Tilted too wide. Her eyes blinked just a second too slow. And when Grace leaned in to kiss her cheek, she didn’t react at first - like she had to rember how.
Jude noticed first. Then Rose.
They didn’t say anything.
Not yet.
Later that day, when everyone took turns gathering food, Jude pulled Rose aside.
"She’s changed," he said.
Rose nodded. "Like Layla. Like Zoey. That’s three."
"She didn’t go into the woods. She didn’t touch the arch."
Rose stared at the trees. "She didn’t have to. She was near us. And we were close to it. It’s moving faster now."
Jude’s stomach turned. "Then we isolate her?"
Rose shook her head. "That’ll only speed it up. She’ll cling to the influence more if she feels alone."
"Then what?"
"We watch. We love her. But we don’t turn our backs."
That night, Jude didn’t sleep at all. He stayed awake with Rose and Sophie on either side of him, their breathing soft against his chest. Stella slept curled around Grace, her lips parted, smiling in that sa too-wide way.
And behind her eyes, sothing waited.
Jude watched Stella’s sleeping face in the dim light of the fire, every soft flicker revealing more of what he didn’t want to see. Her mouth, slightly open, held that unnatural curve - a mimicry of peace stretched too far, too controlled. Her breathing was steady, her body warm, but sothing about her felt... hollowed. Like she’d left and sothing else was puppeting the shell she left behind.
He hadn’t said anything to the others. Not yet. Not even to Sophie, who had dozed lightly against his chest, arms wrapped loosely around his waist. Rose stirred beside him now and then, her leg brushing against his under the shared blanket. Layla slept on his other side, one arm thrown across his stomach, her breath warm against his skin. It should have been comforting. Instead, it felt like a countdown.
By morning, the tension hadn’t faded. If anything, it thickened like fog around the camp. Breakfast was quiet - no teasing, no flirtation, just silent glances passed around the circle as they chewed fruit and shared dried fish. Stella smiled at everyone, humming softly to herself as she braided Grace’s hair with practiced fingers.
No one asked her about Natalie. No one asked what she dread last night.
Jude’s eyes t Zoey’s across the fire. Her jaw clenched slightly, and he knew - she saw it too.
After breakfast, they split into groups. It was Sophie’s idea. "We need to keep moving," she said. "Get out of our heads for a while. Go back to routine. That’s what we’ve always done."
Jude and Layla took the path to the river to collect water. Zoey and Susan went into the eastern forest to search for berries. Emma and Lucy stayed behind to reinforce the treehouse, while Stella, Rose, and Grace volunteered to explore beyond the clearing where the arch stood. That alone was enough to make Jude uneasy.
He pulled Rose aside before she left.
"Take Sophie instead," he whispered.
"She needs rest," Rose replied calmly. "And Grace is safer with ."
"She’s not the one I’m worried about."
Rose leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Trust ."
He didn’t. But he let her go.
By midday, the sky had darkened again - not quite rain, not quite storm. Just the sa brooding gray that had hovered over them since the monster first appeared. The forest felt heavier than usual, like the trees pressed closer, like the earth listened.
At the river, Jude and Layla filled their gourds in silence. Neither had spoken much during the walk, and now the silence between them stretched taut like a rope. Finally, Layla looked up at him, her hands wet, her hair tied back ssily.
"She’s not herself."
Jude t her gaze. "You feel it too."
"Rose has changed," she said softly. "Not in the way I did. Not exactly. But I can tell. And Stella... she’s already gone."
Jude crouched by the water’s edge. "Then what do we do?"
Layla hesitated. "We wait. We stay close. We don’t let the circle break."
He glanced at her. "What if the circle’s already broken?"
She didn’t answer. But her hand found his, and she squeezed it tightly.
They returned just before dusk. Zoey and Susan ca in shortly after, their baskets full of fruit. "No issues," Zoey said flatly. "But the northern ridge looks strange. Like sothing’s been... nesting."
That word made everyone stop.
"Nesting?" Sophie asked.
Zoey nodded. "There’s fur. Bones. Pieces of sothing’s kills. Arranged in a spiral."
"Sa spiral from the tree carvings?" Lucy asked.
Zoey’s voice dropped. "Worse. Bigger. Cruder. Like claws scraped it."
The fire crackled in the center of the camp. Jude looked around. "Where’s Rose?"
They waited.
Grace ca out of the trees alone a few minutes later. She looked pale, shaken.
"She told us to co ahead," she said, sitting down heavily. "She wanted to take another look near the arch. Said she heard sothing whispering."
Sophie was already on her feet. "We don’t split anymore, rember?"
"She insisted," Grace murmured. "She said it was safer if she went alone."
Jude stood next. "I’m going after her."
"I’ll co," Sophie said.
"No," he said gently. "Stay here. If she doesn’t co back, I’ll bring her. If sothing else does... you’ll know."
He left without waiting for argunt.
The woods were darker than they should’ve been. The path toward the clearing wound tightly, and the shadows moved differently here, like they leaned in the wrong direction. The trees didn’t whisper; they listened. Jude gripped the axe in his hand tighter, stepping over roots, ducking under low-hanging vines.
He heard the humming before he saw the light.
The arch still pulsed.
Rose stood in front of it, hands outstretched.
She was barefoot. Her dress hung loosely from her shoulders, the hem torn slightly as if caught on thorns. Her head tilted gently, swaying with the rhythm of the shimr inside the arch.
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