Avery’s POV

Long after the words had left the forest, the whisper buzzed in my head, rattling against the walls of my skull. “You cannot escape”.

Jameson gripped my hand a little tighter as we walked back toward the forest trail. His silence weighed heavy, his thoughts a storm I could not see.

For a while, I welcomed the silence. Bits of images I couldn’t make sense flashed in my head—images of the glowing symbols, of the twisted creature, of the figure cloaked in shadow. They were like shards of a nightmare puzzle, missing pieces, lying more disorganised than usual.

But one thing was sure, the curse was not some...