I didn't know how long I'd been running for, everything had seemed to blur together in a haze of adrenaline and fear. I couldn't remember when I'd gotten into the taxi or what I'd told the driver, but somehow I found myself standing at the trail that led to a place only me and those closest to me knew of.

My feet took me up the path and I could feel myself growing more and more tired by the second, both mentally and physically. My mind kept playing the scene of Reverie's death and my failure on repeat as I walked and as a fresh batch of tears pricked at the corner of my eyes, I felt my stomach sink with the guilt.

It felt like it was clawing at my throat and weighing my limbs down. I couldn't keep myself from sobbing as I continued on the path. I felt as if it would be better if I just stopped there and let the cops find me, but the basic need to get somewhere safe kept me going until I found myself at the steps to the now abandoned church.

I pushed open the old, rotting doors and stumbled inside, making sure to quietly shut them behind me before taking in the sight of the place once again.

The cathedral was your typical church, only far larger. Streams of soft moonlight poured in through the holes in the ceiling and through the cracked stained glass windows, whose once vibrant colors had now faded away with time. The stone floor was caked with dust, which erupted into small flurries at my feet as I slowly made my way down between the pews. This place seemed far too quiet, far too peaceful to my shocked and muddled mind. The soft silence seemed almost mocking, as if my predicament was nothing more than a fingerprint in dust compared to the rest of reality.

I found myself kneeling at the base of the altar in what had seemed like no more than a few seconds. When my eyes had refocused on what was in front of me, I realized that I was looking down at the ground, where my hands lay clasped together on my lap. Water droplets that were presumably my tears dotted my skin, sparkling in the moonlight.

I was in a praying position. Truly ironic, considering how witches like me were considered spawns of the devil himself. And here I am, kneeling in a cathedral after having just committed murder and witchcraft. Who was I to pray to ,God? Who was I to beg for forgiveness?

I tilted my head up towards the crumbling ceiling, ready to wail my heart out, when I noticed something glinting on the wall behind the altar.

A slight shimmer peeked from behind the pillar, a tiny glint of hope in the darkness of despair. Even though my will to continue was gone, my feet attempted to revive it. Slowly, I stood and drifted towards the source of the shine at the altar.

As I got closer, it became more apparent the glint was coming from a shiny surface. I stared at it. My own desolate expression was reflected on the glass. What light was there left in those tired eyes? What life was left there in that tear-streaked face? If I couldn't save Reverie, there should be no reason I could leave with my life. It was only fitting that my face looked as dead as hers.

I glanced towards the entrance of the cathedral. There were no signs of law enforcement - this was a well-hidden place. I would have more than enough time to recuperate, but I didn't think I could bring myself to move.

A voice began to speak and I whipped my head around, my anticipation on edge. The mirror shimmered, beginning to take on a different picture. I was no longer looking at my desolate face. Now I was watching my lifelong friend, Alice, sitting outside on her porch.

I was surprised by the mirror changing, but the larger question on my mind was why it was showing me this. She was sitting on the floor of her porch, arms wrapped around her knees, murmuring words in a low voice. She looked so devastated - could she have heard about Reverie?

The image zoomed out and I saw who she was talking to with a shock: the police. What was she doing with them? She couldn't be telling them where I am, there's no way she would do that to me, and she's the only one who knows where I am..

"It's a church," I heard her mutter, and with a simple point of her finger she took away my only means of safety.

I could not believe what my ears were telling me. Alice, was she really telling the police where I was? My lifelong friend who was one of the few people I could trust. Or who I thought I could trust. I could still remember the day I had told Alice about it. We had just started to be friends.

I grabbed my bear off the ground, the group of girls leaving me in even worse of a condition. I looked down into the bear in my hands. It had one eye, a button that my mother had once sewn on. He was originally a pale brown, but with years of dirt, it had grown darker. The bear had one arm, my way of carrying it. Its other arm was lost years ago and the hole was closed by staples that I had stolen from one of the teachers. I loved him and I carried him around with his attached arm.

I dusted him off as much as possible. The crunch of a stick made my head snap up. A girl stood in front of me.

"Uh hello," She said, revealing a smile, "my name is Alice." I didn't give her an answer exempt a suspicious glare. She didn't even falter, her smile staying on her face.

"Wanna play a game?" Alice said. She could not be that bad if she wanted to play a game with me. So I nod and a smile sprouts on my face, but then she frowns and looks around the empty playground.

"Do you know a place where we can play in private?" She said, her eyes landed on me. I nod joyously.

The Church

I walked off with Alice, the grass of the playground transforming into the pavement of the sidewalk. Then it slowly changes back into grass, but littered with small sticks and twigs. A small path formed in front of us and we both stopped in front of the large church.

Alice reached down and grabbed my hand with the largest smile I have ever seen on someone's face. Together we started to run towards the church.

The vision melted away in the mirror's surface, as soon as I heard police sirens blaring outside. I ran my hand across my face to wipe the tears away and whipped my head towards the doors of the church.

How had I missed the sirens from farther away? I looked back to the mirror on the wall. Somehow it had ripped those memories from me and made me relive them. Was this the work of God or something else? Did it matter?

The doors to the police cars outside slammed and I could hear them talking right through the rotting door. I walked down the middle aisle of the church and reached out. It was a gift, and I knew that for sure, despite what people might want to say. Alice used to love it. And Reverie, I couldn't save her, not from the cancer.

It was my fault she was dead, I should not have tried to save her. But I won't let them take it away. Not without leaving something.

I closed my eyes, and somehow my muscles didn't seem to hurt anymore. I pushed outward and called to the forest outside. And I invited it in.

"Grow"

Painful screams came from outside as the Church shook and the doors burst open. Large vines crept from the doorway along the walls and floors, over the benches of the room. Suddenly there was a loud crack and glass broke, falling onto me and it almost seemed like rain, reflecting the gleaming moon outside. It was beautiful. I saw the men outside were engulfed by the Forest. Their bodies were impaled by the vines that now surrounded me. I didn't notice the tears till they hit the floor covered in glass. I did not mean for them to be caught in it.

I closed my eyes as the vines reached me. Sinking into my skin, making me more. The Forest surrounded me in a moment. The trees rustling, the owls that made homes in them. This was freedom. I didn't feel the rest of the vines as they impaled my body. Growing and making me free. I could feel everything. The ground, the Forests hate for the metal monsters in front of the church. I could feel the policemen. Their fear, their love, and their pride. More guilt sprouted inside me but I could not feel it for long. The Forest wanted to grow, and it would grow. It just needed me to help it some. There I was, shimmering in the church by the moon outside.

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All the police could find the next day was a way overgrown church, four trees in the front of the church and a large oak tree in the church itself. Very little remained intact but a mirror in the far back of the room.