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Chapter 43- lines in the dark-Part 3
The woods felt like a breathing dark mass when we got to the open spot by the north hill. Night hung heavy on the trees - though not total blackness. Light from the moon slipped down in narrow icy strips, showing outlines, flickers of motion, also a pale flash off something metallic. Cole showed up with someone else. Just hanging around. Cool-headed. Sure of themselves. I ducked behind a toppled tree - Lena close, her breath steady while my pulse pounded along with it. One part of me yelled to stay still; another, shaped by old fights, pushed for moves ahead. Each thought tugged differently, sharp and urgent. “They think they’re in control,” I whispered. “They’re mistaken,” Lena said, her tone quiet yet steady. She reached for my hand. “We can handle it.” I gulped, gave a quick nod. Training done, plans set, every twist thought through - yet this wasn't practice anymore. This was happening. One slip? No room for that now. Cole moved ahead a bit, his shape clear despite the
Chapter 43 - lines in the dark -Part 2
The sun just cleared the edge of the world, smearing soft slices of orange and dull gray across the sky, so I figured another loop around the edges wouldn’t hurt. It’d been a restless night, yet critters in those trees tend to stir before dawn even blinks. Lena walked behind me without saying anything, fingers touching my hand now and then, just being there like she was pushing back on how tense everything felt. She stayed quiet - didn’t matter. Her stillness helped me stay sharp, made it clear courage isn’t about ignoring fear. Near the top side of the land, I paused. Tracks there - two lines. Not new, though not old either. Tiny, sharp, made on purpose. "Cole's second shadow," I said quietly to myself. She squatted next to me, checking the tracks. "Quick," she whispered. Yet precise - no second guesses." “That’s the point,” I said. “They’re trained. They don’t stumble. They don’t panic. And they’re watching every step we take.” Lena's hand touched mine once more. "So we
CHAPTER 43 — Lines in the Dark
Evan - First Person The woods stayed quiet that daybreak. Light slipped between the trees, soft and shaky, touching wet blades below. Could’ve been calm. Wasn’t. Not really. Me? Felt nothing like peace. Lena - same. We made it through Cole’s first outburst, yet staying safe seemed shaky - like tiptoeing across frozen water, never knowing when it might snap under you. Lena stayed close, slipping between bushes while I checked the barrier we’d strengthened earlier. She didn’t speak - just moved like shadow - but her being there kept me grounded. Still, nothing could unwind the tightness building inside me. “They were near,” I said quietly, squatting by a trap set just hours ago. Leaves lay flat - barely visible marks left by heavy footsteps. Not far behind Lena dropped down next to me, running her fingertips lightly over the lines. “What gives it away?” “Step patterns, weight distribution. The smaller one moves light, fast, deliberate. They’re testing us.” She glanced my
CHAPTER 42 — The Line We Draw
Evan - First Person Dawn slipped in cautious - faint, drawn out overhead, barely making up its mind. Light edged between branches while I stood there, seeing darkness slide back, twist itself loose, fade till woods felt less like danger, more like home. Yet knowing someone well didn’t mean you were safe. Lena stayed close by, hugging herself as the chill bit through. Wind tugged at her messy hair - slept-in, stressed-out - as it brushed her face slow. I didn't look away right then - the posture like she’d seen storms before, tension locked but calm underneath, air moving steady in and out without rush. She didn't need to get used to living like this. But she had. Just knowing it made my gut clench a little. “They’re gone,” she said softly, but deep down we knew one thing - it hadn’t ended yet. Just a break. A moment of stillness right before everything crashes back. “Yeah,” I said. “Gone for now. And that’s exactly why we move fast.” She looked my way, giving that qu
CHAPTER 41 — The Shadows Multiply
The air changed - not rough, not noisy, yet in a quiet manner that hints things might turn bad. That sort of hush which feels heavy on your arms, making you strain to hear, take softer breaths, step more carefully. A pair of people deep in the woods. Not one. Not Cole alone. This wasn't some random motion sparked by panic or doubt - no, this felt planned. Calm. Done on purpose. This time, I muttered under my breath while squeezing the torch so tight its icy frame pressed hard against my skin. Lena stayed right at my back, near enough I sensed her shaky nerves. Not loud, her breath came quick yet calm. It was this rhythm that held me together - stopping me from bolting into the night headfirst. “Evan,” she whispered, “what does it mean? Who else would be out there with him?” I exhaled slowly, forcing clarity into my voice. “Either someone he convinced… or someone he manipulated. Cole has a way of drawing broken people into his orbit. Desperation attracts desperation.”
CHAPTER 40- The Quiet Before The Fracture
The morning after Cole slipped away again weighed more than usual. Sunlight crawled up slow, smearing pale gray across the clouds - kind of like the knot sitting low in my gut. Not just another day starting - more like silence right before thunder rolls in, that shaky stillness when everything waits, half-cocked. I’d barely slept at all - maybe sixty minutes. Lena got slightly more, though not much. Still, even worn out, even crushed under this heavy quiet, we went from room to room like folks who knew moments weren’t something you could waste - they were tools. Tools Cole meant to turn on us. I stood by the kitchen counter, fingers curled tight around a mug full of cold coffee. It didn’t even register how bad it tasted. My gaze wouldn’t leave the window - staring out past the tree line. That spot where dark shapes slipped without effort. Where just hours before, Cole had loomed, partly masked, tense, lost in fixation. Someone was coming up close, real quiet-like. “You didn’t
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