<h4>Chapter 1144: Chapter 1144</h4>
Rose and the others gathered near the northern path, the one that led deeper into the mistier parts of the forest. They didn’t rush. They moved slowly, deliberately, as if they knew exactly where they were going and didn’t care who followed. They didn’t even look back. Grace walked with them now, her hand in Natalie’s, her lips moving in silent rhythm.
Jude and Sophie led the others, slipping into the undergrowth and circling wide. They stayed low, kept to the trees, following from a safe distance.
After nearly an hour of tracking, the group ahead stopped.
They had reached a clearing none of them had ever seen before.
It was strange, perfectly circr, the trees forming a natural ring that looked too symmetrical to be idental. In the center stood a tall structure made entirely of bones and roots, some woven into spirals, others stabbed into the ground like teeth. The air buzzed with energy.
Rose stepped into the center.
"Tonight," she said, her voice ringing. "We finish the circle."
La and Zoey walked the edges, dragging sticks through the dirt, tracing more symbols. Scarlet and Natalie ced stones in a perfect spiral. Grace began to sing.
It wasn’t a song any of them had heard before.
But it was beautiful.
And terrible.
Emma turned to Jude. "We can’t let them finish that."
"We’ll stop it," Jude said. "We’ll, "
A twig snapped behind them.
They turned.
And Susan was gone.
The forest felt suddenly silent.
Not the kind of silence thates with peace, but the dense, unnatural hush that presses against the skin, wrapping around the spine. Jude whipped around first, his breath catching. Sophie followed immediately, calling Susan’s name in a harsh whisper that barely carried. The underbrush was still trembling where Susan had stood moments before.
She hadn’t screamed.
Hadn’t cried out.
She was just... gone.
Lucy lunged forward to the spot and crouched low, pushing aside leaves and broken twigs. "No blood," she muttered. "No signs of a struggle. She didn’t run."
"She was pulled," Emma said grimly. "Like Grace."
"But we were right here," Ste whispered. "She was right next to me, how can someone vanish in total silence?"
"Because it’s not someone," Sophie murmured. "It’s her."
Jude turned back toward the strange clearing, where Rose and the others still moved around that horrible bone-and-root structure. They hadn’t noticed. Or they didn’t care. Grace had begun walking in slow circles, tracing a pattern with her toes, the same symbol they’d destroyed in the camp. La and Scarlet followed her rhythm. Natalie was holding something now, a piece of cloth. Jude’s stomach turned when he recognized it.
It was Susan’s scarf.
"No," Lucy whispered. "No, no, no, "
Jude grabbed her hand. "We go now. Fast."
Sophie nodded and turned. They ran, not toward the beach or the river, but deeper into the woods. They didn’t speak, didn’t look back, not until the trees swallowed the clearingpletely. Only then did they stop to breathe.
Emma bent over, hands on her knees. "They took her right in front of us."
"They didn’t even have to touch her," Ste said, her voice barely a whisper.
Jude paced in a tight circle, mind racing. "They’re speeding up."
"They’re winning," Sophie said tly.
Lucy was staring at the ground. "She smiled before she vanished. Susan."
"What?"
Lucy looked up. "Right before she disappeared. I saw her face. She was smiling."
The six of them sat in a rough circle beneath arge arching tree that smelled like citrus and ash. The wind had shifted. Everything around them felt wrong, but also familiar. Like the forest was changing shape again, subtly shifting its boundaries as if the ind itself was responding to Rose’s influence.
"What if we can still save them?" Ste asked suddenly.
Everyone looked at her.
"I mean it," she said. "What if they’re notpletely gone?"
"We saw them," Emma said. "We see them. They’re not ours anymore."
"But what if they’re still in there?" Ste pressed. "Buried deep. Fighting."
Sophie turned to Jude. "There’s one way to find out."
He nodded. "We go after one of them. Separate her. Try to reach her."
Emma crossed her arms. "You’re thinking Natalie."
"She was thest before Grace," Jude said. "Before Susan. If there’s any trace of who she was left, "
"Then we better act before she disappears into the woods again," Lucy added.
Ste looked up. "What if she’s the next one to bring someone in?"
"We get her before that," Sophie said. "Tonight."
They waited until nightfall. They didn’t eat. No one felt hungry.
When darkness nketed the trees, they moved, slowly, cautiously, sticking close. The camp had shifted again. The fire had been moved to a different spot. New patterns had been carved into the dirt, and overhead, someone had hung bones wrapped in vine from the branches. They clicked softly in the wind.
Natalie was alone.
She sat on a log near the water basin, staring into it, her fingers trailing in the surface. Her reflection flickered strangely, as though the water didn’t quite want to show her what she looked like.
Jude approached from one side, Sophie from the other. Lucy and Emma stood just out of sight, watching from the shadows, while Ste circled behind.
"Natalie," Jude said gently.
She looked up slowly.
Her eyes shimmered, but they weren’t glowing.
"Hi," she said softly.
Sophie crouched beside her. "You’re out here alone?"
Natalie smiled faintly. "I wanted to feel the water."
"It’s cold tonight."
She nodded. "It doesn’t bother me."
Jude stepped closer. "You remember that joke you told, about the mango and the crab?"
Natalie blinked.
Then smiled wider.
"I do."
Emma gave the signal from the trees.
Still her.
Jude moved closer. "We want to help you."
Her eyes flicked toward the fire. "She’s always watching."
"We can keep you safe," Sophie whispered. "Come with us. Right now. We can, "
Natalie’s body jerked suddenly.
Her head snapped to the side.