Run: 2026-02-19-01KHTR2D403986SAY73DKMWZYM

Rory's sneakers crunched on the gravel path as she entered the moonlit grove. Ancient oak standing stones loomed around her, casting eerie shadows across the wildflowers that bloomed impossibly in the November chill. She shouldn't be here. Silas and the others had warned her not to return to the Fae grove. But the Heartstone pendant, warm against her skin, had guided her here again. It knew something she didn't. A twig snapped somewhere in the darkness beyond the stones. Rory whirled, black hair whipping around her face. "Who's there?" Her voice shook slightly. Nothing but silence answered. Blowing out a tense breath, she ventured further in. The deeper she went, the more the sensation of wrongness grew. A clammy chill slithered up her spine. Her heart raced like a hummingbird's wings. She rounded a bend - and froze. The heartstone surged with heat. Light pulsed from it in rhythmic beats. It had never done that before. Rory's gaze landed on the far edge of the clearing. A shimmer distorted the air, like heat rising off summer pavement. She squinted against the brightness. There was...a hole? The longer she stared, the clearer it became. A ragged gash hovered two feet off the ground, edges peeled back, a porthole to...where? Shadows churned within. An unnatural wind slashed through the grove, ripping leaves from branches, lashing Rory's hair. She staggered back. The neon lights of the city blinked mockingly down at her. Behind her, the sounds of footfalls carried over the howling wind. She spun around but the path stretched empty before her. A presence prickled along her skin, almost taunting her. Whatever it was, it grew closer. Her breath fogged in front of her face, though the night wasn't nearly cold enough for that. She pivoted in a slow circle but could see no one. Yet the weight of another's gaze pressed on her, laden with sinister intent. "Who are you? What do you want?" Her voice barely rose over the moaning wind. She cursed herself for not bringing a weapon. The standing stones seemed to tilt inward. The gash pulsed, drawing her closer even as revulsion turned her stomach. Sweat slicked her palms. She stumbled back. The Heartstone's glow intensified to painful levels. Rory sucked in a gasp, throwing up a hand to shield her eyes. Theuntary step forward. With a monumental effort, she tore her gaze away. "No!" Her choked scream shredded her throat. "I won't!" But her feet shuffled forward of their own accord. Apparently, refusal wasn't an option. The portal loomed before her, blinding, churning, hungry. Wrong. Her outstretched hands broke the plane of the portal. Freezing agony seized her like a fist. She screamed. Her bones twisted. Splintered. Knitted back together. Her heart stuttered, squeezed by an unseen grip. Black spots bloomed in her vision. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't see. The scream died in her clogging throat. The portal pulled her in, bit by bit, a beast devouring its prey. Rory wrestled against its hold. Frigid oil slithered into her mind, snuffing out her thoughts. Memories flashed. Begging at the grove's edge. Her abduction. Her tortured screams. Then nothing at all. She flailed desperately, scrabbling for the Heartstone. It seared her icy fingers, bright and alive. Warmth exploded from it, seeping into her marrow. With strength born of desperation, Rory ripped free of the portal's watery grasp and staggered back. She fell to her hands and knees, gasping. Behind her, a growl rattled the air. Hot breath gusted over her neck. She flipped over, kicking wildly. The shadow sprang. It crashed into her chest, slamming her into the ground. Claws like shards of ice punctured her shoulders. A distorted muzzle dripping marrow and viscera descended toward her face. The Heartstone's red light exploded through her. The world erupted in a firestorm of agony and ecstasy, life and death, destruction and rebirth. The shadow wailed - a shredding, unearthly keen. Then it vanished. Aching all over, Rory rolled to her side. The portal was gone, the wind died to a whisper. Only her frantic breaths stirred the air. A final scream, her own, shredded the night. Then nothing at all.