The Dark Forest
“Time...to awaken”
A voice calls out from the distance.
Anna opens her eyes to find herself sprawled on the ground.
Dirt, cold and damp, is clumped between her fingers.
She hears a cacophony of crickets, combined with the rustle of leaves, singing the chorus of the night. But more than anything, upon awakening she notices a nagging feeling of fear, nestled firmly in the back of her mind.
And as quickly as she becomes aware of the feeling, it disappears like a dream lost in the endless abyss of memory. She begins to stand. Pausing momentarily, to allow her eyes to adjust to the sparse moonlight.
Squinting, she is able to make out that she is in the middle of a forest. As for ‘what’ forest or why, she has no idea. A chill sweeps through her body. Looking down she begins to inspect herself. Blue T-shirt, light denim jeans, and soft brown boots. If it were the daytime, this outfit would be appropriately cool against the morning sun. In the middle of the woods at night however, she was finding it less than sufficient. The chills moved across her skin and there is a shiver that her body is bracing against. Somehow it just won’t come.
Her mind catching up to her body, she came to the realization that she had awoken in an unknown place, alone, with no recollection of how she arrived. She hoped that the situation was nothing more than a lucid dream. A dream that unfortunately felt just a little too real, to be dismissed as fantasy. Trying to cope with the reality around her, a wave of dizziness hits her, as she feels the telltale signs of an anxiety attack beginning to start. Internally, she could feel her heart starting to speed up. Her palms breaking out in a cold sweat. And as much as she wanted to curl up in ball, and deny the world around her. She was aware, this wasn’t the time to breakdown. She didn’t want to do this to herself again. She had to be strong this time.
Trying to calm her breathing, she checked her pockets, looking for something that could help her find out more about what had happened. Nothing, aside from an empty strawberry bubblegum wrapper, the smell of strawberry brought the taste back to her tongue. As her thoughts were brought to that ghostly strawberry sensation she felt her mouth water.
She took a deep breath, focusing on the feeling of the cool air filling her body, and began to run her fingers through her hair, a calming ritual she had engaged in since she was a child. Her hand stopping, as it encountered something unexpected. An object had been comfortably nuzzled behind her left ear. She pulled it down and looked at it. A dark blue rose. Beautiful. Even in the darkness, the rose seems to glow with it’s own internal light. She smells it. It possessed a calming fragrance, reminiscent of cinnamon. It reminded her of the way her family home used to smell on Christmas mornings.
Given the many unknowns of the situation, logic dictated that Anna stay put. Someone should know that she’s missing, and eventually they will come looking for her.
“That won’t do...Will they really find me? I need to find my own way through the woods.”
That same distant voice that awakened her, calls to her not with words, but with temptation that appears in her mind..
Did she just think that?
She must have.
It’s not as if anything had the ability to plant thoughts inside her mind. Besides it...she... had a point. The most important thing, was to find her way back home. Then hopefully, figure out what happened. She needed to know more about the situation.
Anna begins to walk, carefully moving through the forest, her hands in front of her so as to use the jagged bark of the nearby trees as her guide. With every step she takes, the ambient moonlight growing dimmer, as her heartbeat grows faster out of panic and curiosity. Step, calmer, and focus. Her awareness spreads out as darkness blinds her, seeking out and expanding, her sense of hearing and smell becoming sharper and more focused. Relying on her instincts to guide her deeper into the unknown.
Only darkness surrounds her. Here and there an outline and shapes, but nothing more. “Just great”, she thinks. She should have just waited. Now she’s even more hopelessly lost than before. She’s done. Her thoughts race and she wonders, if this is it. How can she be walking blindly? The calm slides over her once more. This time, she’s going to wait out the fear and doubt. This time, she is going to stick with the rational decision.
“No, I need to keep going.”
The voice reassures her and it seems perfectly natural that there is doubt.
“How can I keep going, if I can’t see.” She asks herself. Listening for the answer in that upwelling of hope. That just maybe, what she really wants, is almost within reach. There is an absurdity of arguing with a voice inside your mind. Something is off when the words are jumbled together.
“If I can’t see, then I just need to follow the scent of cinnamon.” the voice tells her.
Cinnamon? Now that she thinks about it, she does notice the smell of cinnamon in the air. Her heart growing warmer, as she remembers the comfort that smell brings her. It’s strange how she could have not noticed the smell of cinnamon in the air before. As her heart races again, a doubt creeps in. Is it really a good idea to follow a scent and…
The dark shapes seemed to lung from the left and then to the right. Blind eyes search the shimmering darkness as her hands dart from left to right. The sound of leaves being disturbed rippled through her as if responding to a sense of sonar.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, I should keep moving.”
The voice in her mind is clearer and more forceful.
A cold chill of foreboding runs down Anna’s spine. Then just as suddenly as it appeared, that suspicion is taken away from her with an overwhelming aroma of cinnamon. Forcibly calming her mind. Her body feels both heavy and light as pins and needles move across her finger tips and nose. “I’m all right. I’ll stay here. I can just wait until morning to keep moving”, Anna resolves herself.
“I said, keep moving.”
The voice reverberates inside her mind. Time slows down, alert, as realization creeps in. That something is not right. Something is happening inside of her, that she doesn’t understand. Something out of her control. That voice she has been hearing inside her mind since she awoke, has not been her own.
“No. I’m going to wait right here”, Anna thinks. Resisting the desire to obey, repeating inside her mind. Images of lovers past beckon her forward. Anna tried to ignore the illusions and shutting her eyes, as the butterflies of first love’s kiss roll through her.
“Be a good girl Anna. What you desire is just a bit further.” the voice tells her.
Anna now feels a touch moving along her body, the caress of a phantom in the night that makes her want more. Sensation ripples through Anna as she relaxes and remembers the feeling of wanting for the first time. Wanting something inside….
But still, Anna holds her legs firm. Holding herself in place.
“I didn’t say you had a choice.”
The voice echoes.
Anna suddenly notices a jarring in the pit of her stomach.
Pain.
A feeling of nausea that builds the more she tries to disobey its order.
“Fine.” Anne responds. Agreeing to obey this time, as the pain in the pit of her stomach vanishes. Anna begrudgingly begins to inch her way in the direction of the the cinnamon aroma.
”That’s a good obedient girl. And obedience, deserves a reward.” the voice states matter of factly.
Anna shudders. All the lovers of Anna’s past pull and push inside her. It’s warm, and pulsates in time with her beating heart. But more than anything, it feels, Fantastic. With every pulsation, sending waves of Pleasure throughout her body. Anna’s mind, tired from the constant battle, welcomes this Pleasure inside of her. Her mind feeling cocks and fingers inside of her. There is a flash of something long and pumping, like a tentacle or a snake. She can no longer tell what’s physically happening, and what is an illusion generated by the thing inside her mind.
“Both the carrot and the stick.” The voice told her.
The phrase “Pleasure comes with obeying…” has begun repeating inside her mind, in her own voice, Anna discovers with horror.
“The more you submit, the more of you belongs to me.” the voice tells her.
“...Fuck. You.”, Anna manages to stammer at the entity lodged inside her mind. Concentrating, so as to resist the growing Pleasure inside of her. The voice whispers to her, as the echoes of orgasm fill her up. She feels the wetness of orgasm escaping her, filling her body with heat. To make matters worse, Anna noticed that the stronger the smell of cinnamon in the air, the stronger the pulsating sensation of Pleasure inside of her body grew.
“Now now… This naughty ‘mind’ of yours is trying to make you resist my control, isn’t it? Unneeded things should just… disappear.” The voice chides her flirtatiously.
Listening to its words, Anna could feel the memories of what came before... beginning to fade. All the while, continuing to make her way into what she imagined was the heart of the forest.
Time blurs, as Anna desperately attempts to hold on to her most important memories.
Her name was Anna.
She has a dog named Rex.
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
She has Two little brothers.
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
She is happily married… or at least she thought she was.
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
Was she even married?
Did… did she have a dog?
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
“Pleasure comes with obeying”
With horror, she realized that the more she walked, the less of herself she could hold on to.
With every step, more of herself disappearing into the night, forever.
Eventually, her feet stop. At a place devoid of all sound, but that of her own breathing. A field of luminescent blue roses stretching out in front of her.
“Now tell me girl, what’s your name?” The voice asks.
Anna moans, finding herself unable to find her name through the heat of pleasure glowing inside of her body.
“What’s your duty?” it asks.
She moans once more, falling to the ground, her knees no longer able to sustain herself against the desire she feels.
“That’s right. You don’t need a name.” it instructs her.
Happily playing with herself, her eyes hollow and empty. She nods her head in affirmation, her voice lost as one many things no longer needed.
“And your duty. Is to make sure that everyone in town, can have a rose of their own. I’ll tell you the way.” the voice instructed her.
And the girl, formerly known as Anna, smiles. While she may not have a name, she does have a duty. A duty to make sure that everyone in the world, can become as happy as she is.