<h4>Chapter 1165: Chapter 1165</h4>


    The sun rose on a silent, shaken camp. And they knew: the battle was only just beginning.


    The morning light crept over the ind, soft and pale, doing little to warm the chill that clung to Jude’s skin. The air felt heavier now, as if the ind itself shared in the weight of their dread. The shelter was quiet except for the sound of shallow breathing, the rustle of fabric as Sophie shifted closer to him, and the distant crash of waves against the rocks. But beneath those sounds was something else, something that couldn’t be heard, only felt. A presence. A pull. , Her.,


    Jude ran a hand through his hair, fingers shaking despite his effort to stay steady. He hadn’t slept. None of them truly had. Every time his eyes drifted closed, he saw her, Rose, standing at the edge of the trees, that soft, terrible smile on her lips, that light flickering beneath her skin like a heartbeat that wasn’t hers anymore. And he heard her voice, sweet and low, promising what he feared, what he longed for, all at once.


    Sophie’s hand found his, her fingerscing through his, her touch the only thing that kept him anchored to the moment. She didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. The warmth of her body beside his was enough. It reminded him of who he was, of who they were, of what they were fighting for.


    As the sun climbed higher, the others began to stir. Lucy was the first to rise, stretching the stiffness from her limbs, her eyes sharp and watchful. Ste followed, brushing leaves from her hair, ncing toward the forest as if expecting Rose to emerge at any moment. Zoey, Susan, Grace, Natalie, Scarlet, and Emma gathered close, their faces pale but determined.


    "We can’t keep waiting for her toe to us," Lucy said quietly. "She’ll pick us apart like this. We have to find a way to end it."


    "But how?" Scarlet asked, voice tight with fear she tried to hide. "How do you fight something that isn’t her anymore?"


    Jude stood, his body aching with exhaustion, but his mind clearer than it had been in days. "We go back to where it started," he said. "The ce where she fell. The river. If we’re going to find answers, it’s there."


    No one argued. They gathered what little they needed, des, rope, charms carved from bone and stone, and set out, moving as one. The forest felt different as they passed through it, the trees closer, the shadows deeper, the air thick with the scent of moss and salt. Every sound made them flinch, every snapped twig, every whisper of wind through the leaves. But they didn’t stop. They couldn’t.


    The river greeted them with its endless song, the water rushing over rocks worn smooth by time. The ce where Rose had fallen was just as they remembered, but colder now, darker, as if the sun’s light couldn’t quite reach it. Jude stood at the edge, staring down at the spot where she’d vanished beneath the water, where she’d been changed.


    Sophie came to stand beside him, her breath warm against his cheek. "Do you think she’s still in there? Somewhere?"


    "I have to believe she is," Jude said. "I have to."


    They followed the river upstream, searching for anything that might offer a clue, a sign, a way to undo what had been done. The forest grew wilder the farther they went, the trees gnarled and ancient, their roots tangled like veins beneath the earth. And then they saw it, a break in the trees, a clearing where the ground sloped down to meet the water, where stones had been ced in a rough circle, worn with age and covered in moss.


    Symbols were carved into the stones, faint but unmistakable, spirals, eyes, lines that seemed to flow like the river itself.


    "This is it," Lucy said, her voice a whisper. "This is where it began."


    They stepped into the circle, hearts pounding, the air thick with the weight of what they might find. The stones seemed to hum beneath their feet, the river’s song rising to meet it, a harmony of earth and water, of time and memory.


    And then the air shifted.


    The temperature dropped, the shadows deepened, and from the trees stepped Rose.


    Her smile was soft. Sad. Beautiful. And terrible.


    "You came," she said, her voice sweet as honey, deadly as a de. "I knew you would."


    They froze, caught between the urge to run and the need to reach her, to save her, to believe she could still be saved.


    "I can help you see," she whispered. "If you’ll just stop fighting."


    And then she raised her hand, and the light beneath her skin red brighter, casting the clearing in an otherworldly glow. The river seemed to rise with it, the water churning, the stones trembling beneath their feet.


    Jude took a step forward, heart breaking, voice shaking. "Rose, please, "


    But her smile only deepened. And the world seemed to hold its breath, waiting for what woulde next.


    The glow from Rose’s skin bathed the clearing in that strange, haunting light, casting shifting shadows that danced along the mossy stones and the rippling water. Jude felt the pull of her presence, that invisible thread that tugged at his heart, at his soul, the bond that had once meant love now twisted into something he didn’t understand, something that terrified him. He wanted to step closer, to take her hand, to believe for just one moment that this was still the woman he loved, but Sophie’s grip on his arm tightened, steadying him, anchoring him to the ground.


    "Don’t," she whispered, her voice trembling but strong. "Don’t let her take you."


    Rose’s eyes flickered with that soft, eerie light, and she tilted her head, her smile gentle, almost wistful. "Why do you fight it?" she asked, and her voice was like music, like the memory of better days. "We could be whole again. This ind, it chose us. We don’t have to be afraid anymore. We don’t have to be , alone., "