But the voice was stronger.
Enter. You are safe. I am waiting for you. Just a little further now.
Lilith stepped into the forest and the trees closed around her like a cage.
There was no path but Lilith walked forward anyway, her feet finding purchase on roots and rocks and uneven ground without stumbling. Branches caught at her nightgown and tore it, scraped against her arms and left thin scratches that welled with blood, but she did not feel any of it. Did not react. Just kept walking deeper and deeper into the woods with her eyes fixed straight ahead.
The forest was alive around her.
She could hear things moving in the darkness, small animals scurrying through the underbrush, owls calling from the branches overhead, the distant howl of a wolf somewhere far away. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds and the only light came from the faint silver glow of moss growing on the tree trunks, just enough to see shapes and shadows but not details.
