Page 23 - Languages Week Special Edition

illuminating the figure standing near a doorway, their face obscured by shadows.
Unease curled in my stomach.

And then there was the key. Old, rusted, and unfamiliar. It didn’t belong to Lily’s
house. So what did it unlock?

Clutching the necklace, I stepped outside, drawn by an invisible force. The sun had
dipped below the horizon, and the wind carried an eerie stillness. I walked until I
reached the edge of the forest, the towering trees looming like silent sentinels. A
whisper of movement stirred the branches, a rustling that felt almost... expectant.

"Lily… if you’re out there… give me a sign," I whispered, my voice barely audible
against the hush of the night.
Silence.

Then, a sudden gust of wind sent leaves spiralling around me. My heart pounded.
Was it just the wind, or was something—or someone—listening?
Kneeling, I placed the necklace on the damp earth.
The air shifted.

The trees groaned, their roots twisting and pulling at the ground. Shadows
stretched unnaturally, the hum of an unseen energy filling the silence. And then
the earth beneath me trembled—and gave way.
I screamed as I fell, my breath ripped from my lungs as darkness swallowed me
whole.

When I opened my eyes, the world around me had changed.

The dense, eerie forest had transformed into something unearthly—a realm bathed
in shifting hues of violet and gold. Trees shimmered as though made of liquid light,
their leaves whispering secrets in an unfamiliar language. The sky pulsed with
colour, an ever-moving canvas of dreams and nightmares.
And somewhere in the distance, I felt it.
A pull.
Lily was here.
She hadn’t just disappeared.
She had been taken.

And I was exactly where I needed to be.
No matter what lay ahead, I would find her.

THE REGENT SECONDARY SCHOOL 23