The storm had passed, but the air still trembled with unease.
Analie stood in the doorway of Aunt Claire's kitchen, soaked and pale, her heart still thrumming from the vision Selene had shown her. The truth hung heavy in her chest, like a stone dropped in deep water Chris. Ethan. The betrayal. The blade.
Aunt Claire turned from the stove, her brows knitting the moment she saw Analie's face.
"You saw it, didn't you?" she asked softly.
Analie nodded, unable to speak. Claire moved quickly, guiding her to a chair, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders like when she was a child and came in from a thunderstorm.
"I watched Ethan die," Analie whispered at last. "I watched Chris kill him."
Claire's jaw tensed, but she didn't look shocked. "I suspected it," she said after a long moment. "But it was never my truth to confirm."
"You knew?" Analie's voice cracked.
"I saw how Chris looked at you. How his smile never reached his eyes after Ethan was gone. The kind of obsession that doesn't fade it festers."
Analie buried her face in her hands. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you wouldn't have believed it without proof. You had to see it for yourself. And now you have."
She looked up. "Selene showed me. It wasn't just a memory it was real. I felt it. The weight of it all."
Claire sat across from her, voice steady but urgent. "Then you need to be more careful now than ever. Chris is not just a liar he's dangerous. And whatever he's become, it's not just about you anymore. The darkness he's feeding It's alive."
Analie nodded. "Selene said the shadow is tied to him through guilt. If we break that bond…"
"Then we weaken its hold." Claire's eyes sharpened. "But that won't be easy. He's been living a lie for years. People who bury truth that deep will do anything to keep it hidden."
"I have Ethan's journal," Analie said. "And now I have the vision. I want to confront him. Make him face it."
Claire reached out, placing a warm hand over hers. "You'll get your justice. But you must be smart. If you go at him head-on, he'll twist the story. He's already trying to manipulate you emotionally."
Analie's lips parted slightly. "He kissed me."
Claire's face darkened. "Of course he did. He thinks he can replace Ethan rewrite history by slipping into his place."
"I thought I could trust my heart," Analie murmured. "But it's like my mind is screaming while my heart keeps wandering down the same path."
Claire leaned forward, her voice low but fierce. "Trusting your heart doesn't mean ignoring the truth. It means knowing the difference between love and longing. You miss Ethan. You ache for the connection you lost. Chris is using that ache to make you see him as a savior. But he's the storm you're running from."
The silence that followed was thick with unspoken pain.
"I won't fall for it again," Analie said finally. "I'll get close enough to finish this. But not for love for justice."
Claire stood and walked to the pantry. From behind a row of flour jars, she pulled out a small, velvet-wrapped bundle.
"What's that?" Analie asked.
Claire placed it on the table and unwrapped it carefully, revealing a silver pendant with a dull green gem set in its center. The metal shimmered faintly, like it remembered magic.
"It belonged to your mother," she said. "And hers before her. It's a charm of clarity it will protect your mind from illusion. You'll see things and people as they truly are."
Analie touched the pendant gently. It was warm.
"I'm ready," she said.
Claire shook her head slightly. "No. You're becoming ready. But readiness isn't a moment it's a process. There are still things you need to uncover."
Analie looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"
Claire's voice dropped to a whisper. "You're not the only one who saw Ethan that night."
Analie's heart jumped. "Who else?"
Claire met her eyes. "There was someone else in the woods. A girl. She was in love with Chris… and she disappeared shortly after Ethan's funeral. No one ever looked for her."
The room grew cold.
"She might be the final piece," Claire continued. "The one who knows what Chris did after Ethan died."
Analie stood slowly. "Then I'll find her."
Claire nodded, pride in her eyes. "Good. But be careful. The deeper you go, the more the shadow will fight back."
Analie clasped the pendant around her neck. It pulsed against her skin.
"I'm done being afraid," she said.
Because now the shadow had a name, a face, and a fear:
The truth.
And she would wield it like a blade.