The panel disappeared.
No pause. No warning.
Only the sound of wind, as if it was pulling all the light from the air.
Suddenly— A pair of cold hands covered Nathan's eyes from behind. Soft, but piercing to the skull.
"—Huh?"
Nathan reflexively tried to move, but before he could—
Tak!
His head was pulled back, just enough to slam against the warm trunk of the Prunus Vitalis tree.
"Aw! What the—!"
His hands quickly reached for those cold hands—but they were already gone.
Silence.
Then, from behind the tree he had been leaning on, a figure slowly crawled out.
Her skin was pale, like a newborn moon.
Her long hair dragged across the roots.
Her shoulders were bony under the thin pale skin, and her breasts bounced like balloons prepped for a prank video.
Black eyes on a face too beautiful to be crawling like that.
Her lips curled into a faint smile—dark, with corners tilted up ever so slightly.
