The eerie coldness of the midnight sent shivers throughout the room. The whispering continued as the story progressed further and further.

"There was nothing like it, our great ancestors swore seeing them, the creatures of the forest", the girl stated.

"They are nothing but a myth I suppose", another one shrugged.

"What makes you so sure? The Occulta forest still exists so who says they don-"

"Shhh, we're not supposed to speak of the forest, we're not even supposed to be talking about any of this!" the frantic girl commented.

"Oh come on, it's all made up", one of them rolled her eyes at the other.

"You see the Anthropos Kingdom has existed since the beginning of time, the only thing is it was very different in the start", she continued.

"It was home to greedy kings and arrogant settlers, there was one rule to the kingdom and it was to never venture out into the forest but ignorance got the best of them and so they went into the forest unaware of the curse that would haunt them and their future generations", the room was very quiet as all the girls listened closely.

"They never came back from the forest again but legend has it, you can still hear them howl throughout the night, looking for fresh blood like you and me", the girls, very unsettled, burst around screaming in the grand room.

"It's just a story, you guys don't have to get so worked up", Nora chuckled.

"So you don't think any of this is true?", you asked.

"Don't tell me you actually believe this nonsense", Nora snickered.

"Y-yeah, I don't, of course not", you replied confidently even though some doubts lay in your mind.

"Okay guys, turn off the lights, it's time to go to bed", an elderly maid entered the room, shifting the entire mood from horror ridden to calm.

"In a minute", you smiled to the elderly maid.

"Tomorrow is an important date for you Princess, I would get some sleep as soon as possible", the elderly maid chuckled, closing the door behind her.

You were the princess but even someone calling you that made you cringe, you didn't even like to admit it yourself. Sure, you lived in a castle, sure you had people working all around you but at what cost?

You'd never felt happiness, you always felt like an object being traded around.

First, it was your parents. Too busy to take care of you, you were practically grown by the elderly maids and some of their daughters who had become your close friends like Nora.

Second, tomorrow was your 20th birthday and you were dreading it to say the least. You would have a huge party and a huge ball gown and at the end of it all, you'd be married off to some foreign prince.

Why couldn't you just become Queen without all this marriage stuff. You weren't one for greed but you wanted to be Queen to change things around here, you wouldn't want the same life you're living or anyone is living for others in the future.

There was a hierarchy system and the ones at the bottom of it were treated far too poorly and then you had the ones at the top, sitting on a throne doing nothing to change it.

But if being Queen meant getting married, heck you'd run into that forbidden forest right now!

You wanted to explore, you wanted to fall in love, the last thing you wanted was things handed to you, that too against your will.

You shifted and turned on your uncomfortable sleeping bag.

Yes you were in your own bedroom but since this was the last night before your wedding, Nora and the other maid daughters had decided to throw you a sleepover.

"So Y/N, aren't you excited to get married?", you heard one of the girls across the room as she too, got comfortable into her sleeping bag.

"Hmm not really, I mean I don't even know the guy", you sighed.

The more you thought about it, the more stupid it became.

"He's a prince, he's handsome, what could possibly be so bad?", another of them reassured you.

"Yeah I guess", you mumbled although you knew, it would take a lot more than that to convince you.

-----------------------------

Your eyes shot open and you looked over to the giant clock hanging on the door of the room.

It was 3 am. You lay back on your bed, staring up at the ceiling, you wouldn't even bother trying to sleep. You weren't the best at sleeping, you knew that since you were young. Waking up at random times in the night felt common.

You had no idea why and sometimes you wished you were normal like everyone else around you who were fast asleep.

3 am, it was the uncomfortable silence of the room which made you question everything. It felt as if something or someone was calling you but you'd never be able to figure it out.

Finally giving up, you got out of your sleeping bag, slowly tiptoeing to the other end of the room, being careful not to step on the other sleeping bags around you.

You shook Nora slowly, you felt guilty for waking her up but she was the only one you could talk to.

"Wake up", you whispered.

You could see the scowl making its way on Nora's sleeping face.

"Ughhh, I'm up!", Nora got up frustratedly.

"Thank you", you smiled at her.

"You're lucky I like you", she rolled her eyes making you chuckle.

You guys then made your way out the bedroom, making sure not to disturb anyone else and more importantly, keeping lookout for the guards around the castle.

"Over here!", Nora whisper screamed as she had went ahead to hide behind a pilgrim to tell you the perfect time to move when the guards weren't looking.

Sneakily and efficiently, you were finally at the big balcony which panelled all around the castle. It was one of your favourite places to be, especially at 3 am.

You stood next to Nora on the balcony, holding the railing ever so tightly, feeling the chilly night winds sing to you.

Nora could see the distress in your eyes and she couldn't help but ask about it.

"You seem particularly worried today?", she questioned.

"What gave it away", you smiled lightly.

"I don't want this, I don't want any of it", you were referring to tomorrow and the marriage.

"Then what do you want?", Nora asked.

"It doesn't matter what I want", you rolled your eyes.

It's true, it's not like it would change anything.

The moon was shining right above you, no clouds covering it, no haze stopping it from being so bright and beautiful.

A little look below the moon and the forest came in view. No one was supposed to go there and no one had ever for a long long time.

To you, it felt like a playground, you'd be better there, you'd do anything to escape your reality.

Nora saw how intently you looked at the forest and just then, she had one of her crazy ideas.

She gasped, making you turn to her.

"What happened?", you asked.

"I have an idea Y/N, but its very risky and you may say n-"

"Just tell me", you eagerly cut her off.

"I was just thinking what if you weren't at the wedding tomorrow?", a grin started to appear on her face.

"What do you mean? I have to be there, it's my wedding", you frowned, even just at the thought of it.

"What I mean is, you runaway but I take your place", she stated.

"What! that's crazy, I would never let you do such a thing, are you out of y-"

"Just listen to the whole thing", Nora shook your shoulders.

"I'll take your place and no one would know because I'll be wearing the veil the whole time, then, when its time to take it off, everyone will figure out you're gone but it will be too late to come after you", she said.

"But they will still try to come after me", you sighed.

"They won't if you run off to somewhere forbidden", she wiggled her eyebrows as you realized what she meant.

"Y-you mean the f-forest?", your eyes widened.

Nora nodded excitedly.

"Oh my god Nora!", your jaw was left wide open.

How were you supposed to execute this? Moreover, what about all the things in the forest?

"Listen Y/N, it will only be for a while, a few days then when they decide you're gone for good, I'll come to get you on the outskirts of the forest, we will decide where to go after that, together", she stated.

You liked her idea and quite frankly you were desperate.

"I don't know Nora", you huffed.

"This may be the only chance you have to stop all this", Nora stated as a matter of fact and she was right.

"B-but what about the forest, it's forbidden for a reason, all the things we read ab-"

"First of all, they are all myths, second of all, thats why I'm telling you to stay on the outskirts of the forest, don't go too deep or you may get lost", she stated as you listened intently.

"So what do you say?", Nora asked.

"I-I guess I'm going to do it", you replied.

You let out a huge breath of relief mixed with some anxiousness for what was about to come.

-------------------------------------------------------

Ahhh okay, this is so different for me compared to my other story.

Idk if you guys like this, please be honest and comment what you think.

Hope you like it! ❤️✨