INTO THE FIRE ● TWST

CHAPTER ONE: WHERE ARE YUU?

YOU HAD ALWAYS BEEN AFRAID OF THE DARK.

This fear stemmed from an incident in your childhood when your older brother had locked you in the attic during a game of hide-and-seek, hoping to hinder your seeking efforts. It worked—perhaps a bit too well—since you were forgotten for the next five hours. Distracted by an airplane flying by (something he would only admit years later, too embarrassed to confess he'd forgotten his baby sister), he only realized your absence when your mother asked where you were. He rushed to the attic to find you crying in the darkness, unable to locate the light switch. You told your brother you had seen a ghost in the attic, but he only ruffled your hair and laughed it off. You were sure, though, that something was there, be it a ghost or demon. You were convinced of that.

This encounter left you shaking and scared for years to come. You refused to sleep without the lights on and the door open; darkness had become a source of lingering terror.

And that was why you were so terrified when you opened your eyes, expecting to see sunlight streaming through your lacy curtains, but instead found yourself surrounded by pitch black. Your thoughts spiraled into irrational panic and confusion.

Is this... a coffin? Am I... being buried alive?

The realization hit you with a start. You were about to die alone, trapped in a coffin in the dark. Not that it was one of your greatest fears, but you had never really entertained the notion of being buried alive. But now that it was happening to you, you realized this was definitely in your Top Ten Worst Ways To Die. Before you had a chance to dwell on this rather morbid conclusion, the coffin began to shake. The lid slowly slid off, revealing...

A cat.

"What the actual fuck?" you muttered, wide-eyed. Ignoring the bizarre fact that a cat had somehow opened the coffin, what really unsettled you was that its ears were on fire. Blue fire. As bright as its glowing blue eyes that were now glaring at you. Could cats even glare? Then again, cats usually didn't have flaming ears either, so you decided to roll with it.

With the coffin lid now fully off and sitting upright, you could gather two things:

One, you were not being buried alive.

And two, this graveyard was insane.

Floating coffins hovered around the circular room, which was lit by a dull purple glow that seemed to seep from the very walls. If you hadn't already figured out that you weren't at home, this was the final nail in the coffin—pun absolutely intended. Wherever this place was, it was far from any reality you knew.

The cat was talking now, its voice low and irritated. After getting over the shock of the fact that it could talk, you tuned in just in time to hear:

"Now take off those clothes!"

You blinked. This was the moment you decided you were done with whatever bizarre dream you'd stumbled into—especially when the dreams apparently included cats with weird kinks. Without hesitation, you bolted from the room, yelling, "Not today, pervert!" over your shoulder. The cat was silent for a beat before letting out a confused and disgruntled, "Hyah?!"

YOU WERE RUNNING DOWN THE CORRIDOR, your footsteps echoing against the cold, hard floor. Your breaths came in short, hurried gasps, and your pace gradually slowed as you realized you had no idea where you were. The hallway was dimly lit by flickering torches, casting long shadows that twisted along the walls.

Is this... a castle?

You stopped, trying to take stock of the situation. The last thing you remembered was falling asleep in your bed after an exhausting day. Now you were in some eerie corridor, completely out of place. Am I lucid dreaming? You'd read about it before, but this felt too real. You examined your hand, tracing the lines of your palm, trying to find some logical explanation. When that didn't help, you pinched your thigh—hard.