They ran for what felt like an eternity, until they stumbled out of the brush, directly in front of the ancient shrine. Vincent dropped to his knees, panting, heart racing, feeling as though his chest would burst. Megan sat beside him on the soft, mossy ground. Free of the darkness of the woods, the sun felt warm and welcome. Safe. Neither of them noticed the strange looks they were receiving from other people visiting the shrine. They sat in silence for a long while until their breathing returned almost to normal. Vincent’s heart was still racing, but they appeared to be safe. He wiped his face with his hands and looked toward the shrine. A uniquely speckled calico cat perched on a statue, eyes half closed, its triangle face turned in their direction. Megan broke the silence. “Vinny?” “Yeah?” “What the fuck happened? Why were we running?” Vincent turned his head sharply toward her. He couldn’t make his mouth produce words, so he just stared at her, trying to make sense of what she had just said. He rubbed his eyes and thought to himself: …why WERE we running? “I… I followed you into the woods when you went behind the shrine, but now I’m not sure what happened. Our imaginations got the better of us. I don’t know. My head doesn’t feel great.” “Mine either. It feels fuzzy - almost like something is humming inside of my brain. Maybe we’ve been out here too long.” Something was gnawing at Vincent’s insides. “Yeah, that must be it. I guess I was struggling with the hike more than I thought.” He unconsciously reached for the familiar chain. “Shit! I must’ve lost my pendant when we were running. SHIT.” Unease washed over him. “Let’s go look for it,” Megan said. “I know how important it is to you.” He turned his head toward the back of the shrine, toward the trees that grew dense, the pit of his stomach feeling especially deep. “I don’t… I don’t know. I’m exhausted. Maybe we should just get back to the hotel and eat something. I wanted to come back, anyway. We could look for it tomorrow.” “Whatever you think.” With considerable effort, he got to his feet, and extended his hand to help Megan do the same.

***

At the hotel, they gorged themselves on food and water, both subconsciously avoiding anything alcoholic. They both took long showers - Megan’s hotter than the surface of the sun, Vincent’s cold and jarring. Vincent dressed and came into the main part of the room to find Megan tucked under the covers. “Vinny, do you think you could run down to the desk and ask if they have some aspirin? My head is killing me.” Her voice sounded raspy.

“Yeah, sure. Just hang tight. I’ll be right back.” After retrieving the aspirin from the desk clerk, he took the elevator back to their floor and stepped out into the quiet hall. The lights seemed particularly low. He walked slowly toward their room, convincing his exhausted legs to propel him forward. He rounded the corner of the T-shaped hall, just a few doors away from their room. He desperately needed sleep. As he pulled out the key card, something flitted past his peripheral vision. He turned his head. Barely visible around the corner that led back to the main hall sat a cat, perfectly still. He stared at it for a moment. It stood, stretched, and moved away. He hurried to turn the corner to find a completely empty hall. Vincent closed his eyes and pressed his head against the wall. “Jesus Christ, I need to go to sleep,” he said aloud to himself.

When he made it into the room, Megan was fast asleep. He set the little packet of aspirin on the nightstand next to her and carefully crawled under the cool covers. Before his head hit the pillow, he was asleep. He had vivid dreams of thick, hunter-green forests full of gangly trees, their branches like thousands of arms stretching over him. Even in dreams, his legs felt tired, trundling along through shrines and temples, moss-covered stones with strange characters etched into them. He dreamed of following his grandmother through the trees until she turned and her face was wrong. The face looked so familiar, but it wasn’t hers. His not-grandmother moved toward him, the strangely wooden face staring at him. As she moved closer, she became taller, spindly, with arms like branches that reached out to envelop him… His eyes snapped open. He felt the not-quite-softness of the hotel linens and quickly came back to his senses. He allowed himself a few deep breaths and enjoyed the darkness of the room. A whisper came from the other side of the bed. “Why did you wake me up?” “What…? I’m sorry, I was having a dream.”

“Why did you wake me up?” The rasp and volume of the whisper didn’t change.

“Meg, I’m sorry, I didn’t… mean… to…” He sat up to look at her. She was still asleep, still tucked tight under the covers, in exactly the same position that he’d found her in when he brought the untouched aspirin. “Meg?”

“I’ve been asleep for so long.”

“Megan -” He shook her by the arm. Her eyes snapped open in a familiar way that sent a shiver of pure terror through him. For a moment, she looked as though she didn’t recognize him. “Vinny?”

***

“You were talking. In your sleep.” Vincent said, wondering if he was still dreaming. He shook his head. “You kept asking me why I woke you up.”

“Just need to sleep,” she mumbled, already slipping away, her eyelids sliding closed.

“Megan, there’s something wrong here! Megan!” he shook her again, but she was gone, her breathing deep and even, body completely still beneath the hotel sheets.

As if part of her had never woken up.

Something his grandmother had told him once nagged at him, something he knew he should not have forgotten. Something important.

Icy fear curled in his gut.

Subconsciously, he reached for the pendant, flinching when his hand brushed the spot where it should have been.

Why had he left it in the woods? Why hadn’t he gone back for it?

A low, rasping laugh, like branches rubbing together in the wind, whispered through the room.

He staggered upright, his legs refusing to move. Panic snaked up his spine.

Warm, wet air brushed against his face, filling his nose with the thick green smell of earth and moldy leaves.

Mine, now.

The laugh came again, fainter.

Mine.

Vincent forced himself to move, every breath he took heavy in his chest, as if he was trying to breathe underwater.

Something ran past the door, blocking for a minute the light seeping in beneath it.

“Wait!” He stumbled to the door and yanked it open.

An opalescent green haze still shimmered faintly in the air, curling around the door, thick with the stink of rotting leaves and wet earth.

At the very end of the hallway, a dark shadow flickered away around the corner.

“Wait!”

He ran after it, but when he rounded the corner, there was nothing there. The only sound was the quiet hum of the elevators, and the raspy rattle of the broken-down vending machine by the window.

The clock on the wall said 5:00.

Despite the darkness he could see through the window, it would be daylight soon.

I have to go back. I have to get the pendant back. Before it’s too late.

The thought sent icy panic snaking up his spine.

Vincent ran back to the room and dressed, grabbing the only flashlight they had. He scrawled a note for Megan, in case she woke up and wondered where he had gone, and left it propped by the aspirin.

***

Stay tuned for part 3 tomorrow.