"In the Dark"

Chapter 7: Beyond The Threshold

As the faint light vanished, Lena was plunged into darkness. The forest was silent for a moment, as if holding its breath. Then, the sounds of the night began to stir. Birds chirped in the distance, their melodies piercing the darkness. Owls hooted, their low, mournful calls sending shivers down Lena's spine. Frogs croaked, their deep voices vibrating through the air. The gentle rustle of leaves and the soft burble of a nearby stream created a soothing background hum.

But as Lena stood frozen, the sounds began to shift. The birds' chirping grew urgent, the owls' hooting more insistent. The frogs' croaking became a frantic chorus, and the leaves rustled with an eerie intensity. The stream's gentle babble turned into a menacing gurgle.

Suddenly, a creature darted through the underbrush, its feet pounding the earth mere feet away from Lena. She gasped, her heart racing. The sound sent her imagination into overdrive, conjuring images of snarling beasts and glowing eyes.

Lena's fear spiked, and she instinctively made the sign of the cross, her hand trembling. She whispered a silent prayer, her lips moving rapidly as she begged for protection.

With a deep breath, she forced herself to move, her legs trembling beneath her. She took a tentative step forward, her eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of movement. The sounds around her seemed to grow louder, more menacing, as if the forest itself was closing in on her.

Lena pushes aside a thick curtain of branches, her hands scratched and dirty from the effort. She's been trying to find a way out of the forest for what feels like hours, but the dense foliage seems to shift and twist around her, making it impossible to navigate.

With a determined look on her face, she starts to gather sticks and leaves, trying to create a makeshift pathway to guide her through the darkness. Her hands move feverishly, her mind focused on the task at hand. She mutters to herself, "Just a few more steps, just a few more feet..."

As she reaches for a particularly large branch, her eyes fixed on the spot where she wants to place it, her foot catches on a hidden root. She feels a sudden jolt of panic as her body betrays her, her arms flailing wildly as she tries to regain balance.

Time seems to slow down as she flails, her mind racing with a mix of fear and disbelief. "No, no, no!" she whispers, her voice trembling. But it's too late. She feels a sickening sense of weightlessness, her stomach lurching as she plummets towards the unforgiving earth.

The fall is a blur of pain and confusion, her wrist twisting at an awkward angle as she lands with a thud. The pain explodes like a firework, radiating from her wrist to her entire arm. Lena's vision blurs, and she feels a wave of dizziness wash over her.

As she struggles to sit up, her mind races with fear and anxiety, her heart pounding in her chest. She cradles her injured wrist, rocking back and forth in a futile attempt to soothe the pain. Tears well up in her eyes, and she whispers, "Why did this have to happen? Why now?"

As she rocks back and forth, Lena's eyes well up with tears. She's still trying to process what just happened. One moment she was running, the next she was falling. She remembers the sensation of weightlessness, the feeling of her stomach dropping like a rollercoaster. And then the pain. Oh, the pain.

She looks down at her wrist, and her vision blurs again. She can see the swelling already, the bruise forming. She tries to move her arm, but it feels like a thousand knives stabbing her at once. She gasps, her breath catching in her throat.