The forest was a different beast at night. Shadows danced between the trees, transforming familiar shapes into monstrous silhouettes. Every snapping twig, every rustle of leaves sent my heart racing. I'd thought I was prepared for anything, but this – this primal fear that clawed at my insides – was something else entirely.
I huddled in my makeshift shelter, the hollow beneath the oak tree suddenly feeling less like protection and more like a trap. What if the bandits found me here? What if other contestants, driven mad by fear and desperation, stumbled upon my hiding spot?
Sleep, when it came, was fitful and filled with nightmares. I dreamed of endless chases through the dark forest, of falling into bottomless pits, of Harry's face twisted in disappointment and disgust. I woke with a st
