Run: 2026-02-19-01KHTR2XTW4ZCRH52FH7FGAC9X

A thick mist snaked through the trees, winding its way around Rory's ankles as she picked her way carefully along the overgrown path. The full moon overhead cast an eerie glow, casting long shadows that danced at the edges of her vision. She'd been warned not to come to Richmond Park after dark, but desperation had driven her to seek out the Fae Grove. The locket tucked beneath her shirt felt heavy against her sternum, pulsing softly with an inner warmth. Rory paused, head tilted as she listened intently. The normal nocturnal sounds of the park were strangely absent - no hooting owls or rustling small mammals. Just an unsettling silence that pressed in on her from all sides. She quickened her pace, heart thudding dully in her chest. The ancient oaks that marked the boundary of the Grove loomed ahead, their twisted branches reaching out like fingers. As she stepped between two of the monoliths, the air shimmered and the woods around her rippled and warped. Colors stretched and ran together in watercolor swirls before solidifying into a new scene. Rory spun in a slow circle, taking in the hidden clearing. The mist had thickened into a choking fog that obscured her footprints behind her. Unlike the late autumn bareness of the rest of the park, vibrant wildflowers carpeted the ground in a riot of color, their sweet fragrance cloying in the still air. "Hello?" Her voice trembled slightly and she cleared her throat, trying again. "Is anyone here?" Only silence greeted her call. With a deep breath to steel herself, Rory ventured deeper into the Grove. The locket began to grow warmer, an insistent thrumming against her skin. She reached the center of the clearing and looked around wildly. The fog seemed to darken, coalescing into shadowy figures that flickered at the edge of her vision. Whispers slithered through the mist, insidious sibilant hissing that raised gooseflesh on her arms. Rory whirled, trying to pinpoint their source. "Show yourself!" A knotted wind tore through the clearing, wrenching the breath from her lungs and leaving her gasping. The whispers grew louder, more insistent, voices overlapping in a cacophony of sound that battered against her eardrums. The shadows drew closer, reaching for her with dark tendrils. Spinning desperately, Rory groped for the locket and pulled it free of her shirt. The stone pulsed bright red, flooding the clearing with a scarlet glow that pierced the fog. "Please, I just want to go home," Rory whimpered, falling to her knees as the wind whipped her hair into stinging tendrils. "I didn't mean to come here. I just want to leave!" The gusts died down as suddenly as they'd begun, the shadows fading back into the mist. An eerie calm descended over the Grove, broken only by the sound of Rory's ragged breathing. A soft glow coalesced in front of her, coiling into the shape of a woman. Long hair the color of moonlight streamed down her back and her eyes sparked with roaring fire. "Foolish mortal," the woman chided in a voice that cracked like burning wood. "This is no place for the likes of you. Twice now you trespass where you ought not be." "I-I didn't know," Rory stammered. She shrank back as the fiery eyes raked over her. "I was drawn here. The locket - it led me to the Grove." "Ah, yes," the woman mused, drifting closer to examine the pulsing stone. "A trinket from my wayward daughter. But why, I wonder, were you chosen to receive it?" Rory squeezed her eyes shut, trembling violently. "I don't know. Please, just let me go. I swear I won't come back." The fae woman was silent for a long moment. Then, with a tinkling laugh that sounded like shattering glass, she waved a hand and the fog parted. "Very well, little mouse. I give you a glimpse of the mercy my daughter once knew. Be grateful for it." Rory didn't need to be told twice. She scrabbled to her feet, knocking over wildflowers in her haste to flee. The locket chilled against her skin, in stark contrast to the burn of the fae's stare prickling down her backbone. She nearly sobbed in relief when she spotted the arch of oaks that marked the exit from the clearing. Just as her foot crossed the threshold, Rory glanced back over her shoulder. The clearing had already warped away, leaving her standing under the moonlit canopy of Richmond Park. A shudder ripped through her and she broke into a stumbling run, not stopping until she reached the safety of her little flat above Silas' bar. Only then did she allow herself to collapse onto the bed and release the scream that had clawed its way up her throat.