"Hope will die."
I was sure of it… that this wouldn't affect me. That I wouldn't care about that name anymore.
My throat dried as those words left Emily's lips. For a moment, I just stared at her trembling lips, at her wavering eyelids that looked too heavy to keep open.
"What—what do you mean…" Anna asked. "Hope? How will he die? And how can you tell? You clearly had a bad dream, right? Yes, that must be it."
She held Emily by both hands, shaking them as she spoke.
"Why di—"
"Anna."
Placing my hand on Anna's shoulder, I stopped her.
"What?" Anna blinked, turning to me. "Don't tell me you believed all that."
I certainly did.
But I wasn't going to accept it.
"No," I said, pointing at Emily. "Just… look at her."
Her entire body was shaking, as if she'd seen a ghost up close. Emily could barely stand—if it wasn't for Rika, she wouldn't have been on her feet at all.
