IDENTITY-SWAPPED

chapter 1: dreams through a forest

Dreams POV:

I walked through my brothers dark land. It was like a forest, but the deeper you went the more you felt the despair and fear emanating around you. The farther I walked, the more I noticed the glowing purple eyes around me, always just out of sight, at the corner of my eyes. Flashes and specks of shadows moving unnaturally. I shivered, but not of fear. No. I've been here too many times for it to be that. (Though I admit I've never gone this far before). No. My entire body was trembling from the cold. The temperature felt like it was in the negatives now. And the further I went, the colder it got. It was like being berried in wet snow. Cold to the touch, and every time you moved it would feel like piercing pain. I breathed out. A puff of cold could be seen in front of me. I was certain, if I wasn't a skeleton, I'd be dead by now. I wondered what kept this place so cold. I looked around for any clues. Instead of grass in this forest, there where brambles at my feet, hard like rocks with thorns to shred even the strongest of cloths. And yet... not a single speck of snow in sight. It was honestly baffling. I tried my best to stick to the clearest path. Eventually making it to some sort of dirt road. I guessed the path that lead to my brothers castle. But as I made it onto that path, I looked down to notice something else. Something much more... subtle. It was like my brothers goop lying on the ground and in between the sticks. It moved unnaturally like living lava. Some parts looking more solid than the others and with a faint glow of purple to them. Undoubtably, this was my brothers magic. But it wasn't connected TO him. Instead, it was like an entity all its own. A living creature that naturally resided in this forest. Though I never stopped walking, I stared at it. And even without eyes, it seemed to stare back. Intently. As if waiting to see what I would do next. Or maybe waiting to stop me if I tried to turn back. The thought ran bitterly across my mind as I fully understood that I was walking right into my brothers hands. With a single order I could be dust, or turned into a statue, or even one of his own nightmare creatures... forever doomed to wander this accursed forest without a purpose. He's done it before to others. And I honestly wouldn't be surprised. The cold alone could kill me if I'm not careful. I looked up to the tall pine trees. Every now and then, as I walked, I could see faint traces of staring purple eyes, much unlike his. Hm. Not a trace of snow their either... or maybe I was just trying to keep my mind occupied from the terrible situation I was in.

I finally reached a fork in the road. Two sighs pointing to either direction. One says exit while the other said deeper. I inspect the exit sign a little closer. Scratched on it with what appeared to be bloody fingernails where the words LIES all over it. I sighed. Like it mattered anyways. I've gone too far now to turn back. I continued deeper into the woods. The inhabitants continuously starring at me from the shadows. Watching. The forest thicker with every step. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. I felt leaves under my feet as trees grazed me left and right. Even the dirt path had become seemingly hidden. Drowned out by piles of untamed dying leaves. Sigh. Well I got to hand it to my brother, he sure knows how to set a mood. I looked up only to see darkness. No flashlight would work in his woods. Here, you had to travel blind. As my eyes became heavier I pondered resting for only a second under one of those trunks. The piles of leaves making a nice warm blanket. The thought was alluring. But I knew that if I closed my eyes around here, I'd probably never wake up again. Or worse. I thought back to that sign with the scratches all over it. I wondered if I knew the person. I've seen many in my line of work after all. He must have been driven insane by nightmare. Maybe made to wander lost in the forest aimlessly before succumbing to it. Perhaps, if I had continued down the other path, I would have found myself in the same crossroads again. Facing the same sign over and over and over again. Like some sort of sadistic prank. Slowly driving myself mad. My brother would probably enjoy that. He has a crude sense of humor that way.