by Aetherias Moon
A green trance. Echoing. Calling.
Don’t go near the forest.
I couldn’t help myself.
My apartment brushed up against the Misty Forest. Don’t go in there. Well, children don’t listen to their parents, they want to know the secrets. I wasn’t any different, unoriginal, one in a string of children going missing.
Back then, green light had bathed over me as I passed through the firs. I dare you, Elizabeth had giggled, her cheeks reddening, leaning forward, tantalizing, making it an offer I couldn’t refuse.
The boughs creaked as I stepped down the swerving path. A subtle mistiness emanated from the forest, not quite fog, but an ethereal quality. The deeper I went, the quieter everything became until the trees swaying alone filled my ears. My dusty brown hair tickled my forehead as a breeze shook the forest.
A lovely hum echoed from down the path. Entranced, I took a step towards the melody, but then stopped, pressing a hand to my head. Looking behind me, I walked towards a hole in the trees. Firs pressed in close on one another, their branches mixing and becoming claustrophobic. I would find my way back. Somehow I had gone off the path, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Still, a cold sweat started on my temple.
The hum swelled louder as I walked. I couldn’t place the direction it came from as it reverberated around me. Darkness lurked on all sides and a chill descended upon me. I wavered as I continued, unsure of where to go. I eyed a break in the trees and broke out onto the path. I exhaled.
Walking back the way I came, the song flourished, harmonizing in a euphoric way that made my legs tremble. I paused. Could I really ignore such a lovely song?
I shook my head and continued down the path, but as I walked, the humming became clearer. I picked out multiple voices and even lyrics.
On the forgotten path,
Our souls harmonize,
Forget turning back,
Sing forever and rise.
My heart beat with the song, falling into rhythm. Light brightened up ahead, and a clearing came into focus.
There she lounged on a log, Selene, with her pale pink hair, russet skin, and wicked violet eyes. Her slender body curved to perfection, and her delicate features contradicted the knowing smile on her lips.
“Forevermore divine,” she sang. “Press your lips on mine.”
I listened. Her electric kiss magnetized me. Soft and vivid, it lasted only for a second; but I’ll never forget the moment that I caressed the divine.
Those poor fools who had built the apartment complex had no idea about the hidden world inside the Misty forest. The houses perched in the trees, the bustling market underneath a canopy of patterned cloth, tassels hanging down to tickle patrons’ heads. The vine castle, made up of twisted trees dancing up multiple levels and lit with ethereal light. They didn’t know it would take foolish children and make them trapped forever. Immortal, but with a price.
Maybe some would seek the Misty forest then, after all, it nearly was a utopia.
The gifts were the only problem.
“Her Greatness is ready to see you,” the attendant said.
Inside of the vine castle orbs of light danced around like dust motes, shedding a dancing light throughout. Winding wood and vine made a twisting structure that let in the breeze of the outside world through cracks in the trees. I stepped through a doorway made of leaves and thorns.
Selene lounged on a chaise and sipped from a chalice. Lovely as always, she wore a draping robe that barely covered her chest. Selene knew her beauty and liked to show it off. Selene waved her fingers at me.
I approached, looking away from her.
“You’re still shy, I see.”
I blushed but didn’t say anything. She extended her fingers towards me and I walked into them. She stroked my shoulder, sending a shiver down my spine. Her fingers traced up to my collarbone and smiled, her eyes twinkling in delight.
“You are mine,” she said.
I trembled as heat whooshed out of me. A vibrant memory plastered my skull.
As a child, I liked to climb trees. Before my parents split, we lived in a cozy home with a backyard that housed an apple tree. My parents always called me their little monkey. I always aimed for the sky, reaching up and pulling down crab apples.
But one day I climbed too high.
A branch snapped. I dangled for dear life. My fingers slipped. I crashed to the ground.
Everything went black and then…what happened next?
The memory slipped away. Blank.
I stared into Selene’s glowing eyes. She let out a soft gasp, which made me redden further.
“What a good gift,” she said.
I could no longer vouch for whether it was or not. The memory stolen, eaten by Selene.
“Have a good day, Sydney,” Selene purred. “Have a good adventure.”
I frowned and accepted the dismissal. I left the vine castle feeling weak. Still, I made my way out of the town and into the Misty forest proper. A quiet hum came from behind me, the soft voice that would bring me home when I got lost. Home, this wasn’t home. I couldn’t remember how long I had been in the Misty forest, my memories depleted and vague from the time before the forest.
Determined I would make it out one day, I ventured through the firs. I didn’t know why I still bothered. I had lost nearly all of my connection to the outside world. It wasn’t as if living in the Misty forest was horrible, yet losing a piece of myself every week took a toll on me.
The trees seemed to close in on me; the foliage becoming denser, the roots gnarlier. I could sense Selene’s telepathic gaze upon me. In the Misty forest, she was nearly omniscient. Her watching me gave me a blaze of hope that I moved in the right direction. And yet the hum became louder, trying to trick me, and pull me back.
I stuck globs of wax in my ears. Running away from the sound brought you just as close as if you were running away from it. Hearing it would always trick you, but this way I could focus. I didn’t run in a straight line that had never worked before. The forest shifted around you until you ended back in the same place. I chose directions at random, moving into less dense foliage and then squeezing through tree trunks.
The best clue I had came from the one time I almost got out.
When the trees grab you, you must be close. I got caught on a bramble and pulled my leg out when I stumbled. A vine grew over my ankle. I pulled out a knife from my pant leg and slashed it before the slithering vines could trap me further. I broke into a run, dangerously scraping through thin gaps and earning myself cuts.
The song seared into my skull. I trembled and grabbed my head. Marbles rolled around my skull. I gripped the side of a tree. Bark cut into my hands like it grabbed me back. I yanked my hand away, splattering blood to the ground, and stumbled forward.
You are mine
my divine
The song hammered in my ears like a rave. I continued forward. Selene had never been this insistent before. I’d make it out. I crashed through the underbrush and into darkness.
A pathway unfolded before me. It swerved through the green light and got brighter near the end. I threw myself forward.
YOU ARE MINE
A branch speared me through the shoulder. Blood spurted across the dusty ground. I stumbled forward and rolled, dodging a branch that would have struck me through the chest. I groaned as my shoulder screamed. Did Selene want me dead?
I shivered and pushed myself into a sprint, holding my shoulder as I went. My eyes watered from the howling song in my mind and the wound. I raced down the path; the light getting brighter, more white as I went.
Then it opened. The trees were behind me and I stood on broken concrete.
You are mine, one last hiss and then the song decrescendoed to a subtle whisper.
I had already lost most of my childhood, but I remembered the day I entered the forest. The girl named Elizabeth that I had crushed on long ago, the chipped brick of the apartment complex, the broken down playground.
Nothing remained.
Nothing for miles. The horizon flattened to nothing but the remnants of asphalt and concrete. I looked behind me to the forest, a stark green against the gray of the sky and ground. I fell to my knees and let out a cry.
Where were my parents? My friends? Elizabeth? What happened to the world? Tears streamed down my cheeks. How long had I been gone?
“Eons,” Selene said.
I turned to look at her, blood slipping through my fingertips where I pressed it against my arm. She always smiled, but her face contorted in pain, her eyes on the lost horizon.
“I’m sorry for that.” She waved a hand, and the pain vanished from under my fingers. The wound healed.
“What happened?” I whispered.
“War, greed, a lust for power,” she said. “The stories are always the same.”
“But the forest…”
“The forest can’t be killed that easily, not while I stand.” Then her signature smile broke across her lips. She extended her hand toward me. “Come.”
I stared at her hand, and then to the wasteland behind me. All of my escape attempts played in my mind, all for it to end like this.
“Why did you let me run?”
“It kept you healthy,” Selene said. “So many of us have waned…” Her gaze became hazy.
“But this is cruel.”
“You were never supposed to find out,” Selene said.
“What do I do now?”
“Come to me,” she said. “You always do.”
I got up and walked to her, dragging my feet as I went. I didn’t process what she had said until my fingers brushed hers. I saw my escape attempt whistle past my eyes, the intense emotions, the fleeting success met by tragedy. Selene smiled. It was a delicious meal.
One she prepared endlessly.
My mind went blank.
If you enjoyed this short story consider trying out my last story Forgotten
If you want to learn more about me consider reading my latest blog post Pressure
Aetherias Moon 
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