Back at the cottage, Selene lit a fire and settled into her chair, the diary open in her lap. The cold air outside was seeping through the walls, but the heat of the flames did little to comfort her.


    She flipped to a page near the end of the diary, her heart racing as she read the last few entries Lydia had written before her disappearance.


    "There’s a voice in the woods, faint but clear.


    It calls my name, though I cannot say how I know.


    The letters speak of trust, of journeys yet to come.


    I feel as though I am being pulled toward something,


    Something far beyond my understanding."


    Selene’s pulse quickened. The voice in the woods. The letters. Lydia had experienced the same things Selene was now, right before she vanished.


    She turned to the final entry:


    "I’ve decided to go tonight. The letter said it was time.


    If this is my last message, let it be known:


    Time is not what we think it is.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.And neither are we."


    The page ended abruptly, the ink smudged as though Lydia had been interrupted. Selene closed the diary, her mind buzzing with questions.


    She had avoided the woods since moving to Maple Grove, finding their dark, tangled paths unsettling. But now, the pull was undeniable.


    The next morning, she bundled up and stepped outside, the diary tucked under her arm. The air was sharp and quiet, the forest standing like a wall of shadows ahead of her.


    Her boots crunched on the frozen ground as she entered the woods, her breath visible in the cold air. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but something about the trees felt alive, almost watchful.


    Halfway down the trail, she stopped abruptly. There, etched into the bark of a towering oak, was a single word: Selene.


    Her name.


    The carving was rough, as though it had been done in haste. The bark around it was old, the edges weathered with time. But how was that possible? She’d never been here before.


    A gust of wind swept through the trees, and for a brief moment, Selene thought she heard it again—a faint voice calling her name.


    She turned in a slow circle, her heart pounding. The woods were still, but the air felt charged, as though something unseen was watching her.


    Clutching the diary tightly, she took a step back. She didn’t know what was happening, but she was certain of one thing:


    Whatever had drawn Lydia into these woods was now calling for her.