She has been walking for what feels like hours. Not stopping even for a moment. It seems her legs had a mind of their own. The voices in her head were relentless, talking all at once, whispering, shouting, some almost singing, turning her mind into a hellish torture device filled with incomprehensible sound that only grew louder the further she walked.
She couldn't take it anymore and started to run. Fast. Faster than she ever did. Hoping to leave the voices behind her she ran not looking back, knowing that would only slow her down and there was nothing to see anyway. She was engulfed in darkness from all sides, running in a void like a hunted animal.
At some point she lost her shoes and began to feel the ground's texture under her feet it seemed she was entering a forest. Gravel and dirt tore at her soles while thorns and branches cut her skin through her flimsy nightdress but she kept running, welcoming the pain as a relief from the tormenting voices that were still in her head.
As she slowed down, her vision cleared just enough to see the dark shadows of large trees all around her which helped her navigate through the forest with a little more ease. She wanted to scream out her fear and pain but running left her breathless and barely able to stand up.
The voices were all around her now but one stood out among them. Strong, decisive and softer than a whisper it pulled at her, controlling her movement, guiding her to where she was supposed to go.
Stop! Her legs froze in an instant and the momentum of her movement dropped her on all four. She tried to get up but exhaustion finally took hold and as she collapsed on the ground she couldn't help but think of what a sight she must be with her bleeding feet, torn and bloody nightdress barely hanging on and her hair all wild and plastered to her tear stained face.
Darkness engulfed her again while invisible hands undressed her, washed her body and tended to her wounds. She was given no food or drink but she felt revived and energized once more. The same invisible hands then carried her through what seemed to be a vast empty cave. As they proceeded she started seeing more details and realized she was in a great, big, almost bare room. The walls where made of wood, strangely carved with elaborate images of fantasy. Unicorns, fairies, centaurs and other beasts of the imagination. There were lines crisscrossing the walls and they seem to shimmer and move almost as if they were alive.
At the end of the room was a wooden throne with a man standing behind it. She was left to stand just before the throne and she could feel her legs freeze. A warmth was rising through her from the living floor and she could feel her heart beat in unison with the pulsating veins on the walls around her.
As the man approached her she tried to move but she was glued to the spot. "We meet again" he said as he circled her naked body with his hands behind his back like a general inspecting his latest most important prisoner of war. "But I never saw you before. Who are you? What do you want?"
