Run: 2026-02-17-01KHMMYS1W3QX93ZMYAT0425N4

The night air was thick with the scent of damp earth and something older, something wild. Rory adjusted the strap of her messenger bag, the Heartstone Pendant tucked safely beneath her shirt, its warmth a steady pulse against her skin. She had come to the Fae Grove for answers—Eva had been missing for three days, and the pendant, her only lead, had led her here. But the moment she stepped past the standing stones, the wrongness settled over her like a second skin. The clearing was too quiet. No rustle of leaves, no distant hoot of an owl. Just the whisper of wind through the ancient oaks, their gnarled branches twisting like skeletal fingers against the moonlit sky. The wildflowers that should have bloomed year-round were wilted, their petals blackened as if scorched. Rory’s breath hitched. This wasn’t right. None of this was right. She pulled out her phone, the screen casting an eerie blue glow over her face. No signal. Of course. She shoved it back into her pocket and forced herself to take slow, measured steps forward. The pendant hummed against her chest, its crimson glow flickering in time with her heartbeat. It was stronger here, the warmth almost uncomfortable now, like holding her hand too close to a flame. A twig snapped. Rory froze. The sound had come from behind her, near the standing stones. She turned slowly, her pulse hammering in her throat. Nothing. Just the dark outline of the oaks, their shadows stretching long and jagged across the ground. She exhaled shakily. Probably just an animal. A fox, maybe. Or a— Another snap. Closer this time. Her fingers curled into fists. “Hello?” Her voice sounded too loud in the silence. “Is someone there?” No answer. Just the wind, sighing through the trees like a held breath. She turned back toward the center of the grove, where the air shimmered faintly, as if heat rose from the ground. The pendant flared hotter, its glow seeping through the fabric of her shirt. That was where she needed to go. That was where the answers were. Or where something was waiting for her. Rory swallowed hard and stepped forward. The ground beneath her feet felt spongy, uneven. She glanced down and recoiled. The earth was shifting, tiny mounds rising and falling like the slow breath of something buried beneath the soil. She stumbled back, her boot sinking into the soft ground. A low, wet sound slithered up from below—a gurgle, a whisper, she couldn’t tell. Her stomach twisted. She yanked her foot free and ran. The shimmering air was only a few yards away now. If she could just reach it— A hand clamped around her ankle. Rory screamed, kicking wildly as she was yanked off her feet. She hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs. The hand—cold, clammy, *wrong*—tightened its grip, dragging her backward. She scrabbled at the earth, her fingers sinking into the damp soil, but there was nothing to hold onto. The pendant burned against her skin, its glow pulsing wildly now, casting jagged shadows across the ground. She twisted onto her back, her free foot lashing out. It connected with something soft, something that *gave* beneath her heel. A wet, guttural sound tore through the night, and the grip on her ankle loosened just enough for her to wrench free. She scrambled to her feet, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The thing that had grabbed her was rising from the earth. It was human-shaped, or it had been once. Its skin was stretched too tight over its bones, gray and slick with something dark. Its mouth gaped open, too wide, too many teeth glinting in the moonlight. But its eyes—its eyes were the worst. Hollow. Empty. Like staring into the bottom of a well. Rory didn’t wait to see what it would do next. She turned and ran, her boots pounding against the uneven ground. The shimmering air was right in front of her. She could see it now, a rippling curtain of darkness, like a tear in the world itself. The pendant seared against her chest, its heat almost unbearable. She didn’t think. She just leapt. The world twisted. For a heartbeat, there was nothing—no sound, no light, no sensation. Then she was falling, tumbling onto hard-packed earth. She gasped, rolling onto her side, her hands pressing into the dirt. The air here was different. Cleaner. Colder. She looked up. The standing stones loomed above her, their ancient carvings stark against the night sky. She was back at the edge of the grove. Back where she’d started. Rory pushed herself to her feet, her legs shaking. The pendant was cool against her skin now, its glow dimmed to a faint pulse. She reached for it, her fingers trembling as she pulled it out from beneath her shirt. The crimson stone was cracked, a thin black vein spiderwebbing across its surface. She had come here for answers. But all she had found was something worse than the unknown. Something that had been waiting for her.