The
trees swallowed us slowly, like the forest knew we had nowhere else to go.
Birds chirped lazily overhead, and the breeze rustled golden leaves above us, but all I could hear was the thunder in my chest. Each step felt heavier than the last, like my legs were walking through fog. My boots dragged on the earth, and every breath I took felt like it scraped against the inside of my ribs.
I didn’t realize I was holding my arms across my stomach until Luca gently reached for my hand.
“We should stop soon,” he said softly. “You haven’t eaten.”
His tone was a sharp contrast to earlier, like ice that had melted. I didn’t answer. His hand lingered in the air between us for a moment, then dropped.
We kept walking.
By the time we made it far enough, the light had faded to nothing. The woods
