It had seemed like a good plan, just go walking through the woods in search of other people, maybe see if he could find some clue that could tell them how they got here. But instead Theo had gotten lost, lost and alone.
Looking around he felt his heartbeat steadily begin to rise, he couldn’t tell if it was out of fear, anger, or frustration. All he knew was that the more lost he became, the more he heard the whispers.
At first he couldn’t tell what they were saying, it sounded far off and garbled, like nothing but a sound on the wind.
But then the whispering took form, like laughter in his ears. Then he heard her, he heard Tara. Just like in all of his nightmares. But it felt so much more real. As he shoved his way through the underbrush he looked around, the blood rushing in his ears.
“T̵̖̀͛h̶̤͔̋͊è̸̡̲͊o̴͙̓...”
Stumbling over a hidden tree route Theo fell, catching himself on branches. He was covered in dirt and mild scrapes and bruises that were healing just as fast as he was getting them.
“Stop, it’s not real. You’re not real!” He shouted finally, covering his ears as the whispers got louder.
“T̵̨̎̾́h̶̨̙̾e̵̻̱̠͊ọ̵̈̔͝...”
“You’re not real...” He whimpered.