way down from her porch and the hill over to the forest. 

She walked on the lifeless trail on the way to the forest. The only noise being produced was from her steps as she continued to walk into the forest. The closer she got to the forest, the chillier she felt on this already cool day. It only took her a couple more minutes for her to arrive at the forest’s entrance. 

The tall trees’ shadows shrouded the forest in darkness, making visibility nearly impossible. She began to have second thoughts about going into the forest. It didn’t take long for her to decide to walk back to her home after seeing the entrance.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She stopped herself in place, like the many times when she heard the noise. She took back her better judgment of heading back to her home and made her way to the forest. She paused mere steps before the entrance. She struggled and shook around, trying to move back. No matter how hard she tried to move back, she knew she couldn’t. Her curiosity needed to be quenched. The pain it caused her over all these years was too much for her to bear anymore. Without another moment’s notice, she darted into the forest, being shrouded by the darkness as well. The noise of her fast steps faded as she further went into the forest.

After a half hour of running, Eiriko found herself sitting on the cold dirt ground in the opening of the forest, which was lighter than the rest of it. The trees stood up tall and lively as they gave her shade. She panted heavily while massaging her sore legs. During her run, she couldn’t hear the noise, making her again question her better judgment. But she’s too persistent.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She immediately perked her head up as she heard the noise. It was louder than when she first heard it from the entrance. She knows she’s near it. She stopped massaging her legs and stood up. She winced and barely kept herself up, but she must know. She shambled her way over in the direction of the noise, powering through the pain of her sore legs.

She walked through the forest aimlessly. Despite the lack of a light source, she listened to the noise.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

 She heard it louder than before; she knew she was going in the right direction. As she continued to walk through, the forest became more visible to her. As she continued to walk through, she felt a sudden chill. She shuddered in place as she looked around her surroundings. The trees were still lively, and the ground looked normal. Nothing was wrong. She continued shuddering as she continued to look around. She then peered further into the forest and saw something. It was a figure of a man walking deeper into the forest. Fighting back her shivering, she walked towards the figure in the same direction. The more she walked in the direction of the man, the more she shivered and felt the chills intensify.

She saw the man slowly becoming enveloped by the darkness, so she continued to push herself despite the intense chills. While the man was still far away from her, he was at least in view of her as she continued to walk toward him. As she found herself getting closer to him, the man bolted forward, no longer within her sight. She became alerted by this, and she immediately bolted to him. The more she ran through, she could feel her chills going away and felt it being replaced by a malevolent aura. She felt it intensify and grow within her as she continued to run through.

EKEKEKAAA EKCKCKEKAAA

She shivered in place as she heard the noise. It came from the same direction she was heading to.

EKEKEKAAA EKCKCKEKAAA

She heard it get louder as she made her way toward the source of the noise. In the distance, she could faintly see the figure of the man. She felt the malevolent aura intensify greater than before. The dread was too overwhelming for her, yet she cannot stop herself from walking toward the man. Her curiosity needs to be quenched.

She got around the area where the man was standing. The area was dimly lit, despite the trees blocking any form of light to shine down. It was a decently wide clearing and the ground appeared very plain and usual. The man had black hair and wore white long sleeves polo and brown pants. He stood up straight around the center with his two arms stretched out. His back faced Eiriko. 

“Excuse…excuse me, sir,” Eiriko muttered to him.

The man shivered and wriggled around as he faintly heard her voice. He turned his head sideways, revealing part of a wide lifeless toothy grin.

“Why hello…” the man replied back without moving his lips. “Who are you?”

“I’m…Eiriko Faltina.” She muttered back.

“And what brings you here?” the man asked back.

“…Just wanted to walk around,” Eiriko replied back.

“Wanting to walk around here?” the man asked.

“Yes…I just need the fresh air…”

“You wish to walk in such a forest like this? What a foolish decision.”

“What do you mean…”

The man appeared in front of her in mere seconds, with the lifeless details of his face up close to hers. He continued to wriggle around as his right eye continued to stare at her.

“You shouldn’t lie Eiriko. It’s not good for you.” The man replied back.

“What..?” Eiriko asked as she backed up

“I know, we know why you’re here.” The man replied back. “You need to be quenched.”

“No. What are you talking about? I’m just here for a wa-”

“The noise is alluring. The noise is fantastic. You want to know where it is coming from. The feeling of being quenched is so satisfactory, so amazing!”

“Stop…stop it! I’m just here for a walk! Nothing more nothing less!”

“But why would you need to follow me?” the man inquired. Eiriko froze as the man still looked at her for a response. The man continued, “Furthermore, why would you need to be in this deep for a simple walk?”

“I…I…I’m just here for a walk. I’m just here for that. Nothing more…nothing less.”

“AHAHAHAHAH!” The man cackled. “Continue to believe in your lies Eiriko! Continue believing such blatant wrongs! Continue to be blind!”

“What…?” Eiriko inquired.

“No matter if you’ll continue to believe such lies. You have doomed yourself. You shall suffer…suffer an inescapable life, full of lies and misery! Full of sorrow until the very end! Trapped within this forest!”

The man wriggled around even more violently as he continued to stare at Eiriko. Without another moment’s notice, he turned his head all away around, revealing his full wide lifeless toothy grin.

“You see… here. There’s no escape from this forest. You’re in too deep! Now, you must face the consequences!” He told Eiriko.

As he stood there, the rest of his limbs rotated in the direction of Eiriko as they continued to wriggle. His hands quickly gripped onto his torso as they slowly developed into more rigid and bonelike structures. He tugged forcefully, with his grin still on, becoming more devilishly full of life. He cleanly plopped his upper body off the legs as his upper body began to deform. His hands and arms became bonelike and sharp as his fingers pierced into the legs. His face, grin, and eyes widened while the rest of his body became thinner. All that was left was this demon with a bony body structure holding onto the legs of the lower body as his face grinned. He continued to stare at Eiriko, who was utterly appalled by the site.

“Oh…oh my God!” Eiriko uttered in shock.

“The forest will never let you go and you will never leave the forest’s grasp. It’s impossible, impossible, impossible.” The demon replied to her in a distorted voice.

“No…no stop it!” she exclaimed.

“See the truth, see the truth! I will no longer accept you believing in those dreaded lies! S E E T H E T R U T H.”

“I…just came here for a walk…I can turn back…I’m not lying!” Eiriko shouted at him.

As she tried to turn back, she felt paralyzed in place. No matter what she did, she couldn’t move.

“A C C E P T Y O U R F A T E.” the demon told her. “Y O U H A V E N O O N E E L S E T O B L A M E B U T Y O U R S E L F.”

She turned back, finally stopping the paralysis.

“I…I…ju…just came here…for…a…walk…nothing more…nothing less.”

“You still believe in those lies. No matter. You shall find out soon. You shall find the truth that will destroy your lies. It was your choice, your choice to enter this forest. It now has grasped onto you tightly, oh so tightly. It’s so firm, so life-taking. Wriggle and struggle all you want, the pain will make it worse. The forest will never let you go nor can you leave the forest. It will find a way… ”

The demon started to wriggle around and cackle loudly as it stood there. It shook its legs back and forth up and down as it continued to cackle. It abruptly stopped as it opened its mouth, covering the area in a blinding flash.

Eiriko was left discombobulated as the blinding flash dissipated from the area. The demon was no longer there. She felt relief not seeing the demon there, but it became overshadowed by her immediate panic after what the area around her became. The trees now were lifeless, with the hues of their leaves ranging from blood red to lifeless gray. The bark was old and shriveled. It had faces, which expressed pain and sorrow. The ground too was different. The soil was dried up and lifeless, with many bones and pebbles scattered about.

She knew she was no longer in the same forest she entered. She felt an overwhelming malevolent aura entering her, causing her to shiver and wriggle around. She needed to leave the forest. Without hesitating further, she turned around. However, like before she felt paralyzed in place as she turned around. Unlike before, she powered herself to finally walk through despite the paralysis. However, she found the paralysis and the aura too overwhelming, but also she couldn’t find herself to continue after as she peered into the distance.

She saw these demons of varying sizes blocking the way back. A majority of their bodies were cloaked by these red cloaks. Their black skeletal arms were visible, being very crooked and bent. Their crooked hands held onto each other’s hands tightly. Their skull faces were eyeless and had open lifeless mouths as they stared at Eiriko. She felt a heavier malevolent aura the closer she got to them.

She knew she couldn’t push forward, despite her persistent efforts of trying to. The demons still continued to look at her with their lifeless glare as she stood in front of them. Finally accepting that she cannot pass through them, she finally turned around to go deeper into the forest, facing whatever horrors lie ahead.

She walked through the now demonic forest, passing by the same lifeless trees and the wretched ground. She could feel the malevolent aura becoming strong within her, the longer she walked around. She needed to find a way out, but yet she can’t go back. So, she had to push herself to go forward.

The trees became even more lifeless, but also expressed suffering the deeper she went into the forest. The ground became even drier and has bones and skulls of humans. All of this understandably unnerved Eiriko to the core. She had no idea what she had gotten herself into. But one thing was for sure. She knew the demon was right.

*SLURRRP*

She stopped and looked around for the source of the noise. She found the source of the noise. Her curiosity struck again, she cannot help it. No matter what she did, her curiosity always found her a horrid, horrid discovery.

There was this gigantic beast far off on the left side of her. It had this large worm-like and bulbous body, which wriggled and expanded gas and ooze shot out from its crater-esc pores. Its head was large and bald, with many flabby sacks scattered on its face, covering its eyes. Its lips were large and covered with saliva and goo. Its claim to fame feature was its tongue. Its tongue was like that of a human, large, long, and purple. Its tongue slithered around as saliva dripped from it.

It started to wriggle aggressively as it continued to stretch out into the darkness. Eiriko saw the tongue fall onto the ground as it became slack. The tongue slowly retracted as it appeared to be dragging onto something. Eiriko became appalled at what she saw that was being dragged. Wrapped around at the end of its tongue was a mauled human corpse. As it retracted its tongue more, it then immediately sped up. In one quick motion, it swallowed the human corpse whole.

Eiriko jittered as she tried to back away. As she did, she again felt an overwhelming malevolent aura. She knew she had to go forward, but there was still this persistence within her, trying to convince her that she can turn back. But alas, despite playing this roulette, the outcome was always the same. It’s her fault, she can only go further. 

She walked past the beast, looking away as it continued to gobble up the corpses. She heard its slurping noises less as she got further away from it. She kept on going forward, with nowhere else to go.

“All of this is just a bad dream. I’ll wake up.” Eiriko told herself.

As she went further into the forest, her surroundings became more macabre. Many of the once lifeless trees slowly rotted away with their pale bark. The faces on the tree appeared to be in more suffering than before, with their faces being very detailed to show such an expression. All the leaves of the trees lay on the floor, decaying and lifeless. With nothing providing any shave, she was curious as to what made the forest so dark. She looked up and immediately stopped in place in utter fear. What was above her, were human corpses dangling down, with their heads covered up by this white blood-stained cloth.

“It’s just a bad dream.” She said, trying to reassure herself.

She continued through the forest, avoiding looking upward. 

Eiriko sat down on the floor. She had been walking for a good while now. She doesn’t know how deep within she was, but she just had to keep moving forward.  She wished to keep moving along, but she hungered. Her stomach rumbled as she continued to sit on the floor. It was the only source of noise in this quiet area. She was all alone in there, a feeling she’s used to. 

She waited there for a bit longer, with her hunger intensifying. She longed for something to eat. She didn’t want to continue sitting there any longer. She stood up and trudged forward. Her hunger was at an unbearable state, but she continued to trudge forward. The more steps she took her hunger intensified. 

She was several feet away from where she sat. At this moment though, her hunger finally took its toll on her. Her steps became sloppier and traveled less distance. She struggled to keep herself up as she walked forward. Her vision became blurry as she desperately continued to walk forward. She took one step, then another before falling down face-first onto the ground. She continued to lay there as she passed out.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

Eiriko’s eyes slowly opened, with her vision getting clearer. She stood up with her legs shivering. She heard that noise again, the noise that got her in this forest. Escape didn’t seem possible to her, finally reluctantly believing the demon she had met. She had been walking for what seemed to be hours. Even though she may be trapped here, she'd be damned if she didn’t find the source of the noise, the noise that finally drove her to unrestrain her curiosity. She walked over, powering through her hunger.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She heard the noise, louder and clearer this time. She was getting closer.

Pit *jingle* Pat *jingle* Pit *jingle* Pat.

She became confused. She heard some jingles mixed with the noise. She brushed it off, thinking it was due to her hunger. 

Pit *jingle* Pat *jingle* Pit *jingle* Pat.

She heard it again, this time the jingles muffled the noise. She again thought it was due to her…

Pit *JINGLE* Pat *JINGLE* Pit *JINGLE* Pat.

She took back what she thought about earlier. She saw in the distance, what seemed to be a food cart. She could see there were bells on the cart, the source of the jingling. The scent of the food made her stomach growl even more. She had to eat something, but yet she wanted to push forward. Conceding to her hunger, she made her way to the food stall. 

As she arrived over, she was met with another demonic fellow behind the stall. It had two spherical heads, one with a wide smile, and the other one with a frown with two chef hats on top. They had these two coil necks that were connected to one body. Its body was large, having stubby legs and long arms, which were covered by a bloodied blue and white striped shirt. The creature’s large hands were holding onto each other as Eriko approached the stall.

“Oho, a customer.” Its left sad head commented.

“Hoho, not only that, but it’s a human! A human!” the right happy head exclaimed.

Eiriko remained silent.

“Why so quiet human?” the sad head inquired.

“Can’t you see? Look at the state of her! She is so thin, her tummy rumbling!” the happy head pointed out.

“I am very hungry…” Eiriko muttered.

“Hoho, but not much longer!” the happy head exclaimed.

“We’ll whip you up such a nice meal…I hope you enjoy it.” The sad head muttered to her.

“And since you are so hungry and a human, this meal is on the house! You will finally try some of our delectable food!” the happy head exclaimed.

“It smells great, but I wonder what it is?” Eiriko inquired softly.

“You’ll soon see.” Both heads told her in an ominous tone.

The grill on the cart heated up as the demon took out knives and forks aside on the prep table. It got out a hoagie bun and cut it open. It left it on the hot grill for it to toast. 

“Oh, it’s some sandwich. Well, I can’t complain too much. It will at least fill…Oh…Oh My God!”

On the grill, there were human intestines and skinned human flesh piled on top of each other. The demons began to chop it up in chunks as the flesh slowly cooked. One of its hands poured olive oil on top as the other mixed the pieces in the blood oozing out. It then took out onions and cooked them with the flesh, to absorb its juices. After several minutes they took the cooked flesh and onions on the hoagie bun. They quickly put the food on, cutting it in half. The demon handed over Eiriko the one half.

“Here, eat it.” Both heads told her.

“No…no!” Eiriko shrieked as she backed away from them.

“But you’re hungry.” 

“I’m not going to eat that!” 

“But we cooked this food for you. Why must you be so rude and reject eating our fine foods?” 

“No, no matter what you do…I won’t eat it!” Eiriko shouted back. As she finished, her stomach growled louder. 

“You are too hungry, human. Don’t resist any longer, human! Eat the food!”

“N…no…”

“You are so, so hungry human. Don’t resist your temptations, don’t make yourself suffer. Eat the food!”

“I’m…I’m not hungry…I’m…” she stopped as her stomach growled even louder.

“Eat the food!”

“No…no…agh!”

“Eat the food!”

“Please….please stop! Let…let…me…AGH!”

“EAT THE FOOD!” the demons shouted at her.

Without any more hesitation, she took the piece of the sandwich off the demon. She chowed down, regretfully chewing and swallowing the human meat. Her hunger was satiated.

“I…why did I…I ate humans…I…I…”

“Hohoho, it seemed like you enjoyed your meal!” the happy head exclaimed.

“Why…why…why…”

“It is a pleasure seeing you well-satiated for the journey ahead.” The two heads told her as they slowly packed away their cart.

“No! Why did I eat that? I can’t believe I ate that!”

“Why must you avoid the truth?” the demons asked her.

“What?” she inquired back.

“No pure human would stoop to such a low as to eat their own kind. The forest has already affected you, even before you came in here.” The demon told her. They finished packing away their cart and slowly moved it out of the area. “You’re almost there aren’t you? You’ll soon see. I hope you visit us again.”

The demon walked away from the area, with the bells on its cart jingling. Her hands were still jittering after all of that.

“I…I…can’t believe I ate…I ate…”

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She heard the noise, this time loud and clear. She was getting very close to it. The trauma of her eating human flesh still stuck with her, but it was quickly overshadowed by the noise. She made her way over to the source of the noise.

As she made her way, the trees became a lot more scattered, leaving many open areas. As she moved in closer, she could feel a strong malevolent aura entering her. She pressed on as she felt more of the aura enter her. The trees became even more spread out the further she went in. Feeling her curiosity reach an all-time high, she ran toward the source of the noise. In the distance, she saw an opening. She knew she was getting close. She’ll finally know the source of this noise.

She finally found herself in this large open circular area within the forest. The ground and all the trees surrounding the area were all pale and rotting away. The malevolent aura flowed through her at an overwhelming rate. She knew this wasn’t a good idea, but it will be all worth it to her. Her curiosity will finally be quenched.

“It’s all just a bad dream Eiriko.” She told herself.

She continued trying to convince herself with this obvious lie.

Pit Pat Pit Pat.

She was finally close to the source of the noise. She heard the noise crisply coming from the center of the field. She slowly made her way over to the noise. As she made her way over to the center, she saw the same demons that prevent her from going back, slowly encircling her. She sped up her pace toward the center as the demons continued to encircle her. The adrenaline within her pushed her to go speeds she couldn’t find herself running. All in an effort to find the source of the noise as the demons continued to encircle her.

At last, finally at last, she found herself at the center of the field. The source of the noise wasn’t something she expected it to be. It was a large hourglass. It was certainly no hourglass she’s ever seen before. Its top and base had demonic imagery engravings, horns, and smeared text. The sides of the hourglass were curved inward and outward as it connected the base and top along with the hourglass within. The hourglass seemed to have an ever changing shape, with the red sand inside creating the noise. However, there was one other thing that caught her eye. There was some rope neatly wrapped on top of the hourglass. As she unraveled it, it revealed a noose.  

“This is what dragged me here? An hourglass?” Eiriko asked herself. She sighed before continuing, “An hourglass brought me to this wretched place? Why must my curiosity lead me to such a place?”

As she finished talking to herself, she looked around and noticed the demons were fully encircled around her. She became in utter shock as whenever she tried to move around, the malevolent aura kept on overwhelming her. There was no escape. She rushed over to the hourglass in a panic. She gripped and flailed on it as the aura continued to overwhelm her.

“It’s just a horrible nightmare, Eiriko. You’ll wake up from it. You’ll wake up…You’ll wake…”

Before she could finish, she lay on the floor and passed out. The demons continued to get closer as she laid there. She became fully encircled.

“It’s only just a bad dream Eiriko, right?”