ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀꜱ : ᴛʜᴇ ᴜᴘʀɪꜱɪɴɢ

|27|

• ＲＡＩＤＥＮ •

I was jolted awake by the frantic knock on the door, my heart immediately pounding with dread. It was the middle of the night—no one should be here, and certainly not like this. I scrambled out of bed, the remnants of sleep still clinging to me as I made my way to the door.

Maya beat me to it, her silhouette barely visible in the darkness as she cracked the door open. The moment she saw who was on the other side, her eyes widened, and she stepped back, letting the door swing open fully.

There, standing in the dim light of the hallway, was Willow. She looked like a ghost—pale, disoriented, and hollowed out by something more than just exhaustion. Her eyes were wide, unfocused, and her shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world had been dropped on them. She was clutching a bag tightly in one hand, her knuckles white from the force of her grip.

"We have to leave," she whispered, her voice barely audible, but the urgency in it was unmistakable. "Now."

I felt the blood drain from my face as I took in the sight of her. Something terrible had happened—something that had ripped her out of her home and thrust her into the cold night. I didn't need to ask what. It was all there in the way she looked at us, pleading without words.

"Come in," I said quickly, reaching out to her, but she flinched away, stepping back into the shadows. My hand dropped, a cold knot forming in my stomach. She didn't want to be touched—didn't want comfort.

Willow was already pulling away, retreating into herself, and I felt helpless watching it happen. But there wasn't time to process any of it now.

Nara appeared beside me, her expression grim. She'd warned us earlier in the week—told us to be ready, that she had a feeling something was coming. None of us had known what to expect, but we'd packed our bags anyway, prepared to run at a moment's notice.

And now that moment was here.

"We're ready," Nara said quietly, already turning back toward the others, who were quickly waking up and moving around the house. "Get everything, and let's go."

Everyone moved with a kind of quiet efficiency, the fear driving us to act quickly, to get out before whatever had forced Willow here in the middle of the night could catch up to us. I grabbed my own bag from the corner of the room, stuffing the last few items into it as the others did the same.

But I kept glancing back at Willow, who stood frozen in the doorway, like she was rooted to the spot. Her expression was unreadable, but there was a deep, unsettling emptiness in her eyes that made my chest tighten. She looked like she was here, but not really present—like part of her had been left behind.

As we rushed to get out, Ember and Luke exchanged a look, a silent agreement passing between them. Ember touched my arm lightly, her usually sharp eyes softened with concern.

"We'll stay behind and take care of things," she said. "Make sure nothing leads back to us."

I nodded, understanding immediately. Someone needed to cover our tracks, make sure there was nothing left for anyone to find. "Be careful."

"We will," Luke said, his voice steady, though his eyes flicked briefly to Willow. "We'll catch up to you in no time."

With that, the rest of us hurried out to the van parked in the back, the cold night air biting at our skin as we loaded in our bags. Willow climbed in last, moving like a shadow, her silence weighing heavier than anything else. I watched her as she took a seat in the back, pressing herself against the wall, her gaze distant and unseeing.