<h4>Chapter 1240: Chapter 1240</h4>
The river shimmered under the dull morning light, its surface barely disturbed by the slow-moving current. Jude crouched on the bank, his fingers trailing in the water. It was cold today, colder than usual, and it made his skin tighten the longer he held his hand there. Lucy stood a few paces behind him, arms crossed and eyes narrowed, scanning the forest with tense awareness. Sophie arrivedst, her boots brushing through the undergrowth, her breath a little faster than normal.
"We’re alone," she said softly.
Jude stood. "Good."
Lucy took a few steps forward. "We don’t have much time before one of themes looking."
"Then let’s start," Jude said. "We all agree. Rose is the beginning of this. It started with her. We don’t know what took her - "
"Or what she invited in," Sophie cut in.
" - but we know it’s using her," Jude finished. "To spread. La. Zoey. Emma. The rest, one by one."
Lucy exhaled slowly. "I think the ind wants us like that. Connected. Unified. But not by our own choice."
"Some kind of hive?" Sophie asked.
"Not exactly," Jude said. "More like... resonance. One infected mind influencing another."
"Like a spell," Lucy said, her voice darker. "But older. Not cast. Grown."
Sophie pulled something from her pocket - a small, t stone etched with one of the symbols they’d found near the waterfall. "What if this is a key? What if they were collecting these before it happened?"
"They never said anything," Jude murmured.
"Maybe they didn’t know," Lucy said. "Maybe they were led to it. Piece by piece. Dream by dream."
"And now?" Sophie asked.
"They’re still dreaming," Lucy replied.
Jude stared across the water. "Then we wake them."
The n wasn’t detailed - how could it be, when the threat they faced didn’t speak, didn’t even show its full shape? But they had one thing left: the trust between them, the shared resistance. And something else, something deeper than logic. Love. Real, unaltered love. It was the only thing the ind hadn’t yet imed.
By midday, the group had reconvened near the treehouses,ughter echoing from the main clearing. Rose was twirling a flower between her fingers as she walked barefoot through the soft grass. Her red hair had been braided intricately by someone - Natalie or Ste, probably - and the ends glimmered with droplets of dew that hadn’t yet evaporated.
La leaned against a tree, her shirt tied up high to reveal her toned stomach, her gaze following Jude wherever he moved. Zoey was seated in Ste’sp, whispering into her ear, both of them giggling. Emma was threading leaves into Grace’s hair while Susany nearby with her eyes closed, humming.
Everything looked perfect. Too perfect.
Lucy gave Jude a slight nod. It was time.
He walked to Rose first.
"Can we talk?" he asked, gently.
Her smile was calm and slow. "Of course."
"Just us."
She cocked her head. "Why not with everyone?"
"I just... I need to tell you something." His eyes softened. "Something I’ve only ever said to you."
She stared at him for a long moment, then nodded.
"Come," she said, and took his hand.
They walked into the trees, but not too far - just enough to disappear from sight. Jude could feel her warmth through his fingers, her skin so soft, so alive. And yet... there was a pull to it. A subtle wrongness, like a song yed just off-key.
She leaned into him the moment they stopped. "What is it, love?"
Jude cupped her face, pressing his forehead to hers. "I missed you."
Her smile grew. "I never left."
"But you changed."
Her eyes glimmered. "I became more."
"I want you," he whispered.
"I’m already yours."
They kissed.
And in that kiss, Jude felt the pull again - that tide of heat and shadow that had tried to take him before. He allowed it to move through him, just enough to feel the current, just enough to see the thread it spun through her aura. It wasn’t physical - it was deeper. Awork of whispers. Something not seen, only felt.
He pulled back just slightly. "I want to give you something."
Rose tilted her head. "Give?"
Jude reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a polished shard of the same stone Sophie had shown earlier. It was small, but the etching on it was unmistakable.
Her eyes widened faintly. "Where did you get this?"
"You already know."
She stared at it, then back at him. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Because I need you to remember. What you were before the river. Before the whisper."
Her expression faltered - just slightly. The smile remained, but her eyes flickered, like a veil momentarily pulled.
"That girl," she said softly, "was afraid."
"And you’re not?" Jude asked.
"I’m free."
He ced the shard into her hand. Her fingers closed around it automatically.
"You were brave before the river," Jude said, stepping back. "You didn’t need anything inside you to shine."
Rose stood motionless, her hand still curled around the shard.
Then Lucy appeared behind her, silent and swift, cing her hand gently on Rose’s shoulder. Sophie was next, stepping in front, her eyes locked on Rose’s.
"We’re still here," Sophie said. "The real us."
For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then Rose blinked.
The shard in her palm pulsed with faint violet light.
Her eyes darted down to it, then back up at Jude.
And suddenly, she let out a long, shaky breath - one that seemed to drag something out of her, something dense and invisible. Her smile wavered, eyes filling with something raw.
"What did you - " she whispered, but the question cracked in her throat.
Jude stepped forward again and cupped her face. "You’re still in there."
Tears welled in her eyes. Her lips parted. And then, behind them, from deeper in the forest -
La’s voice rang out, sharp and angry. "Rose!"
They turned.
La stood a few meters away, her eyes wide, body tense.
Zoey and Emma were behind her, both frozen, their smiles long gone.