Laughter echoes around the silent woods as a pair of orphan girls no older than 18 stepped through the greenery. A neat wooden cabin in which the two made their bed each night for the past two decades stands prim and proper, roses adorning the perimeters. Isolated from the rest of the world, they kept each other company, although one of them would occasionally bring up the possibility of finding new faces. Of course, the older girl would immediately reject the proposal, saying all they needed were each other.

Hand-woven shoes step over twigs, snapping them, and the hems of their newly-sewn dresses dance around the bushes. They take the path that’s been cleared out for them from prior walks to the same spot they’ve visited every weekend since they first discovered this clearing. It’s a nice patchy area underneath the shade of a large oak tree.

The first girl sets down her basket and removes a patterned picnic blanket, smoothing it over the sharp grass. The other girl hesitates for a bit. She turns and looks at her cousin.

“Livana, won’t you pick some flowers for us? It’ll be a nice addition to our picnic.” She smiled gently, removing the contents from her own basket.

“That’s a marvelous idea, Isa. Well then, I’ll be back soon!” Livana gets up, taking Isa’s empty basket with her.

The girl makes her way past the creek and stops every so often to pluck a few blooming buds here and there. A handful of daises, a handful of roses, and a pocketful of other beauties fill up the basket.

A mysterious figure dashes by in a hurry, sending leaves flying out of the bushes. Livana holds her breath, hands dropping the lilacs, and backs up. She waits attentively, cautious of whatever was running about. The bushes rustle a bit more and a ball of white fur leaps out.

“Oh my goodness, you scared me.” She clutches at her chest, her breath returning to normal. It was merely a bunny having the time of its life running about. The tiny creature inches closer to Livana and points its snout towards the southern parts of the forest. It continues to look back and forth between her and that area, as if it was willing Livana to follow. The bunny takes off towards the forest without warning.

“Wait up! Did you want me to follow you?” Livana immediately gets up to follow the animal, chasing diligently, completely forgetting about the flowers and her cousin. Her dress trails behind her, its pinkish-rose color making her look like a large petal flying through the wind. Soon, she reaches an open area, where sunlight was no longer blocked by the dense canopies of trees. She looks around, confused.

Where did the bunny-

Her train of thought is interrupted as something bumps against her leg, causing her to lose balance. As the girl struggles to regain her footing, she slips and tips over the edge of a cliff. The cliff, it seems, had been deemed off-lights by a rotting wood sign standing a few meters away. However, what with all the chasing and the horrible condition the sign is in, Livana hadn’t noticed it. Now, her hand is gripping tightly onto a sharp rock sticking out from the edge of the cliff.

Her panicked voice rises. “Help! Is anyone out there?! Isa! Please!” Her screaming becomes muffled by the tears that soon floods her cheeks. It’s no use. The singular rock gives up, and the girl falls down a whopping 100 meters, towards her impending doom.

Little did she know, this was all orchestrated by the other girl.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

    I wince in pain. It feels like my entire body’s on fire and the world is crushing me beneath its dirt. The side I’m leaning on is sore. How long have I been lying in one position without moving? I try opening my eyes to get a better view of what’s going on. After a few seconds of desperately trying, I can finally take in the room I’m in. The walls are painted a clean shade of white. Large machines hoard in the corner to my left, beeping every so often. So that’s what that sound is. There’s a thin tube connecting from one of the stands to… I crane my neck to follow the tube and see that it’s literally stuck in my arm. My eyes widen in alarm. But no matter how hard I try, my body remains motionless, and the tube remains in my arm. Giving up, mumbling noises to my right steal my attention from the invasive device.

“Where did…”

“No…awake yet…”

“Seriously…”

    It’s one voice over and over again. The voice is deep and masculine and very frustrated. I turn my head towards the noise. A man with dark hair, chiseled facial features, and a defined body that was peeking out dangerously from under his shirt, spoke into a rectangular device.

    “So you’re saying you just magically found her in the middle of the forest, at the bottom of a cliff? What if she’s a spy that managed to-” He pauses for a bit. Who is he talking to? There’s nobody else in the room besides me as far as I can tell.

    “No, mother. I’m not overthinking,” the man spat out bitterly. He rolls his eyes in annoyance, looking around the room. Our eyes meet, and I blush, feeling like I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar. A few seconds pass by as we stare at each other, neither of us daring to lose the staring contest as the air between us electrifies.

    He snaps his head back to the device he was talking to. “I’ll call you back later. She’s awake.” He waits a few seconds. “Yeah, okay. We’ll see.” Tucking it away into the pockets of his pants, he slowly makes his way over to my paralyzed body.

    “Who are you?” He narrows his eyes at me as he reaches the foot of my bed.

    Who am I? I’m…wait a second. Who. Am. I. My mind rakes over the thoughts running around in my head, but not a single one tells me about myself. Most of the thoughts were, if spoken out loud, wildly inappropriate and intruding. And most of them have something to do with the stranger in front of me.

    “I don’t know,” I manage to croak out, my brows furrowed in confusion. I cock my head at the man. “Do I know you?”

    “You have got to be kidding.” He runs one hand through his locks, the other in his pockets. He pulls the device back out and starts tapping on it. What on Earth is that thing anyway. This guy seems to have an addiction, if anything, to the blocky object. Sighing, he looks at me.

    “All right, you’re coming home with me. You can give your gratitude to my mother when she returns.” Without another word, he turns on his heels and storms out of the room. What a guy.