Run: 2026-02-19-01KHTYXRV2ZJPZ9NRBZEGVSKJP

The gravel crunched under her sneakers. Each footfall sounded deafening in the sudden silence of Richmond Park after midnight. The streetlights of Chiswick receded, swallowed by the encroaching density of the woodland, leaving only the faint amber glow of her iPhone. She tapped the screen to kill the brightness, leaving the device dark against her palm. This was the third vague text, the third coordinate dropped like a breadcrumb for a hunter. Or a benefactor. The ambiguity always stuck in her craw, but the pendant provided the one thing she needed—a lifeline out of the rut of her life, out of the lingering panic of Evan’s hands. Aurora stopped. She pressed her back against the rough bark of an oak tree. Her heart hammered a slow, rhythmic beat against her ribs. She exhaled, forcing the air out until her lungs burned. "Alright, Carter. You know the drill. Assessment. Execution." She pushed off the tree, the bark scraping her coat. The GPS beeped again, a shrill sound in the quiet. She followed the line of the park road until the pavement gave way to rutted earth. The trees here were taller, the canopy thicker. Darkness hung low, a physical weight pressing down on her shoulders. It wasn’t natural night. It felt stagnant, as if the sun had set ages ago and simply refused to rise. She found the trail after ten minutes, barely a scar on the ground. It led toward the old quarry site. As she stepped off the path, the air changed. The scent of diesel and exhaust vanished, replaced by something sweet, cloying, like rotting fruit left in the summer sun. Her fingers brushed the rough stubble of a bramble; thorns pricked her skin, but the reaction was delayed. She pulled her hand away and stared at the drop of red on her thumb, confused. It hadn't hurt instantly. Ahead, the ancient oaks thinned, revealing a clearing marked by standing stones. Rough, grey pillars of earth-encrusted granite rose from the turf like teeth. They formed a rough circle, incomplete at the top. The Heartstone pendant, a rough crimson gemstone set in silver, suddenly felt heavy around her neck. It wasn't just jewelry; it was a compass. Aurora stepped into the circle. Immediately, the silence fractured. It was the sound of breathing. Not her own. Deep, rattling intakes of air that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. She spun in a circle, iPhone raised, the screen illuminating only grass. The moss was vibrant, unnaturally green, every strand upright as if tensed for flight. "It’s a prank," she said, her voice tight. "Whoever sent this. Silas? Eva? This isn't funny." The answer came not as a voice, but as the rustle of leaves. It sounded like dry parchment sliding against paper. She took a step toward the gap between two stones. The ground beneath her felt spongy, yielding in a way that felt unsettlingly liquid. The pendant warmed. The heat spread through the silver chain, a low-grade fever pressing against her sternum. It pulsed, a thump-thump-thump that synced with her own heartbeat. She looked down. The grass beneath her feet was flattened, tracing a path that led away from the stones into the trees. She moved forward. Her instincts screamed at her to run, to go back to the car, to London, to anywhere that wasn't this damp, artificial darkness. But she looked at the pendant. It wanted this. The time dilation hit her first. She glanced at her watch. 11:42 PM. She took five steps. She looked at the watch. 11:45 PM. Five more steps. She looked again. 11:48 PM. She frowned. She adjusted her stride, trying to walk faster. Ten paces. 11:50. Something in her brain clicked. The trees were casting shadows that were too long, sweeping across the ground in slow, graceful curves that mimicked a slow-motion dance. The sound of the city was gone, completely. No sirens, no distant hum. Just this place. She reached the edge of the clearing and stopped. The forest here was black, a void of absolute night. The Heartstone was burning now, hot enough to blister her skin. It pointed straight into the tree line. "Aurora?" The whisper was soft, feminine, and laced with a melodic quality that made her skin crawl. She froze. The blood drained from her face. She hadn't spoken. The sound came again, closer. To her left. Behind her. "Don't move." She clenched her fist, fighting the urge to sprint. She knew the pattern now. Panic was a wasted resource. She needed to remain cool-headed. She scanned the darkness with her peripheral vision, refusing to stare directly into the gloom. The shadows detached themselves. They were elongated, distorted, stretching toward her. They weren't cast by moonlight; they moved under their own momentum, dragging the grass with them. They were shapes of no distinct form, pulsating and dripping with a viscous silence. "Where are you?" She took a slow step backward, keeping her eyes on the dark gap between the trees. The air grew colder, smelling of ozone and old blood. A twig snapped. *Snap.* It was loud, visceral. She flinched, her head snapping toward the sound. The darkness shifted. A shape emerged from the undergrowth. It was humanoid, tall, but it moved with a jerky, insectoid motion. It had no face, just a smooth, featureless visage of pale, wet bark. Aurora raised her free hand. "Back off." The thing stopped. It tilted its head. A sound like grinding stones issued from its throat. Then came the scuttling. Dozens of tiny legs dragging on soil. She looked down. The low-hanging branches of a gnarled tree swayed. Something dropped from the foliage and landed on her shoulder. She screamed and flung her arm out, shaking it violently. It was small, the size of a rat, but hairless, with skin the color of raw liver and too many eyes clustered on one side of its face. It didn't bite. It didn't scurry away. It just hung there, its too-large mouth opening in a silent scream. The air pressure dropped, heavy as a lead blanket. The Heartstone stopped pulsing. The warmth vanished, replaced by a freezing ice that seemed to seep into her marrow. She looked up at the standing stones behind her. They looked different now. They were pulsating in time with the thing on her shoulder. The stone faces were visible, warped and screaming. *What have you done?* The thought entered her head clearly, without a speaker. It sounded like a lawyer, cold and precise. Aurora forced herself to breathe. She had to use her hands. She grabbed the creature by the waist and heaved it backward. It landed with a wet slap, twisting in the air. It tried to scurry back toward her, its multiple legs clicking frantically. She kicked it away. She turned, looking for a weapon. A rock. A branch. Anything. She saw a fallen tree limb, thick and heavy. She ran toward it, her boots sinking into the sodden earth. The creature scuttled after her, faster than it had any right to be. It was right on her heels, a dry rattle filling the space between her shoulder blades. She lunged for the branch. Her fingers closed around the wood just as the creature leaped. It hit her back, knocking the wind out of her. She hit the ground hard, rolling away, the pendant bouncing against her chest. The creature landed on its feet, hissing, its wet skin hissing like steam. Aurora scrambled back, turning to face it. She raised the heavy branch. The creature didn't retreat. It simply watched her. *You are not leaving.* The voice was in her head again. This time, the mental image was a cage of thorns closing tight. She looked at the pendant. The stone was dark, absorbing the little light from her phone. She gripped the branch, sweat dripping from her nose. She was unarmed, trapped in a place where time didn't move and the rules of physics were mere suggestions. The creature took a step forward. Its movement was smooth, predatory. Aurora swallowed, forcing the shaking out of her legs. She wasn't going to die here. She wasn't going to let Evan’s ghost haunt her in this twisted Hell. She looked at the standing stones. The gap between them was growing. "Watch this," she muttered, her voice shaking but steady. She slammed the branch down. The creature shrieked, a sound that tore at the reality of the grove, and lunged. Aurora dropped the branch. She grabbed the pendant. She didn't run; she stepped into the gap between the stones, not toward the light of London, but into the deeper black of the wood, letting the creature crash into the granite where she had stood a moment before. She ran blindly, the cold seeping into her lungs, the Heartstone burning a trail through the dark. Behind her, the stone circle began to ring.