Chapter 2
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**1. The Thing at the Door**
The door swung open—but no one stood there.
Just *darkness*, thick and swirling like ink.
Elias shoved Lila behind him, his scars flaring silver. "Don't look at it," he warned.
Too late.
The darkness coalesced into a woman—flaxen hair, Lila's freckles, a smile stretched too wide. "Sister," Clara crooned, stepping forward. "You left me in the clocktower. Don't you remember?"
Lila's breath caught. A flash of memory:
— Herself, younger, sobbing as she locked a screaming Clara inside the tower.
Elias dragging her away, his voice raw: "She's not your sister anymore."
"Liar," Lila whispered. "I don't have a sister."
Clara's face *rippled*, revealing rotting flesh beneath. "Because you *killed* me."
Elias snarled, "Enough." His hand clamped over Lila's eyes—
—And the world *screamed*.
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**2. The Escape**
When Lila opened her eyes, they were running through the graveyard, Elias's grip vise-like around her hand. Behind them, the loft burned, shadows writhing in the flames.
"What was that?!" she panted.
Elias didn't slow. "A Hollow One wearing your guilt. They feed on memories—especially the painful ones."
Ahead, the clocktower loomed, its hands frozen at midnight.
Lila dug in her heels. "Why are we going *there*?!"
He turned, his face inches from hers. "Because it's where this *started*. Where *we* started." His thumb brushed her cheek. "Trust me?"
Her heart answered before her mind could. "Always."
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**3. The Clocktower's Secret**
Inside, the tower was a time capsule.
Faded newspapers plastered the walls
"Local Girl Vanishes, 1987"…
"Tragic Accident at Clocktower, 2003"—all featuring girls who looked *suspiciously* like Lila.
And in the center…
A *circle* of lockets, identical to hers.
Elias knelt, touching one. "They all remembered, like you. But the town took them before I could help."
Lila's voice shook. "Why am I different?"
He stood, cradling her face. "Because you're the only one who ever *chose* me back."
Then—
A *chime*.
The clock's hands *moved* for the first time in decades.
Midnight.
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**4. The Kiss That Awakens**
The ground trembled. Shadows oozed from the walls.
"It's happening again," Elias hissed. "The cycle."
Lila gripped his shirt. "How do we stop it?"
His eyes dropped to her lips. "Break the curse."
"How?"
"A *real* kiss. Not just memory—promise."
Their mouths met, and this time—
— Light exploded.
The lockets glowed.
The shadows shrieked.
And Lila remembered everything.
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**5. The Truth**
She tore away, gasping. "I *did* have a sister. Clara… she's wasn't *mine*. She was *yours*."
Elias flinched.
"You loved her," Lila pressed. "And the town *took* her. That's why you've been saving the others. Not for me—for *her*."
His silence was confession enough.
Outside, the wind howled Clara's name.
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**6. The Lie Unravels**
The clocktower shuddered around them, dust raining from the rafters. Lila stumbled back from Elias, her hands trembling.
"All this time…" Her voice cracked. "You were using me to bring *her* back."
Elias's face was ashen. "It wasn't like that—"
"Then what was it?!" She grabbed one of the lockets from the floor—another girl, another life. "Did you kiss them all too? Whisper promises just to dig up their memories?"
The symbols on his arms flickered, dimming. "I *tried* to let you go. But you kept *coming back*. Every lifetime, you find me. And every time, I—"
A deafening *crack* cut him off.
The locket in Lila's palm *shattered*.
Silver shards sliced her skin. Blood dripped onto the floorboards—and where it fell, the wood *rotted*, black veins spreading like poison.
Clara's voice echoed from the walls: "You broke it, sister. Now you'll *join* me."
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**7. The Hollowing**
Lila's knees gave out.
Something was *wrong*. Her skin prickled, her vision doubling. When she looked down, her fingertips were *transparent*.
"I'm disappearing," she whispered.
Elias caught her before she hit the ground.
"No. No, not again—" His hands glowed silver, pressing over her heart. "Take my energy. Take *all* of it."
Warmth flooded her chest—but the moment it did, Elias *choked*, his scars burning black.
"Stop!" Lila shoved him away. "You're killing yourself!"
"Better me than you." He coughed blood..
"I can't watch you die *again*."
The tower groaned. The lockets on the floor *rose*, floating midair, each one snapping open to reveal photographs of the missing girls—all with their eyes *scratched out*.
Clara's laughter swelled. "Too late, Elias. She's *mine* now."
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**8. The Choice**
Lila's body was fading fast, the edges of her blurring like smoke.
Elias gripped her face, desperate. "There's one way. But you have to *choose* it."
"How?"
"Take my place." His thumb brushed her cheekbone. "Become what I am. A Keeper. The town can't erase you if you're part of it."
Her breath hitched. "And you?"
His silence said everything.
To save her, he'd have to *die*.
The lockets began to *spin*, faster and faster, a cyclone of lost girls and broken promises.
Clara's voice was a scream now: "DECIDE!"
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**9. The Last Kiss**
Lila made her choice.
She kissed him.
Not for memories. Not for magic.
But for *goodbye*.
Elias's breath stuttered against her lips—then his body *stiffened*. Golden light erupted from his scars, pouring into her.
"No—*Elias*, NO—"
He smiled as his skin turned to ash. "This time… remember me."
Then he was gone.
And Lila—
Lila *screamed*.
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**10. The New Keeper**
The tower fell silent.
The lockets clattered to the floor.
Lila knelt in the wreckage, her hands no longer fading—but changed.
Silver scars curled up her wrists.
Power hummed in her veins.
And in the mirror across the room, Clara's reflection smirked back at her.
"Welcome home, sister."
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To Be Continued…