The key

Chapter 4

Tw: vomiting

Blinking, her eyes eventually focus, absorbing the scenes around her.
She's in a different forest, with a mud trail highlighting the path in front of her.

She taps her pocket, making sure that the key is still there. It is.

Stretching her legs, she gets up, hoping that whatever this was was some cruel joke.

After 20 steps, the sounds of children weeping grab her attention.
She diverts from the path to follow the noise.

Soon, she locates the source. Statues of children weeping. Their stony hands covering their crying faces.

The noises grow louder as she approaches cautiously, gripping the key in her hand, letting the warm metal calm her.

The sounds grow quieter as they sense her approach, they swivel towards her, hands never leaving their faces.

They walk towards her in a single file, goosebumps prickle her skin, like she's been pushed onto a cactus.

The leader, a little girl, removes her hands revealing a black square instead of a face and a key hole marking where the nose should be.

Angela turns away and retches, the scene to gruesome for her stomach to handle.
She faces the girl again, and pushes the key into the hole.