Chapter 1

  Darkness. Absolute and consuming. Adelaide was adrift in a void so silent it seemed to press against her thoughts. There was no warmth, no chill—no sensation of the ground beneath her. In fact, she couldn’t even tell if she was lying down at all. Her body felt weightless, suspended in an empty vacuum that seemed to stretch endlessly. The disorienting stillness suggested she had only just regained consciousness, but there was no way to know how long she had existed in this abyss.

  ‘What happened to me? Where am I?’ The questions rippled through her thoughts, unanswered, as she struggled to grasp any sensation beyond the oppressive void.

  Adelaide tried to lift her arms, intending to rub her eyes, but nothing happened. Her limbs refused to move. She focused harder, willing her arms to respond—willing herself to feel their presence—but the effort only deepened her uncertainty. It had always been so natural, knowing her body was there, until the darkness swallowed her whole. Now, she couldn’t even be sure if she had arms at all.

  Desperately, she grasped at the thought of what her body should feel like. If she were paralyzed, wouldn’t she still sense something? A weight, a pressure, even pain? But there was nothing—no heartbeat thrumming in her ears, no rise and fall of her chest, no whisper of breath passing her lips. The darkness didn’t just surround her; it filled her, hollowing her out and erasing every hint of life.

  Though her body gave no response, her mind began to race, tangled with frantic, unspoken questions. It wasn’t panic as she’d known it—there were no tight breaths or rapid heartbeats—but it was a storm of thoughts, spinning faster with every passing moment.

  ‘I can't be dead. This can't be death. Why would someone think through death? Am I dying now? What happened to me? I can't... I can't remember. Why can't I remember? There's got to be something—anything. Why can't I feel anything? Why can't I move? Why can't I breathe? What happened to me? Fuck. Fuck!

  ...

  Okay. Don't panic, Addie. You can't be dead. Right? There's got to be an explanation for all of this. Something happened to you, but if you're thinking, you're not dead. I think, therefore I am. Right? Right. Stay calm. You're not dead. You're alive. Somehow. You don't know if you have a body, but you. Are. Alive.’

  [THE CARETAKER OF HERE AND THERE SMILES ON YOU.]

  'What?!' The words pierced through Adelaide's thoughts like an uninvited guest. 'What was that?!'

  The message didn’t hurt, but the sheer intrusion sent her mind reeling. Panic clawed at the edges of her thoughts as she tried to make sense of it. Maybe she could respond—if it could speak into her mind, perhaps she could think back at it.

  'The "Caretaker of Here and There"? What does that even mean? Who are you? Why am I here?!'

  [THE CARETAKER OF HERE AND THERE GREETS YOU.]

  'Can you hear me? HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU!'

  Adelaide’s frustration mounted as she felt a faint warmth bloom in her chest. It was the first sensation she’d felt since waking, but it unsettled her just as much as the disembodied voice. Whoever—or whatever—this "Caretaker" was, they couldn’t be an ally. She was certain of that. If they were the ones who had brought her here, they were no friend. And how could they hear her thoughts? How was any of this even possible?

  Her confusion and anxiety churned together, threatening to overwhelm her. The warmth in her chest grew stronger, as if mocking her unease.

  [THE CARETAKER OF HERE AND THERE WISHES UPON YOU GOOD FORTUNE.]

  Suddenly, a wave of pressure slammed into Adelaide’s body, freezing her to her core. The shock of feeling anything—after moments of absolute nothingness—was almost too much to bear. Her mind jolted awake, and her eyes snapped open. She tried to gasp for air, but what greeted her was a rush of frigid, salty water and coarse sand. Coughing and sputtering, she struggled to expel the briny mix, only to be hit by another wave.

  The tide dragged her along the shore, pushing her further up the sandy ground before pulling her back into its cold, dark embrace. Another surge sent her sprawling onto the beach, where she crashed into the ground, tumbling out of the wake. Her stomach pressed against the sand, and she clawed weakly at the shore. The salt stung her eyes, blurring her vision as she fought to move.

  The tide threatened to claim her again, its icy grip tugging at her legs. Desperation surged through her as she dug her fingers deeper into the sand, inching forward with painstaking effort. Slowly, carefully, she crawled further and further away from the water’s relentless grasp, her body trembling with exhaustion.

  It wasn’t long before Adelaide’s strength gave out. She collapsed onto the sand, rolling onto her back with a weary groan. Water dribbled from her lips as she spat up as much of the salty brine as she could manage. Strands of her hair clung to her face and shoulders, trembling loose with each hacking cough. Pain rippled through her body, sharp and unrelenting, as every convulsion seemed to stab at her ribs, muscles, and lungs.

  From her prone position, she turned her gaze upward. Above her stretched a vast kaleidoscope of stars, their cold light scattered across the endless night sky, framing a pale, small moon. A bead of blood trailed down her arm, slipping from her wrist as she raised a trembling hand toward the stars. A laugh—soft and brittle—escaped her lips, swelling into something freer, almost joyous. She’d survived. Whatever horror she had endured, she was alive.

  The laughter fractured as pain lanced through her ribs, forcing her to clutch at her side and stifle the sound into a weak chuckle. Even so, she couldn’t stop smiling. She was happier than she had ever thought possible to feel pain again, to feel anything at all. The thought of drowning had terrified her, but the thought of ceasing to exist—of becoming nothingness itself—was far worse. That was a fear she had no words for.

  For a long moment, she lay there, her chest rising and falling slowly with each careful breath. Her ribs protested every motion, but she savored it nonetheless: the ache, the air filling her lungs, the sensation of being alive.

  “That sucked... but I’m alive... still alive,” she murmured, her voice hoarse but resolute.

  Adelaide squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to remember—anything—about what had happened before the darkness swallowed her whole. The effort sent a searing white pain crashing through her mind, forcing a scream from her lips. "ARGH!" Her hands flew to her head, clutching at her skull in a futile attempt to stop the onslaught of broken memories that surged into her thoughts.

  A rooftop. A young man. The pounding rhythm of a heartbeat. A glimmer of silver. A pink spark. A crooked smile. A push. A fall. A scream. And finally, a blinding light.

  Tears streamed down her face as the pain ebbed, leaving her trembling and breathless. Her grip on her head loosened, and she wiped at her eyes with shaking hands. ‘Fucker must’ve pushed me off,’ she thought bitterly, the fragmented images replaying in her mind like a cruel puzzle she couldn’t piece together. Her gaze dropped to her trembling fingers, her thoughts spiraling. ‘How is it that I’m alive?’

  Holding her side, Adelaide slowly pushed herself upright from the sand. Pain rippled through her body as her muscles protested the movement, sore and strained from the ordeal. Her ribs ached sharply, but she dismissed the thought with a weary sigh. Something to deal with later, she mused. The sound of wind rustling through the leaves of trees offered a strange, fleeting calm, but her exhaustion weighed heavier than any panic she might have felt. Everything about her situation drained her.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  A shiver ran through her as the breeze brushed against her skin. It was only then, under the pale moonlight, that she looked down and realized just how bare her skin truly was.

  "WHY AM I NAKED?!"

  The words burst from her lips as she instinctively curled over herself, shielding her exposed body. The sudden motion sent a sharp jolt of pain through her ribs, forcing her to clutch at her side with a wince. "Ugh," she groaned, curling tighter into a ball as the ache throbbed in protest.

  Her dripping hair clung to her face, and with trembling fingers, she slicked it back, desperate to clear her vision. For the first time since regaining control of her body, she looked around—really looked—and took in her surroundings.

  The vast body of water stretched out before her, its salty tang still clinging to her lips. A dense, fog-laden forest circled the lake, its shadowy edges reaching out like ghostly tendrils. The sandy beach, littered with shards of driftwood, stretched endlessly along the shore, forming a boundary between the dark forest and the peaceful surface. Water receded back into the lake, erasing the delicate imprints of her crawl, as if the tide were trying to wash away all evidence of her survival and the waves that were once there. Adelaide cautiously scooted herself further up the shore, wary of the water's dark abyss.

  Turning to her left, she caught sight of a distant mountain range rising beyond the fog. The snow-dusted peaks glimmered faintly under the moonlight; their dark bodies veiled by layers of dense foliage. Beautiful as they were, the mountains didn’t feel promising—there was nothing about them that whispered of help or salvation. The sight struck her as oddly serene, a landscape she could only describe as “Bob Ross coded.”

  When she shifted her gaze to the right, something far stranger greeted her. Her breath hitched as her eyes locked onto it, widening in stunned disbelief.

  "W-what the...?"

  From beyond another mountain range, farther still, a massive pale pink moon loomed on the horizon. Its glow spilled across the fog-draped forest like a gentle blush, illuminating the surreal landscape. Quickly, she tilted her head back to look at the smaller moon she had seen earlier, still perched in the sky where she’d first noticed it. A faint yellow-green light pulsed from its surface, soft and almost otherworldly.

  Her heart raced as she compared the two. Neither moon bore the cratered patterns she knew so well—the familiar face that had gazed down on her every night of her life. Neither of these moons belonged to Earth.

  "Where am I?" she whispered, the words trembling on her lips as the realization settled over her.

  Adelaide’s gaze lingered on the larger moon, her thoughts spiraling in every direction. The first explanation that clawed its way to the surface was absurd: the man on the rooftop—the one who pushed her—somehow teleported her here. But that couldn’t be right. Magic wasn’t real. Teleportation wasn’t real. There was no way she had been sent to a bizarre world with two moons. Things like that just didn’t happen.

  She needed to root herself in reality. There had to be a logical explanation for all of this. Maybe she hadn’t been pushed at all. Perhaps she’d been drugged—something strong enough to knock her out and distort her memory. Then maybe she’d been kidnapped and dumped here. It didn’t add up, but it was better than entertaining the thought of impossible magic.

  Her mind latched onto another theory, however ludicrous: this could be one of those new extreme game shows. Or maybe a cutting-edge tech demo for one of those VR systems her coworkers had been buzzing about. Granted, kidnapping a stranger for a game show or VR showcase sounded like a massive PR disaster, not to mention illegal. But there were always tech moguls or eccentric studios trying to push boundaries. She remembered the flashy slogans from ads her coworkers would parrot, things like: “Virtual reality so lifelike, you’ll think it’s real!”

  Fueled by desperation, she reached for her face, running her fingers over her skin. No visor. No headset. Just her bare, stupid, real face. Her midsection shivered as the breeze swept over her, and she quickly hugged herself again, curling into a ball to shield against the cold.

  ‘This mental breakdown is going to have to wait…’ she thought, clenching her jaw as another wave of chill spread through her. ‘It’s way too cold for this.’

  Adelaide turned her gaze to the right once more, past the larger moon and the shadowy mountains, letting her eyes drift down toward the beach. In the near distance, nestled where the tree line met the sand, stood a cabin. Its silhouette was faintly outlined by the moonlight; the building itself shrouded in the shadows of the mountains behind it. From her spot on the shore, she could make out its shape—a roof, walls, standing upright. Not much, but it was something.

  ‘Maybe someone’s staying there,’ she thought, her mind grasping at the possibility. ‘Maybe they’ll have a blanket. Although… I wouldn’t know how to pay them back. Or if they’d even be friendly to a naked stranger.’

  The thought lingered as she stared at the cabin, weighing her options. Another breeze swept across her back, sending a shiver down her spine and reminding her of the cold that gnawed at her skin. Her teeth clenched as she considered the risks.

  ‘Either I die from the cold out here or die at the hands of a stranger… I think my odds are better with the stranger.’

  She kept her eyes fixed on the cabin, waiting—for what, she couldn’t say. None of her options felt promising, but the cabin offered a chance. A chance to escape the cold, to cover herself, to survive the night. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to push her forward.

  "FINE! ALRIGHT!" she shouted, the words echoing across the beach as she tried to psych herself up. Her voice cracked slightly, but it was enough to stir her into motion.

  Adelaide shot up from the ground, the sudden motion sending a rush of blood to her head. Her vision swam as she stumbled forward, her foot sinking into the uneven, dry sand. Pain exploded through her sore body, radiating from her ribs and muscles, and she collapsed onto her knees. Her hands hit the ground, catching her fall, while tendrils of wet, tangled hair fell around her face. She clenched her eyes shut, teeth gritted, waiting for the sharp ache to subside.

  When the pain dulled to a manageable throb, she opened her eyes and looked toward the cabin once more. Maybe someone had heard her shout. Maybe a light would flicker on, a sign of life. But the cabin remained unchanged, its silhouette still eerily still in the distance, as if waiting for her. Another breeze swept across her skin, and she shivered violently, the cold biting deeper into her.

  Adelaide braced herself and rose more slowly this time, her movements deliberate and cautious. Standing upright, she turned her body toward the cabin and took a tentative step forward. The loose sand shifted beneath her feet, throwing off her balance and forcing her muscles to strain harder than she’d expected. Every step sent a fresh jolt of pain through her body, but she pressed on, her focus locked on the cabin ahead.

  As Adelaide drew closer to the cabin, a glint of light caught her eye. Something shimmered along a piece of driftwood that had just escaped the tides. Intrigued, she hesitated, stepping down toward the water’s edge to investigate. A small silver chain, wrapped tightly around a smooth branch of driftwood, glimmered faintly in the moonlight.

  Her fingers, still trembling from the cold, worked slowly to untangle the chain from the wood. The metal felt icy against her skin. As she lifted the chain free, a small, round object—the size of a pocket watch—dangled from its end. Her hand closed around the item, brushing away the sand clinging to its surface. What she revealed was a tarnished silver pendant, its centerpiece a large, cloudy gemstone nestled within an intricate design. The silverwork, though dulled by time, was delicate and precise, wrapping around the gem with an almost reverent craftsmanship.

  Adelaide frowned as she studied the pendant, turning it over in her hands. Something about it tugged at her memory, like an itch she couldn’t quite scratch. The design was familiar—uncomfortably so—but the connection eluded her. Where have I seen this before?

  A sudden breeze swept through, and she flinched as the cold bit into her bare skin once again. Her thoughts shifted back to her predicament, the pendant momentarily forgotten. Though the lake’s water had dried from her skin, the night air still chilled her to the bone, and the absence of clothing only heightened her discomfort. Adelaide wrapped her arms around herself, clutching the pendant tightly in one hand as her shivers overtook her once more.

  Adelaide brushed away the lingering grains of sand from the pendant and secured it around her neck with the chain. It dangled lightly against her chest, and she gave it a quick tug to ensure it wouldn’t slip off. She figured it might be worth something—something to trade, if the opportunity arose. Once satisfied, she turned her focus back to the cabin at the edge of the forest and resumed her trek toward it.

  As the cabin drew closer, its details came into focus. The first thing Adelaide noticed was the gaping hole in the front wall—large enough to fit a barn door, she thought wryly. A weathered, splintered door lay discarded beside the opening, half-buried in moss and debris. The cabin's walls were dark and rotten, their surfaces overrun with soft moss and creeping vines that seemed to grow unchecked from the forest floor. Smaller holes speckled the wood, the shadows within hinting at decay that likely permeated the rest of the structure.

  Adelaide let out a cautious breath. The cabin’s state strongly suggested it had been abandoned. Not that she had much choice in the matter. Even if there were someone inside, she doubted anyone would willingly stay in such a dilapidated shack when there might be better shelter elsewhere. But beggars couldn’t be choosers—especially on a frigid night like this. And tonight, Adelaide felt like the very definition of a beggar.

  She paused at the edge of the clearing, taking it all in. The cabin felt both promising and foreboding, but her shivering body reminded her that she couldn’t afford to hesitate for long.