I begin to reach down for the note. My hair, matching the dark shade of my room, falls forward in front of me as I wrap my trembling fingers around the smooth paper. With my stomach in a swirl, I unfold the enticing letter.

"Dear Lilianne Mintz,

You don't know me, but I know an awful lot about you. I've had my eye on you ever since the day you stepped foot in this prison they call a hospital. You could call it...supervising of sorts. I know almost everything about you, from your favorite socks to the ivy specks in your icy-blue eyes, but most importantly...I know what makes you tick."

I paused to wipe my hands on my cotton hospital gown before I continued reading.

"Considering you're reading this, it must mean you've noticed Grayson's absence. Don't worry, he won't be harmed—yet. But if you can't manage to find him...I can't promise anything. You see, I'm ever so lonely. I once used to be a patient at this hospital too, and I had a relationship just like you two kids—until one day, the doctors screwed her up beyond repair. So I want to play a game, if you're not too much of a coward, that is. I'll be hiding clues in certain spots that will lead you to your beloved Grayson.

Your first clue is:

In the dark of night, where shadows creep,

By the water’s edge, where secrets keep.

A silvery path, moonlit and grand,

Leads to a door beside the land.

What place must you find, quiet and still,

Where the stars reflect and the air is chill?

If I were you I'd hurry. You don't want those flowers to wilt, do you? If they do, it's game over."

The room swayed violently, darkness creeping in from the edges of my vision. The next thing I knew, I was being carried to my bed by nurses, their voices muffled and urgently attaching all sorts of machinery to me. The nurse's knock on my door jolted me back to the present, reminding me of the urgency to find Grayson. It's been three days already, but the flowers are still in perfect condition.

"How are you feeling, Lily?" the honey-voiced nurse inquires. "I'm just going to take your vitals, ok?"

I hear her sigh at my non-responsiveness but still sit there motionless, waiting for her to take my vitals and leave. I've already searched the lake, but I still can't figure out what the letter meant by 'door.' The nurse finally leaves me to resume my window watching after ten minutes that felt like a century.

I hear the nurses' hushed gossip from my chair but pay no mind to it. All that matters is figuring out the riddle. It has to be at the lake in the forest, but what could I be missing? I pass time by watching the sky change from bright blue, to pink, orange, then dark blue. Once the sun finally sets, I feign sleep until I'm sure the last nurse has finished the nightly rounds and sneak out to further investigate the lake to figure out what I missed.

As the sky continued to darken, I made my way to the lake with only the moon to guide me. I start to investigate the lake and cross my arms to preserve my body heat from the icy breeze. After an hour of squinting through the dark for clues, I slink to the rocky ground exhausted.

"What does this riddle mean!" I exclaim, slamming my fists down. My hand makes contact with a smooth pebble that I pick up and skip across the water. I then sit up a bit in a squatting stance to pick up another pebble when I feel two soft paws nudge me into the water. As I fall in, I see the rabbit from the other day scurry away. I close my eyes awaiting the cold impact, but when it doesn't come, I open my tightly shut eyes to see that I'm no longer in the dark, cold forest by a lake but instead a bright, bustling village full of people.