Madeline blinked in surprise and moved the red curls out of her face, to see if that made her vision clearer——but no one was there. How was that possible? Her group was right there a moment ago.

“Hello!” Madeline called out into the darkness, looking for her lost group, with her flashlight in hand. “HELLO!”

No response. A silence seemed to rest over the forest. No crickets chirping or people talking——the only sound Madeline could hear is her own heartbeat, loud and fast.

When did it become so quiet? When did it become night? It felt like some part of Madeline’s brain blanked out.

“Guys, if this is a prank——,”

“It’s not a prank,” a chilling voice spoke up.

Madeline gasped and turned around to find three witches, almost glowing. But not with a welcoming kind of light, but a shady kind. The kind of light only used to make shadows, that’s dismal but strong.

There were three of them, long hoods covering their faces. One was front and center, while the other two were slightly behind, and to the right and left, forming a triangular shape.

Madeline froze in place. She knew she should run but at the same time, Madeline felt lucky that her legs were even keeping her up. She felt faint.

“Do not be scared,” they all spoke at once, as if the same person was in 3 different bodies. “We want to invite you to our coven,”

“Coven?” Madeline barely found her voice. “Y-you want to make me a witch?”

“Yes,”

Madeline gulped.

“Why? I- I’m not powerful,”

Suddenly, in a synchronous motion, all the witches looked up, revealing eyes like two inky black orbs. Madeline almost fainted.

“Your hair,” they echoed. “That is a powerful color. That is rare. The color of human blood. And fire,”

Madeline shivered, thinking of her messy mahogany curls. She liked to think it was the color of rubies, the color of cherries, the color of roses. Not fire. And certainly not blood.

“Um… what happens to me if I become part of your coven,” Madeline was trying to find a way to say ‘no’ without saying ‘no’.

“You will be brainwashed, given humongous power that you will not be able to control without the coven members, become one of us by becoming one of the coven’s aspects,”

“Aspects?”

“I am Envy,” said the one to the right, in a monotonous voice.

“I am Vindictiveness,” said the one to the left, in exactly the same voice.

“And I am Hatred,” said the one in the middle, zero evident emotion.

Then in a chorus, they all said, “And you will be Frightening. After-all, nothing is stronger than fear. And we will be a complete coven which will take over the world,”

“You know,” Madeline stuttered, slowly backing away. “Fire is really orange, not red,”

“And if you refuse,” the witches, in turn, took steady steps closer to her. “We will feed on your insides. Just like we did to the other hikers,”

Madeline tripped and fell on her back, her heartbeat loud in her ears.

One choice clear.

Finally, Madeline took a deep breath, stood up, and forced a smile. “You know what? The opportunity seems to too good to ignore. I’d love to be a part of your coven,”

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to suppress the tears, wondering if there’d be any chance of escape from this situation.

Knowing there was none.