Run: 2026-02-19-01KHTQVYZWWSQ63RWHKMZQCN3J

The pendant around Rory's neck pulsed with an unnatural warmth as she stepped into the moonlit grove. Ancient oak standing stones marked the boundary of this place that existed somewhere between her world and another. Wildflowers bloomed in vivid colors, defying the November chill. She shouldn't be here. Not alone, not at night. But the strange gemstone embedded in silver, left on her pillow by an unknown hand, had drawn her to this place. It thrummed against her chest, urging her deeper into the glade. Dead leaves crunched under her boots. Mist snaked around her ankles. The air smelled of damp earth and, faintly, of decay. Rory's heart thudded against her ribs, an echoing drumbeat to the pendant's rhythm. A rustling in the shadows made her spin around. "Who's there?" Her voice trembled. "Show yourself!" Silence answered. The back of her neck prickled, as if unseen eyes watched from the darkness. Rory walked on, drawn forward despite her mounting fear. Twisted branches grasped at her hair and snagged her coat. A flutter of wings, too large for any bird, sent her heart into her throat. She whirled, but saw only the slow beat of the mist, disturbed by some passing creature. A sound — a mutter, or a sigh – froze her in her tracks. It came from everywhere and nowhere, fading into a heavy, waiting silence. The pendant's warmth had become a burn. It shuddered with each rapid beat of her pulse. She should leave. Every instinct screamed it. But her legs wouldn't obey. They carried her on, muscles rigid, through the grasping fog, drawn forward by the stone's relentless pull. It's just her imagination, her mind trying to spook her, she told herself. A bit of adrenaline, nothing more. The grove was empty. She was alone. Then she heard it. A ragged, shuddering breath, loud in the stillness. A breath that wasn't her own. Slowly, she turned. Darkness condensed into form. Two eyes flashed in the moonlight, crimson and inhuman. They glittered like rubies, like the pendant. They regarded her with cold intelligence, older and more terrible than any mortal thing should possess. A voice wisped through her head, as thin as the wind. He comes. He searches. He will find you if you stay. Rory felt the blood drain from her face. The shadows – they were alive. They writhed around the creature's edges. It held out a hand, black claws glinting. In its palm lay another pendant, the twin to hers. That gem throbbed in time with her heartbeat. A headache blossomed behind Rory's eyes, a sharp, stabbing pain. The world tilted. She stumbled, falling to one knee. The pendant's chain bit into her throat. Run, whispered the voice, like the rustle of dead leaves. Run while you can. He will find you. Rory lurched to her feet. Nausea cramped her stomach. A rushing filled her ears: the sound of wings, or distant screams of terror. Spots swam before her eyes. She staggered, spinning back the way she'd come. The mist clung to her, a clammy shroud. She could no longer see the path, the standing stones, anything beyond a few feet in any direction. A shadow rose at her side, shapeless and huge. Another loomed before her. Another. Another. They pressed close, a suffocating wall, ranks of night given form. The amulet pulsed frantically now, its metal scorching through her shirt. The twin gemstones called to each other, thrumming in tandem so hard she felt their vibration in her teeth. In one motion, Rory ripped the chain from her neck and flung it away. The instant the metal left her skin, the headache vanished. Her head cleared. The nausea faded. A wail went up, inhuman and utterly desolate. It rose to an agonized shriek that iced her bones. The shadows rushed toward the sound, a dark and churning mass. Ignited by the pendant's light, they swarmed in a vortex, faster and faster, blurring at the edges until they collapsed into a single unfathomable point. Rory ran. Behind her, the wail cut off. She didn't look back. The mist parted before her, an unseen force propelling her through the grove. The standing stones appeared, ancient guardians wreathed in fog. She dove between them, back into the cold light of the sane, lawful world. Breath sawed in her lungs as she raced headlong into the night. She didn't stop until she reached the edge of the woods, her flat, the safety of known things. But she knew now. Knew with the deep, unshakable certainty that comes with terror, that the pendants were no mere trinkets. They were keys to something older and more haunted than she'd ever imagined. And someone had wanted her to find them, had led her to that place. gettimeofday() returned 0.<|reserved_special_token_238|> The answer is: 0