⸻ ❛𝐖𝐑𝐀𝐏 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐈 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐒!❜
Rory Hargrove is obsessed to uncover the truth behind Barbara Holland's disappearance, while facing her brother's enemy and buried secrets from...
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FROM BELOW, THE MONSTER LOOKED EVEN MORE IMMENSE —its terrifying scale fully revealed from that angle.
Chin tilted skyward, wide blue eyes filled with fear, Rory Hargrove felt a chill crawl down her spine. Her heart pounded so fast it seemed ready to burst through her ribs.
Hands gently braced her back—steadying, like a cushion after a sprint. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Max, Mike and Will behind her, their faces stricken with fear. They exchanged looks, eyes frozen in terror.
"Billy!" she screamed. She ran, forcing fear-numbed muscles to obey the commands of her unyielding courage. Dropping to her knees beside him, she cupped his face with fierce determination. "Bill, look at me." She fiercely pressed her hands to the face of her eternal twin brother, forcing him to turn his gaze from Eleven to Rory.
There was an agonizing contrast in Billy's eyes – a shadow that revealed he was under the control of the evil entities from the other world, and a gleam that showed his true essence was still there, trying to fight against the powers that threatened to consume his soul entirely.
The sight pierced her heart. And so, she did what she could to bring him peace.
She held his gaze, plunging into the icy blue depths of his eyes—and pulled him into a memory. To the ocean, where the sky melted into the sea, and waves kissed the California shore. Their bare feet had danced across the hot, fine sand, surfboards under their arms, laughter trailing behind as they raced toward the crashing surf, chasing the horizon.
Above the call of seagulls, they could hear their mother's voice warning them not to go too far. She was radiant in her long white dress with the red and blue flower, her wavy blond hair swirling like silk in the sea breeze and tangling in the golden hoop earrings that Aura had always loved.
"Mom, did you see it? The wave was seven feet!" Little Billy's sweet, high-pitched voice echoed in their minds.
They both felt it then—the salt of the ocean on their skin, the warmth of childhood, the bond they'd never lost. And as their heartbeats synced, the rhythm softened.
Both on their knees, Rory, still holding her brother's face in her hands, pressed their foreheads together—a symbol of shared memories. A memory that Billy had kept deep within the core of his mind, and that Rory carried inside her as well.
We can still live like that again—peacefully, happily. There's still so much to live for. She whispered into his mind, through layers of memory. Be strong. Don't let it win.
And everything turned black, fading away the moment Rory returned to reality. The deafening sound of the FleshFlayer's nervous, impatient roars echoed through the mall.
