The storm rolled in fast.
Dark clouds gathered low over the town like a warning. Analie stood at her bedroom window, eyes fixed on the horizon. Lightning licked the sky in jagged bursts, followed by a low growl of thunder that seemed to rumble through her bones.
Ethan's journal lay open on her desk, its final entries still etched into her memory. His fear. His hope that she would find the truth. And now, with each revelation, the shadow Selene warned her about felt closer.
It wasn't just watching anymore.
It was circling.
The lights flickered once. Then again. Analie turned slowly, heart thudding.
"Claire?" she called out.
No answer.
She stepped into the hallway. The silence pressed against her ears, thick and wrong.
And then came the whisper.
Analie…
She froze. The voice was unmistakable Ethan's. But twisted. Warped.
Her breath hitched. "Ethan?"
A door slammed downstairs. Analie rushed down, her bare feet thudding against the wooden steps.
The front door creaked open by itself, letting in a gust of wind and rain.
Beyond the porch, the night was unnaturally still.
Then she saw him.
Ethan.
Standing in the middle of the yard, drenched, unmoving, head tilted in that familiar way.
Her heart stuttered.
But it wasn't him. Not really.
The moment she stepped outside, the illusion broke. His form flickered like a bad projection too tall, too distorted, eyes too black. And behind him, the air shimmered… like a rip in the fabric of reality.
A portal.
A doorway.
The shadow had opened something.
Analie backed away, but the figure lunged, faster than thought, screaming with Ethan's voice warped by agony.
And suddenly, Selene was there.
Her form exploded from the storm itself, wings of moonlight flaring wide as she slammed into the creature, sending it screeching backward.
"Inside!" Selene shouted. "Now!"
Analie turned and ran, slamming the door shut behind her. A second later, it cracked and groaned under invisible force.
Selene shimmered through the wall like mist, landing in the center of the room. "It's started."
"What was that?!" Analie gasped.
"A fragment. A mimic. The shadow's attempt to break you." Selene's glow pulsed dimly, her form flickering. "But it took strength to repel it. I won't be able to do that alone again." Analie trembled, adrenaline still coursing through her veins. "Why use Ethan's voice?"
"To weaken your resolve. To make you doubt your path."
"It didn't work."
Selene studied her, a rare hint of pride in her eyes. "Then you're ready."
Analie stepped closer. "Ready for what?"
"To walk into the darkness, not just run from it. The shadow is bound to Chris by guilt and denial. If you're going to sever that bond, you'll need more than truth. You'll need power."
Analie swallowed hard. "How?"
Selene raised her hands, palms glowing. "Through memory. And through pain. You must revisit the moment of Ethan's death not as it was told to you, but as it truly happened." Analie's pulse quickened. "You can show me?"
"I can take you there."
The air around them shimmered.
"Wait," Analie said. "Aunt Claire she needs to know."
"She already knows," Selene whispered. "She's preparing, in her own way."
Analie closed her eyes. "Then do it."
The world spun.
And in an instant, she was no longer in her home.
She stood in the woods near the edge of campus. The wind rustled the trees, birds chirped time felt suspended.
Footsteps approached.
She turned and there he was.
Ethan.
Alive. Smiling.
And Chris beside him, expression tight with something between grief and envy.
"No one else ever sees you the way I do," Ethan was saying, glancing up at the trees.
"Especially Chris. I think he's pulling away."
"I'm not pulling away," Chris replied coldly. "I'm just tired of being invisible."
Ethan turned slowly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Chris didn't answer. Instead, he pulled something from his coat.
A sharp flash of silver.
Analie screamed, but the memory didn't hear her.
The blade met flesh. Ethan fell.
And Chris… cried. Not from remorse. From relief.
"I'm sorry," Chris whispered. "I just couldn't lose her too."
The vision cracked like glass.
When Analie returned to her body, she collapsed to her knees.
Selene knelt beside her. "Now you've seen it. The truth."
Analie's hands shook, but her voice was steel. "He killed Ethan to win me."
"And now," Selene said, "you must decide how far you're willing to go to stop him and the shadow that's feeding on what he's become."
Analie stood slowly, blood pounding in her ears.
"I'll go as far as I have to."
The shadow had beckoned.
But Analie was no longer afraid to answer.