CHAPTER 2 : The next afternoon, the three friends stood at the edge of the Nothing Forest.
Tall, dark trees stretched into the distance like giants guarding a forgotten world.
The air felt colder here, almost heavy, as if the forest carried old memories.
Max stepped forward first, grinning confidently.
"Come on, guys. It's just a forest. We walk in, walk out. Easy."
But even he sounded unsure.
Ella hugged herself tightly.
"Why does it feel like the forest is watching us?"
Leo didn't answer.
He had felt something strange since morning—
a soft pull in his chest, like the forest was calling him.
They took their first steps inside.
Instantly, everything changed.
The sounds of the outside world—cars, wind, birds—
all stopped at once, like someone turned off the volume of life.
The only sound was their own breathing.
Leo looked up at the tall trees.
Their branches twisted in shapes he couldn't explain.
Some looked like faces.
Some like hands reaching out.
Some like symbols he had drawn many times before.
But he kept quiet.
Max kicked a fallen branch to act brave.
"See? Nothing weird. Just trees."
But as he walked, the branch rolled back toward him.
By itself.
Max froze.
Ella grabbed Leo's arm.
"Leo… did you see that?"
Leo nodded slowly.
The deeper they walked, the stranger the air felt.
Soft whispers brushed past their ears—too soft to understand,
but clear enough to tell they weren't alone.
Ella stopped suddenly.
"…Did someone say something?"
Leo had heard it too.
A whisper.
A familiar whisper.
Like the one he heard in his mind last night.
He looked around, but there was no one.
Only trees.
Only silence.
Max tried to joke, but his voice cracked.
"Probably just the wind."
But there was no wind.
Not even a gentle breeze.
They continued walking.
The sunlight grew dimmer though the sky was clear.
Shadows stretched longer than they should.
Every step felt heavier, like the forest floor wanted to pull them in.
Leo felt a cold sensation crawl up his spine.
Not fear—
recognition.
He whispered,
"…I think this forest knows us."
Ella turned to him, confused.
"What do you mean?"
But Leo himself didn't know.
He only felt it deep inside—
the same way he felt when drawing those strange symbols.
After a few minutes, the path behind them slowly disappeared.
Grass and roots grew over it silently, blocking their way back.
Ella gasped.
"Where… where's the path? We came from there!"
Max tried to push through, but it was just more trees now.
The forest had changed.
Leo looked at the twisting roots and felt a strange tightness in his chest.
It was not fear anymore.
It was a warning.
And a welcome.
The forest wasn't just alive.
It was waiting.
For him.