Disclaimer:
Everyone in the story is 18 years old or older at all points. Any resemblance to any actual person, alive or dead, is just happenstance.
Chris and Linda raced through the central doorway, the furious animals right behind them.
"Run!" Chris screamed as they cleared the door and entered a short gray hallway.
They could hear claws hitting the hallway's stone floor behind them, inspiring the pair to run faster through the next doorway.
Once through the doorway, Chris pivoted and slammed the door on the creatures just before they leapt into the room with them. As the door made contact with the frame, the entire wall shimmered before fading away, replaced by a hilltop sparsely covered with trees.
"Where are we?" Linda asked, looking around at the trees that hadn't been there a few minutes ago.
"I don't know. This," Chris gestured around them, "wasn't on the map."
Chris touched the nearest tree. The bark was rough and cold. "They feel real."
"How can they be real? They weren't there when we came through the door," Linda said, touching the area where the wall had been, her hands passing through the empty air.
Chris went to a few other trees, checking if any were different.
"Did you hear that?" Linda asked, grabbing Chris's arm.
"Hear what?"
"It sounded like a howl."
"You're just imagining things," Chris assured, pulling her into his arms.
"Like the rest of this?" Linda said, motioning at the trees around them.
"It's a haunted house, Linda. They are just trying to scare you."
"Like they did, Emma?"
Chris frowned. "There has to be some logical explanation," he said finally.
"Like what? Magic?" Linda asked sarcastically, scanning the hilltop behind them where the noise she heard had originated.
"There is no such thing as magic," Chris commented, still trying to think of how this room was possible. "Maybe some new kind of 3D hologram tech."
Linda heard the noise again. This time it sounded closer.
She looked at Chris and raised an eyebrow. "Hear it this time?"
"Yeah. Why don't we head that way," Chris said, pointing deeper into the forest.
"Why that way?"
"The doorway to the next room was in that direction on the map," Chris explained as he started walking.
Linda took one last look at the hill behind her and saw a silhouette of a man surrounded by dark shadows that moved like dogs.
"Chris!" Linda shouted.
"What?" Chris said, turning around to look where she pointed. The hilltop was shrouded in fog, which seemed to creep toward them slowly.
"There was a man there, I'm sure of it," Linda told him as she searched in vain for the man she had seen.
"Let's just go," Linda commented when she couldn't find the man, afraid she was losing her mind.
Chris looked from Linda to the hill behind them as she walked away. The fog was getting thicker, obscuring the top of the hill completely. Shaking his head, he hurried to catch up with Linda before she disappeared into the trees.
"Hey, slow down, Linda. We need to stick together."
"I know what I saw, Chris, and I'm not waiting for him to get down that fucking hill."
"I believe you, all right?" Chris said.
A smile spread across Linda's face as she reached out and took his hand.
They held hands as they walked through the thick forest for hours. The trees had gone from thin to massive, too big to put your arms around.
As they walked, they forgot about the man Linda had seen as the beauty of the forest overcame their fears.
"Hey, let's stop here for a minute," Chris said, pulling Linda to a small clearing with a couple of big rocks jutting out of the ground.
"I don't want to stop," Linda said half-heartedly, holding back as Chris tugged her into the sunlight.
The sun was warm, and the two sat on the rocks, looking across the clearing at the wildflowers growing.
Chris fished a couple of granola bars from a pocket and handed one to Linda.
"Thanks."
They sat silently for a few minutes as they ate, each lost in thought.
"So, big ceremony or just elope?" Chris asked, causing Linda to choke.
Chris laughed and patted her back.
"What are you asking me?" Linda asked, feeling butterflies in her stomach.
"Well, we have been dating almost four years, and with graduation in a couple of months, I thought, well," Chris ran out of words.
"Well, what?" Linda asked, leaning towards him.
Chris ran his hands through his hair, clearly searching for the words he wanted to say.
Will he ask me? She wondered, hoping that he would ask her to marry him.
Why is it suddenly so hot?
Chris wondered, aware that he was now sweating.
"I, err, was wondering if you might be willing to err marry me?" Chris managed to get out, fidgeting with the collar on his shirt.
"Yes!" she shouted, wrapping her arms around Chris and pulling him in for a kiss.