THE DREAM
Every night, Mary had the same dream.
A dark forest covered in thick mist.
The cold air wrapped around her like invisible hands while the tall trees blocked the moonlight. Somewhere in the distance stood a small wooden hut.
Every time she tried to reach it, she woke up.
At sixteen, Mary had learned to live with the nightmares. Since her parents’ deaths ten years ago, strange dreams had become a part of her life.
Everyone believed her parents had been drug dealers who took their own lives after being exposed.
Everyone except Mary.
She lived with her aunt, Sarah, who tried her best to give her a normal life.
That morning, Mary stared at the framed picture of her parents beside her bed.
“I know you’re innocent,” she whispered.
At school, during lunch break, she walked alone through the corridor.
Suddenly, everything became silent.
A voice echoed in her mind.
“Mary...”
She froze.
“Come to us.”
Her heart pounded.
Images of the forest flashed before her eyes.
Without understanding why, she started running.
She ignored the voices of her classmates and jumped over the school wall.
Something was calling her.
Three hours later, she stood before a forest.
The same forest from her dreams.
A path of mist slowly opened before her.
“Come, daughter...”
Mary took a deep breath and stepped inside
