Taeyeon is a park ranger who accidentally discovers a new world.

Winterhaven National Park.

Lying in the western part of the Atlas continent, this thousand acre plot of land was a world on it's own. From rare, tropical flowers native to the land, to breathtaking scenes of raw nature, the National Park attracted hundreds of people everyday. They were usually divided into categories ; families looking for a short trip, enthusiastic hikers, casual locals, campers -- regardless, all of them and much more always came through Taeyeon first, who was a proud Winterhaven Park Ranger.

♦ ♦ ♦

The young woman yawned, forcing a stretch as she waited for her coworker, Bishop, to catch up.

Bishop was younger than she, but freshly released from the Atlas Navy. This was evident in his muscles that seemed to hug their tight, tan uniform. His green eyes were difficult to ignore, his fading brown hair and scruffy beard made him seem inapproachable, but Taeyeon couldn't have asked for a better partner.

They were walking down the hill to where the large, public gate was to officially close the park entrance. The sun was closing in behind the mountains, indicating that it was near afternoon. The hike down was peaceful and the two exchanged small talk.

"You look more tired than usual, Taeyeon." Bishop said, twirling a branch between his fingers. "What's up?"

"Hmm?" She responded quietly. "Oh, yeah. I had to work past the clock yesterday. Didn't get home until two in the morning."

"No ? What happened?"

The two arrived just as the clock hit six. They began to pull the heavy, iron gate closed, waving off cars who driving their way.

"We got a call just after we closed from a woman. Said her husband left to hike, but she hadn't heard from him since. Wasn't answering his phone or anything. We ended up deploying a Search and Rescue team."

"The S.A.R, huh?" Bishop lightly chuckled, finally pressing the conjoining edges of the gate together before officially slamming the locks down. "You know it's serious when they deploy the team. Well, did you find him?"

Taeyeon nodded. "He had slid off the trail and sprained an ankle. Apparently he'd gotten so off track no one had heard him yelling for help."

"That's always the worst." He made a disappointed face and the two trekked back to the camp.

They continued their nightly closing routine, disposing garbage, authorizing camping permits, filing in paperwork and whatnot.

Quiet nights were the best, not only did it lessen their workload, but it meant that no one needed any rescuing and that, hopefully, the park was safe. On weekday nights, there weren't more than a couple people working. Today, it was just Taeyeon and Bishop. The others were simply on-call.

Bishop left to buy the two of them food at a nearby gas station, leaving the young woman and their official team-employed dog, Gilmor at the campsite. Taeyeon usually played soft, mellow music in the background to mask the uncomfortable, eerie silence the cabin had. She usually sat by the window facing the camping site where people paid to stay.

Gilmor snored and wiggled in his sleep. He slept at his favorite spot, a snug wide corner next to the heater. He was a six-year-old German Shepard, exceptionally trained in rescue operations. He was officially adopted by the Chief Ranger, and stayed at the campgrounds a majority of the time. The two barely look up when the door opens, the heavy scent of hamburgers and french fries wafting into their room.

"I thought you were on a diet?" Taeyeon laughs, accepting her bag. Smelling the food, Gilmor opens an eye, debating whether or not to get up.

"Yeah, but I feel like it's gonna be a long night. I need some energy. We're barely a fourth into our shifts and I'm already bored as hell."

"We can always play cards." She gazes out the window, staring at the bright, full moon outside. "Or we can tell stories."

Bishop's green eyes sparkle, his mouth curling into a grin before he takes a big bite. "Stories?"

♦ ♦ ♦

"I grew up the Northern part of Maine, which, by the way, is also called the Pine Tree State. Sure enough, my backyard was this entire expanse of an empty forest. It was just thick, raw nature. Like us humans were the ones trespassing, you know?

Anyways, the place is pretty magical in the morning, it's golden sunlight just casually pouring through the branches, there was a small riverbank that I spent a lot of time fishing at. But Maine had a lot of snowfall too.

One winter, three of my friends and I went deep into the forest. Someone had the bright idea of trying to find the Canadian border for fun, but sure enough, we get lost and it starts to get dark. 

I knew we wouldn't make it back home in time, but luckily for us, we found an abandoned cabin to rest in. It was a small shed if anything and the four of us quickly huddled inside for warmth. We had no matches, no lighters, nothing but our bodies producing our own warmth. One of the guys get paranoid, saying if we fell asleep we'd freeze to death, so he makes this stupid game.

All four of us would stand in each corner of the room. One person would start, tracing the wall in the darkness until they moved into a different corner. They'd pat the person in that corner, and then that person would move to the next corner...you get the idea. It was more of an exercise than a game, really. But it kept us moving and busy until the night passed. The moment the first sunlight leaked through that door, we bolted back home.

Our parents were pissed, of course, but thankful to have us back. I told my dad what happened and how the four of us kept warm in the shed.

He didn't say anything but one sentence -- who was the fifth person?"

♦ ♦ ♦

The woman slowed down her chewing and looked up. "Who was the fifth person?" She repeated with confusion.

Bishop leaned back, a cheeky grin on his face. "Do you get it?"

She shook her head.

"Okay, so there was four of us right?" He pointed at each corner of the room. "One person there, one person there..got it?"

"The first person in corner one walks to corner two, taps that person, then that person goes to corner three, and then corner four..but who does corner four tap?"

Taeyeon paused, visualizing the scenario in her head. "...No one, because the person who was in corner one is in the second corner.."

"Yup. So in order to play that game endlessly without skipping a corner, it would require five people.."

"But there were only four of you.." She laughs nervously and takes another swig of water. "Spooky."

The two exchanged stories as they waited for the hours to pass by. The clock was nearing twelve and the two slowly began to prepare for their nightly duty. Every day at midnight, they would do a maintenance check and a quick survey of the land. Bishop buckled up, a few tools hanging from his thick, leather belt. They made a mutual agreement to exchange duties. Bishop would check the gate and generators, while Taeyeon made sure the trails were closed and the campers were not littering. Once Bishop finished his side of the job, they normally paired up to survey the nearby forest. 

Equipped with a radio, a flashlight, and a small weapon, Taeyeon trudged forward into the upper hill where the base camp was. The hike was lit with small lanterns, making the night a little less frightening than normal. Despite having worked as a ranger for more than a few years, she would still feel the natural, human instinct that she feared the dark. Bishop would make small comments on the radio to ensure the woman that she was not alone.

Taeyeon reached the base camp, a fairly large, barren area set up with a few tents and an outhouse. She checked around the area first, picking up trails of garbage to dispose. There were a few people awake, huddled by a campfire not too far from the lot. She introduced herself and recommended that they sleep early. Finally, she checked the outhouse, bright and empty. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be that dirty. She replaced the soap and added a few rolls of toilet paper and left quickly.

Her radio flickered with static before Bishop's voice came in. "Taeyeon, you copy?"

"Go ahead." She responded.

"Just finished the general check-up. Everything's fine. I'm heading your way now."

"Copy."

She estimated it would take Bishop five minutes or so to rendezvous to her area, debating how to kill time until then. She decided to walk another round, flashing her lights at the trees and walkways. Taeyeon was pleased that everything seemed quiet and normal. The family huddled behind the campfire heeded her advice and began to wrap up for the night, leaving the ranger to maintain the fire. 

Tonight isn't so bad. She thought to herself. We just have to check the trail really quick, go back, heck, maybe we could make s'mores out here. That'd be nice. Do I have enough cash to buy cho--

"Taeyeon." The radio suddenly flickered with her coworkers voice. "Taeyeon, I need you to come down to the office right now."

The urgency in Bishop's voice startled her, she turned around and hastened her walk down the hill. "Coming, is something wrong?"

This time, a different male voice channeled into the radio. "Taeyeon, this is Officer Vincent." She paused. Officer Vincent?

From what she remembered, Vincent was a city cop that they often worked with, but why would he be here now at the middle of the night?

"We need you to come back and grab your belongings." The cop said seriously. "We're going out for a Search and Rescue."

♦ ♦ ♦

By the time she'd finished fully equipping herself, five of her other coworkers and a team of cops were settled by the Winterhaven Entrance. She pulled the gates open, letting the cars in. Gilmor had woken up, clearly understanding the situation.

"Who are we looking for?" The rangers asked. An officer stepped forward, handing them two photographs of a young child.

He looked to be around five with a brown bowl-cut, innocent, playful eyes, and a red jacket. One man stepped forward, whom they were told was the father. "We were camping at the Southern gate. My son had to use the bathroom, so off he went. The bathroom wasn't that far and I figured he was going to be fine. I even heard him yelling for my name in the bathroom. When I walked in, the place was empty."

"He was kidnapped?" Bishop frowned.

"I don't know. I don't know, oh god." The man started to cry, an officer pulled him to the side and took over. "It may be a case of kidnapping, but we asked around and even checked the security cameras. The kid enters the restroom but doesn't exit. We don't have cameras inside the stall, obviously. No one exits the restroom either until the father enters."

The crew grunted at the mysterious situation, nonetheless, they began to prepare for a mission. They split up in four groups with each unit hosting three members. Each group was accompanied by at least one ranger who would guide them through the forest. Taeyeon was teamed up with two men -- Kondo and Lance. They were given their objective and area of focus (Northeast) and soon, the twelve-man team split up and headed into the park.

A helicopter flew overhead, it's gigantic, bright light overpowering chunks of the forest, but the noise was unsettling. The leaves cracked under their feet, their breaths heavy and visible in the cold, foggy night. The trio barely talked, only responding in short, coded messages to answer the radio.

They must have been walking for an hour, Taeyeon barely able to keep up with the two men pressing forward. Eventually they reach a sign which she recognized. It was a place marker they often used to calculate their location.

"We've passed the A trail, the path continues further, but it'll eventually separate into three roads. So far we haven't seen any tracks or something that could lead us to a child..so we may or may not be progressing the search." Taeyeon said unsurely. "About half a mile from this location, there'll be a fence that blocks entry into the mountains. That's as far as I can help you."

Lance ruffled his beard, rubbing his eyes to adjust to the dark. "Then that's as far as we'll go."

Every ten minutes, they would relay their information back to the local radio, but so far, no one had any clues. Eventually they decided the fence would be their last stop before returning to camp.

As Taeyeon mentioned earlier, the trio eventually hit the three-way split. As reluctant as she was to venture alone, she chose the middle path, knowing it was the shortest. It would also comfort her knowing that not too far away, there were allies on both sides.

The night carried on and the search continued. To keep her mind occupied, Taeyeon counted her steps, staring dead ahead and refused to look behind her. It's not like she expected something to pop out and scare her. The morning survey had issued a safe report that no animals were seen around the area. Many of the hikers had already checked out. There wasn't anything in the forest that shouldn't be there.

At least, that's what she expected.

The trees grew less dense as she trotted forward. The dirt beneath her feet soon turned into grass. Taeyeon took comfort in this knowing the fence was nearby. Suddenly, the radio began to static at a low volume, but no voice came out issuing orders.

She pressed against the button and awaited, when the static continued, she tried switching channels.

And that's when she saw it.

In the distance, west of her location, hidden in a sparse, open land, was a staircase.

A staircase.

....A random flight of stairs in the middle of the forest.

....

"...What the hell..?" Taeyeon mumbled to herself. She fiddled with the radio in her hand, wondering whether or not to report this. But alas, it had nothing to do with the investigation, nor did she think anyone would actually believe her. Even if she wanted to say something, the static responded to her voice, the connection temporarily severed.

It was definitely strange. The closer she got, the more she wondered if it was a dream.

The stairs itself looked to have been ripped apart from the side of someone's house, but why? What brought this here? Who brought this here? Why and how is it here?

With every step, the world around her grew silent, until finally, Ta