Chapter 1- The call
Miller hadn't slept properly in twenty-three days.
Every night, he dreamed about Black Weald Forest. Sometimes he stood between the trees, listening to something moving in the darkness. Other times, he was beneath the enormous roots, unable to tell which way led out.
But the worst dreams were the quiet ones. In those, he heard someone calling his name.
“Miller.”
He always woke before he saw who it was.
That morning, six missed calls waited on his phone. All were from Alex Grayson.
Miller called him back.
“Finally,” Alex said. “I've been trying to reach you for an hour.”
“Sorry. I was asleep.”
“Were you really? You sound like you haven't slept in weeks.”
“I'm fine.”
“That's what you've said every time I've asked.”
Miller had no answer.
“I need you at the station,” Alex continued. “Something's happened to the root.”
Miller stopped moving.
The root had appeared beneath a metal floor cover inside the police station after Archie Collins had been rescued from Black Weald Forest. It had grown through concrete without cracking the floor around it. Carved into its dark surface were two words: EMILY WARD.
“What about it?” Miller asked.
“It's grown.”
Miller looked towards his bedroom window. For one terrible moment, trees stood on the other side of the glass. He blinked, and they were gone.
“I'll be there soon.”
As he ended the call, a whisper drifted through the room.
“Miller.”
He spun around. Nobody was there.
But somewhere far away, beneath the earth, something seemed to be listening.
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