Run: 2026-02-19-01KHTR5M2CQVP15QP0RXVFRTYT

Aurora's footsteps crunched on fallen leaves as she approached the ancient oak stones marking the Grove's boundary. The full moon cast long shadows through Richmond Park's trees, but something about the darkness felt different tonight. Wrong. She clutched the Heartstone pendant, its familiar warmth offering little comfort. The crimson gem pulsed against her palm with an intensity she'd never felt before, almost burning. "Just get in, get the book, get out," she whispered to herself. Her breath fogged in the autumn air. The standing stones loomed ahead, their weathered surfaces catching the moonlight. Usually, crossing the threshold filled her with a sense of wonder. Tonight, the air felt thick, resistant, like pushing through cobwebs. Inside the Grove, the eternal wildflowers seemed muted, their colors washed out in the pale light. No breeze stirred their petals. The ambient sounds of London that normally filtered through - distant traffic, aircraft overhead - had vanished, replaced by a heavy silence. Aurora pulled her phone out to check the time: 11:47 PM. She'd told Eva she'd be back by midnight. The Grove's time-warping tendencies made that promise uncertain. A twig snapped somewhere behind her. She spun around, heart jumping into her throat, but saw only darkness between the trees. The shadows seemed deeper here, more absolute than they should be. "Hello?" Her voice sounded flat, dead in the still air. The crescent scar on her wrist itched - an old tell from childhood when she felt scared. She forced herself to move forward along the familiar path toward the hollow tree where she'd hidden the grimoire. The Heartstone's pulse quickened against her chest, matching her rising heartbeat. Something moved at the edge of her vision - a flicker of darkness darker than the shadows. Aurora turned her head sharply, but it vanished. Her scalp prickled. The hollow tree stood twenty paces ahead. Another movement in her peripheral vision, this time to her left. She kept her eyes forward, fighting the urge to run. A whisper floated on the air - not words, but a sound like dry leaves scraping stone. It came from everywhere and nowhere. "Stop it," she hissed through clenched teeth. "This is your imagination." The Heartstone burned fierce enough to make her gasp. She yanked it away from her skin, holding it out by its silver chain. The crimson gem cast a bloody light that only made the shadows deeper. Five paces from the tree. The whispers grew louder, a susurration of voices just below comprehension. Aurora's hands shook as she reached for the hollow. The bark felt wrong under her fingers - soft, yielding, like touching flesh. She jerked back with a choked cry. The whispers stopped. In the absolute silence that followed, Aurora heard breathing that wasn't her own - wet, ragged breaths from just behind her right shoulder. She closed her eyes. "Please be nothing. Please be nothing." Hot air brushed the back of her neck. Aurora ran. She crashed through the underbrush, branches whipping her face. The breathing followed, closer now, accompanied by the sound of something heavy moving through the trees. The standing stones appeared ahead, but they looked wrong - twisted, their shapes distorted like melting wax. The Heartstone's light pulsed in time with her frantic heartbeat, painting everything in strobing crimson. A root caught her foot. Aurora sprawled forward, throwing out her hands to break her fall. The impact drove the air from her lungs. The thing behind her stopped moving. Aurora lay there, lungs burning, afraid to move. Afraid to look. The silence pressed down like a physical weight. A drop of something warm and wet landed on the back of her neck.