Zehari didn't want to play this game with whoever was doing this to her. The voice didn't sound like any friend she had come to know let alone why one of her friends would even do this to her. She looked around her trying to take in her surroundings for any kind of a hint as to what she is supposed to being doing.
She didn't have the best vision and the dark was making it very hard to discern the surroundings. She let out a frustrated sigh and wondered if her first challenge was to find a way to see. She carefully and slowly moved about in the dark and the trees to try and find something that could be used as a light source. It wasn't intentional but she somehow bumped a leg into a lantern and looked down quickly to see what it could have been. She moved her head closer to the object and squinted hard to try and make it out. It was either a lucky find or a really bad find, it all depended on if the lantern would flare to life or she damaged it.
"Please oh please." She whispered as she lowered her head even closer and used her mouth to try and turn it on. It took a few seconds before the lantern flared to life. "Oh thank you." She had no idea who she was thanking but she was thankful all the same. She picked it up with her mouth and moved her head about to look around her. The trees and rest of the woods became visible to her and she wasn't as scared as before. The light was bringing some comfort but she was far from out of the woods. She was looking all around but couldn't figure out which direction she should attempt to go. She started to turn around in a circle with her eyes closed until she decided to stop. She opened her eyes and looked ahead of her, it was a cluster of trees, a strange arch that was welcoming her and so she cautiously moved forward.
She looked around her as she continued to move ahead in the strange trees. She didn't trust anything about this situation or what was possibly ahead of her. Her brain was working more than usual as she continued to move ahead. What if the lantern wasn't part of her to get out of the woods? Just as she was contemplating this, a strange noise could be heard coming from her left side. She wasn't familiar with the noise and was trying to determine if she was in danger. Her answer came with a horde of bats bursting from the trees surrounding her. She didn't have time to think about what the best thing to do could even be, her feet carried her forward as fast as she could go. Her feet were moving on their own as if fear was driving her to her next destination. She had no idea what could even be waiting for her out of the cluster of trees. She had no choice but to keep running forward because the bats were over top of her and behind her. As soon as she cleared the cluster of trees, she dove for the right side of the path, crashing into bushes and trying to make herself as small as possible.
The noise subsided after a few moments but she stayed tucked into the bushes a few more minutes. She slowly poked her head up and out of the bushes. She realized as she looked around her, she couldn't see anything around her anymore. The lantern hadn't survived the dive into the bushes. She had no idea what she was going to do without light again. She felt her heart sink as she heard the voice again warning her that she was going to run out of time. "Please give me more time or more light!" She begged as she looked around in the darkness. Was it possible that whatever the voice belonged to could see in the dark? She wished with all her heart that she could see in the dark too. She was being mindful of the possible broken glass around her and backed out of the bushes the same way that she came. She had no idea where the bats had gone but could they have gone out of the woods? She had no choice but to go blindly among the trees to try and find her way out. The voice could be heard again but it was angry because she wasn't playing the game right. She didn't have any care of what the voice was yelling about. She had stumbled upon a light source, ran away from bats that may or may not have wanted to attack her and now she has no light source again. What did they expect her to do? She was beyond terrified and wanted to get to some sort of safety. She wanted to close her eyes and run as fast as she could to get out of the woods but she had no idea what was the right way. Something must be on her side because a single bat appeared from the tree beside her and took off flying in front of her as if guiding her way out. The voice could be heard again but was even angrier than before. She didn't want to linger about in the woods anymore to try and finish their stupid game if the bat was going to be her guide. She tried to follow the bat but couldn't fly like it could, she had to go around trees and crash through bushes to try and keep up with the bat. She broke free from the woods as the sun started to rise and she collapsed when she was what she deemed to be a safe enough distance from the woods. She was covered in scratches, thorns, and some blood but she had survived the woods and the twisted game.
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