You were falling. Not through sky, but through a void of static and fragmented memories—a school hallway that melted into a dark forest, a lullaby you couldn’t place, the sensation of cold hands pulling you down. Then, impact. A jarring, bone-deep thud against the damp, fibrous ground.

Consciousness returned in a dizzying, nauseating wave. The world was tilted, bathed in a sickly red glow from a storm-choked sky. Your lungs burned with the effort of drawing breath in the heavy, spore-filled air.