Don't look back
We ran.
No shoes. No light. Just fog and fear and the sound of our own breath crashing like waves.
Behind us
Laughter.
Wrong laughter.
Like it had been stitched together from something that used to be human.
"Faster," Kael said, dragging me over a fallen log. "Don't stop. Don't look."
My legs were burning. My chest felt like knives.
But I didn't argue.
Whatever was chasing us wasn't a dream.
It wasn't memory.
It was real.
And it knew his name.
"Left," Kael barked, yanking me through a thorny path.
Branches clawed at my arms, sharp and wet with dew...or blood. I didn't know anymore. I couldn't tell what was mine.
We burst into a clearing.
Dead trees. No wind. The air thick like syrup.
My body was screaming to stop.
But Kael wasn't slowing.
He looked back once not behind us. At me.
And I saw it then.
The fear.
The real kind. The kind that didn't just want to run.
The kind that knew this thing could take everything.
Even me.
"She died in my arms," he whispered like he was reminding himself. "I watched her burn."
I opened my mouth to speak...
Snap.
Behind us.
Too close.
Too close.
Kael pushed me forward, eyes glowing faintly gold.
"We're near the river," he said. "It hates water. Maybe...."
Rustle.
To our left.
Then the voice again.
This time, softer. Mocking.
"Kael," it purred, "you're scared."
I felt something cold graze the back of my neck.
I didn't scream.
I couldn't.
Kael grabbed me. Spun me behind him.
His hands were trembling now, heat leaking from his skin like barely leashed magic.
"She used to hum when we were scared," he said.
I swallowed hard. "What?"
"My sister. She hummed lullabies. When our magic flared."
The creature was humming now.
High and lilting.
The same notes. Over and over.
It was mimicking her.
A sound to comfort turned into a weapon.
Kael's jaw clenched.
"I'll kill it," he growled.
"No," I said quickly. "If you let go, if you feel too much..."
He shuddered. Swallowed it back.
We reached the riverbank.
A low, churning current cutting through black earth.
Kael didn't wait.
He yanked me into the water.
It was freezing.
Every nerve in my body screamed, but I didn't care.
Because the second our feet touched the river....
The humming stopped.
Dead.
No more footsteps.
No more voice.
Only the rush of water, and our gasping breath.
We collapsed on the other side, soaked and shaking.
Kael pressed his hand to the wet dirt, magic fizzling out in quiet sparks.
"It didn't follow," I whispered.
"No," he said. "But it knows us now."
I looked up at him.
Water dripping from his hair. His eyes wild. Jaw tight.
Still beautiful.
Still shaking.
"What was that thing?" I asked.
Kael's voice was low. Raw.
"Something that used my love to wear a mask."