Asher
The night was still and unforgiving. The air was thick with the weight of something unseen, pressing against my skin as I walked through the dense forest, each step deliberate, each breath measured. The wind howled through the trees, whispering secrets in a language only the dead understood. I had told myself I wouldn't do this again. That I wouldn't seek them out. That I wouldn't listen to their riddles and let their words sentence me to a noise, I wanted to be free from this life and everything that so wills it. But it seemed that the more steps I take away from it, the more I'm circled back in.
I didn't want to do this, but Hailey...