A Heart of Nightmares

The sounds echoed strangely all around him. Light reflected as if underwater, making space feel meaningless.

His body seemed to float in a viscous liquid, his senses numb. Moving his arms was an insurmountable ordeal. He blinked, and the world became clear. He heard a soft, childish voice urgently call out to him:

"Shin! Where should we go?"

He regained his senses and examined his surroundings. They were in the forest, running until their legs could no longer carry them. They had no destination, having left the orphanage in a hurry.

Holding his little sister's hand, Shin gasped,

"I don't know! Anywhere, but we have to get away from the monsters!"

He gripped Lynia's hand tighter, looking around frantically for somewhere to go. 

His heart pounded in his chest, his hot breath creating water vapor in the cold jungle air. He was still in his night clothes, having been woken by the horn that alerted of an attack by the forest creatures. Usually, this wouldn't have been a problem; the guards could easily take care of it. But today was different. The wave of beasts was simply monstrous, like a tsunami crashing fiercely against the dams of the small town.

Such a number of beasts besieging them all at once was extremely rare. They must be very unlucky... or this was deliberately orchestrated by someone... or something. In any case, knowing the cause wouldn't help them survive. They had to find a safe place to hide, and fast.

A loud explosion sounded behind them. Shin turned and saw a terrifying monster attacking the stragglers. The beast swung its six long, furry arms at the humans. The poor souls were mown down like berries in a field, crimson blood raining down from the sky like tears.

"Hurry up!" Shin shouted at his sister.

"Wha—What's going on?"

"Nothing... Don't look back and keep going!"

Giving one last glance back, he saw the creature with furry arms and a head covered in what looked like bark, quickly making a path towards those in front. He quickened his pace, an intense urge to vomit churning in his stomach. But he had to hold back... he couldn't afford to waste even a single second.

Shin and Lynia ran with all their might, the trees passing by them at a terrifying speed. Their feet ached, their leg muscles burned with pain. They felt like their bones were going to break under the pressure. Blood began to rush to Shin's head. His vision blurred, he felt like he was seeing the world through a veil that slowed his reactions. His throat was dry and burning with cold. Every sound grew more and more muffled in his ears, tinnitus starting to pierce his eardrums.

Nevertheless, he heard a complaint by his side, a voice hoarse from having run too much and exhausted from the inhuman effort required to survive: 

"Shin... I... I'm sick of it... I want to go home... My bones hurt... My head hurts... Everything hurts... I'm... I'm scared..."

His sister's usually soft voice seemed lifeless. She panted heavily, her breath irregular and rapid. Her beautiful auburn hair fluttered, the wind pushing it as fate thrust them both towards their deaths. Her green eyes filled with tears as her small hands still clutched her comforter—a pink bunny the size of a branch, with small white legs and a white belly. It was sewn up over and over again. Lynia didn't know how to sew, and the orphanage workers would never do something so time-consuming, so Shin had taught himself to sew so his little sister could still play with their only stuffed animal.

Shin's eyes darkened as he told his sister in the calmest, gentlest, and most confident voice he could muster, 

"Hold on a little longer… I'll figure it out soon. Don't worry and try not to talk. It'll save your strength."

The two continued to run through the jungle as the other residents who had fled with them were killed one after the other by monstrous beasts. A particularly dangerous beast was chasing them, but luckily Shin had noticed a cave hidden in the depths of the forest. Guiding his sister to the spot, they ran with all their might in a final sprint. The sting of a huge wasp was about to strike them as they barely entered the cave, the entrance too small for a creature of that size to enter. Breathing in short bursts, Shin looked around, studying the cavern. It was narrow and damp, gray moss growing everywhere. The air was even cooler than outside. They had managed to survive for now… but it wouldn't last. They still needed food to avoid starving, and water to stay hydrated. However, going out the way they had come seemed futile and stupid, as the beasts were still coming toward them, and some were probably camping outside the cave to kill them as soon as they emerged. Not to mention, a small enough beast could very well enter their hiding place.

In short, staying here was not an option. They had to find another exit, and fast.

Squinting to see better in the little light that came through the entrance, Shin observed the depths of the cavern, trying to see if they were dangerous. Unfortunately, the corridors turned right in front of him, so he couldn't see more than a few meters ahead. Squeezing his sister's hand, he explained the situation: 

"Lynia... We need to go deeper inside to find a way out, don't let go of my hand."

"Y-Yes," she replied in a weak voice.

With a dark apprehension nestling in their hearts, the siblings advanced cautiously towards the depths of the cave, like two frightened lambs walking towards the mouth of a terrible beast. They walked for a long, long time. So long that Shin lost track of time. He didn't know how long they had been pacing the cave's horrible, winding corridors. The air grew colder and colder, shivers running through their limbs. The silence was deafening, no sound, no noise, except their own footsteps echoed. It was so dark they had trouble walking, their only light coming from a small fluorescent mushroom Shin had thought to bring before they fled. He hadn't expected their salvation to be a cave, but he had thought that having a source of light that didn't rely on fire would be useful if they were out in the wilderness with no walls to protect them.

As the two began to doze off from the intense fatigue, they saw a faint glow in the distance. It wasn't strong enough to be an exit, but at least it was different from the usual long, winding corridors. They quickened their pace, glad for this sudden change. They finally saw the source of light more clearly—it was a mushroom that cast a golden light all around it, sitting on a small stone pedestal.

The siblings entered the small, brightly lit room, and the first thing they noticed was…

"Oh my god… Why is the floor like this?" Lynia let out a scream as she stepped on the floor with a strange sound of glass.

Shin had also noticed the strangeness of the floor. It was made of dark glass. You couldn't see through it… at least not where the light didn't reach. Through the illuminated pieces of glass, they could see a jungle. 

It looked strangely like the one on the surface, but with the sinister feeling that nothing was in its place. As if the forest had been replicated in a twisted and unnatural way. It was dark in this other place, only lit by a few small, multicolored lights. 

It was strange, disturbing, and profane, sending shivers down the spines of the two young children.

A deep fear began to creep into their hearts, goosebumps making them tremble all over.

"It's... It's the Mirror Forest!" Shin panicked.

"What is it?" his sister asked, her voice trembling.

"I'm not sure, but... apparently, it's a replica of the forest, but underground. And it's also very dangerous!" Shin quickly replied.

"What do we do then?"

"We... we have to get out of here, hurry!"

He grabbed his sister's hand and dragged her out of the strange space they were in…

…But just as they were about to leave, they noticed they were no longer in the same place as before. 

They were still in a cave, but this one seemed to be a reflection of the old one.

"What?!" Shin exclaimed in shock. He tried to understand what had happened to them, but he heard the sound of water flowing quickly. Looking around, he saw it coming—an enormous wave of liquid as black as the darkest darkness.

He took his sister's hand, who cried out in surprise, and ran as fast as he could away from the approaching liquid. 

But they weren't fast enough. 

In a last desperate effort, Shin held his sister as tightly as he could, but to no avail.

The liquid came at them with terrifying speed, separating Shin from his crying sister.

"Lynia! No!"

"Ouch! Shin! Help me!"

They were both swept away by the current in opposite directions, and Shin could only watch as his sister was carried away, her only comforter thrown from her. He could only watch as his sister's tears mixed with the strange liquid, feeling utterly helpless. 

Eventually, the two were so far apart that neither could see the other anymore. 

Shin was being pulled away to who knows where. 

The liquid seemed terrifying. 

As if he could hear laughter mocking him. 

The world no longer made sense. 

The laughter continued, louder and louder, clearer and clearer, crazier and crazier, until...

Shin woke up with a start, cold sweat running down his spine. 

The nightmare had seemed so… real.