Invisible string | Harlan Briggs

Chapter 005

Harlan's Pov

The forest pulses with life. The rhythmic pounding of boots against the earth, the rush of wind through the trees, and the faint crackling of distant flames all blend into an urgent symphony. My breath comes in sharp bursts, each inhalation biting at my lungs as I push myself deeper into the woods. The temperature is dropping, but the danger is rising. Blake and Everett—strangers who've somehow managed to entwine themselves in this web of chaos—are ahead of us. But there's something more here, something that gnaws at the edges of my mind, beckoning me forward. I don't know what it is yet, but the pull is undeniable. Every step feels like it's leading us closer to a truth we're not ready for.

Luna's voice breaks through the fog of my thoughts.

"We're going in the wrong direction," she says, her voice steady despite the heavy breathing that punctuates her words. There's a calm confidence in her tone, like she's seeing something that the rest of us can't.

I glance at her, eyebrows furrowed. "How would you know that?" I ask, the question laced with both skepticism and concern. Something's not adding up, and her statement only sharpens the unease coiling in my gut.

"Because it's getting hotter," she replies, her gaze fixed ahead, her eyes scanning the thickening smoke.

It takes me a second to register her words, and then a cold chill creeps down my spine. The air. The heat. The smoke. It all clicks into place. I can feel the temperature rising, the acrid scent of burning wood filling my nose. My senses sharpen as I realize what we've overlooked: we're running straight toward the fire. Not away from it.

"Shit," I mutter, my pulse quickening, dread rising in my chest. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to turn around, but the path is already set. We're too far in. Too close to the edge.

Without another word, I push forward, urging myself and the others to keep moving, even though everything inside me is telling me to stop. To turn back. The trees around us seem to warp, bending under the weight of the approaching flames, and just as I think I can't take the heat any longer, we burst into a clearing.

Blake is ahead, moving toward a group of firefighters, their figures outlined by the red-orange glow of the inferno spreading rapidly behind them.

I come to an abrupt halt. The silence that follows is suffocating. My stomach drops as I realize something's off. Something crucial is missing.

"Aurora," I whisper hoarsely, panic starting to creep into my voice. I turn to Luna, my eyes wide. "She's not with us."

Luna's eyes widen as well. She looks around, scanning the area, her heart clearly racing. "Where is she?" Her voice cracks, full of fear, and my own heart constricts in response.

My chest tightens painfully as I whip my head from side to side, my eyes darting frantically across the clearing. No sign of her. My heart is hammering in my ears, drowning out everything else. Aurora, my mate, is nowhere to be found. And the panic is setting in.

"Aurora!" I shout, my voice breaking through the rising wind and chaos around us.

Luna's breath catches. "I thought you said she was right behind us," she says, her words edged with disbelief and growing concern.

I curse under my breath, feeling the heavy weight of each passing second. Time is slipping away, and with it, the one person who means everything to me. The fear tightens in my chest, suffocating me, as I continue searching, hoping for some sign that she's okay. But there's nothing.

Aurora's Pov

I run. The world is a blur of shadowed trees and fleeting flashes of light, my heartbeat thundering in my chest, a relentless reminder of how much I'm pushing myself. My breath is ragged, each exhale colder than the last, the air burning my lungs as I push forward. My legs ache, the muscles protesting with every step, but I don't slow down. I can't. Not when the fear is still clinging to me, wrapping around my chest, making it hard to breathe.