I followed it anyway 

Because apparently, I have zero self-preservation skills.

The ground....or whatever I was walking on.... felt weird, like solid air. I took careful steps, half-expecting to fall through at any moment. The feather floated ahead, slow but deliberate, like it knew exactly where it was going.

"Great. Love taking directions from an inanimate object," I mummered. "This is definitely how people end up cursed."

As if in response, the void around me started shifting. Shadows curled at the edges of my vision. The tiny specks of light flickered, dimming like someone was slowly turning off the stars.

Then the whispering started again. It wasn't coming from the feather this time. It was coming from everywhere.

I stopped walking. "Nope. Nope nope nope."

The whispering grew louder.... dozens of voices murmuring in a language I didn't understand. The air grew heavy, pressing against my skin like invisible hands trying to pull me down.

I turned, ready to bolt in the other direction....except there was no other direction.

The path of been walking on? Gone.

"Okay," I said forcung myself to breathe. "Not great."

I looked back at the feather. It had stopped moving. Just hung there in the air, pulsing slightly. Like it was waiting.

And then .... because my life just loves throwing curveballs....a voice cut through the whispers.

"You shouldn't be here." 

It wasn't a whisper. It was some creepy, distant voice in my head.

It was right behind me.