22

Twenty two

I opened my eyes and blinked, trying to focus in the murky darkness that engulfed me. A thick fog swirled around my body like ghostly tendrils, its iciness sending shivers down my spine. The air was unnaturally still and silent, as if the world itself was holding its breath. Not a single sound reached my ears--no chirping of birds, no whisper of wind, no signs of life at all. A deep, primal terror seized my heart as I realized I was utterly alone in this nightmarish place. Where the hell am I?

"Hello?" I called out, my voice sounding small and feeble against the suffocating silence. "Is anyone there?"

Only the echo of my own words came back to me, mocking and hollow. I wrapped my arms around myself, fingers digging into the fabric of my nightgown. Where was I? How did I get here? My mind raced as I tried to recall what happened before I woke up in this hellish landscape.

I remembered storming off to my chambers after that terrible fight with my stepmother. Hot, angr