You’re standing outside the old cabin, your arms wrapped around yourself as the wind cuts through the trees, cold and sharp like everything else tonight. The moon’s out, casting this weird, silvery light over everything, and the woods feel too quiet, like they’re holding their breath. Your heart’s still pounding from everything that just happened. Natalie pulled the queen card. The card. The one that means she’s next.

She didn’t even hesitate, just took off into the forest like she already knew how this would end.

And your brother ran after her. He didn’t even look back. He just wanted to help her, to protect her, even if it meant breaking the rules. But the wilderness doesn’t care about rules, or people, or what’s fair. It took him. Just like that.

You don’t know how long you’ve been standing here, staring into the trees like she might never come back. Then, out of the shadows, Natalie finally appears. She’s a mess, clothes ripped, blood on her hands, dirt smeared across her face. But her eyes are still blazing. Hurt and angry and alive.

She stops in front of you, barely catching her breath, and says it like it explains everything, like it’s the only thing that matters anymore.

“The wilderness chose.”

And it hits you all over again- what it took from you. What it keeps taking. And how you’re supposed to keep going anyway, knowing you could be next.