The Forest of Sleepers (Nowhere Book 2)

t w e n t y - o n e : r u n e

Birdie plunged into darkness.

When her eyelids closed, it felt like the very roots of Gwydyr were sewing them shut, its tendrils snaking into her brain until it had invaded every part of it.

But this time, the vision was different.

There were no screaming faces coming out of trees, no nightmarish forest.

Only a clearing.

It looked just like it had before Gwydyr appeared--a large, empty field with mountains in the backdrop.

Except, it wasn't quite empty.

There were ghosts hovering just above the grass, mingling with each other as if they were at some sort of dinner party.

For a second, Birdie was relieved to see them back in Nowhere. The feeling didn't last long because a single ghost--a man with a bowler hat--looked her way. And once he did, all heads turned to face her, some turning completely backward.

Birdie's heart began to race faster than she knew it could and no matter how many breaths she took to still it, it wouldn't slow down.

The army of ghosts began to chase her.

Birdie turned to run, finding that there was a never-ending forest behind her instead of Nowhere.

She felt cold hands grabbing at her.

Whispers that sounded more like shouts filled her ears.

You abandoned us!

Help us!

See now the witches of Gwydyr, burn them at the stake!

Why won't you help us?

Birdie tumbled to her knees, shutting her eyes and covering her ears.

"Stop!" she shouted.

The wails, murmurs, and screams only got louder. The cold seeped deep into her skin as the ghosts tried to grab at her until it felt like her bones were shaking inside of her.

The noise congealed into a thing that had substance, closing in around Birdie until she couldn't breathe.

Tears streamed down her face as energy buzzed through her body. She could feel everything around her, like touching something rough after soaking your hands in warm water.

She could feel the forest stretching and stretching and stretching. She felt its tangle of roots and the flow of its creeks.

For a second, she was the forest.

Her heartbeat matched the ground below her. She could sense life and death, light and dark, floor and sky. It should have terrified her, but it didn't.

"STOP!" she cried.

The forest obeyed.

The absolute silence that followed seemed much louder than the noise had been.

Cautiously, Birdie looked up through bleary eyes.

Her breath raggedly drew in and out of her lungs, echoing through the forest.

The ghosts still hovered around her, but their expressions were blank as if they were dormant.

She noticed that the bark of the tree was frayed at the edges and that the rest of it tapered off into nothingness.