<h4>Chapter 1259: Chapter 1259</h4>


    There, in the moonlight, he saw them.


    Rose. La. And now Natalie.


    They stood in a circle, hands linked. Their bodies moved slowly, swaying in a rhythm Jude couldn’t hear. Their eyes were closed, their faces blissful, their smiles too wide.


    And they were humming.


    It was the same melody Rose had been weaving all day. But now it was different -yered, deeper, almost echoing. It vibrated through the trees. It made the hair on Jude’s arms rise.


    He stepped back silently, his heartbeat loud in his ears. When he returned to the fire, Lucy stirred.


    "Jude?" she murmured.


    "Just checking the trees," he whispered, settling beside her. "All’s fine."


    She smiled sleepily and curled into him again.


    But Jude didn’t sleep that night.


    Because the peace hadn’t been a lie.


    It had been the beginning.


    Jude watched the stars disappear behind the shifting veil of clouds, his eyes refusing to close even as the others drifted deeper into sleep. Lucy’s warmth was steady beside him, her breath slow and even against his skin. The fire had copsed into glowing coals, casting long shadows across the grass. But all he could think of was the hum.


    It wasn’t just a tune anymore. It had weight now, presence, like the ind had taken it and woven it into the trees, the soil, the air. Even in silence, he could still feel it. And he knew - knew - that the ind wasn’t resting. It was listening.


    The next morning broke golden and slow. No screams. No trembling. Just dew clinging to the leaves and the scent of salt in the breeze drifting from the ocean. Jude was already up, bootsced, quietly stepping away from camp as the first birds called out through the trees. He walked the river path, passed the spot where he and Sophie had swum the day before, and continued deeper along a rarely used trail, one that twisted beside a rocky ridge thick with moss and vines.


    He didn’t want to confront Rose - not yet. He didn’t know what he would even say. But he had to move, had to do something other than lie still and pretend he didn’t see what was happening.


    He climbed a ledge that overlooked the forest canopy, where the wind pulled at his shirt and the world below stretched out in green and gold and mist. From here, the ind looked normal. Peaceful. And yet the memory ofst night burned in his chest.


    They were humming in the woods. Eyes closed. Hands linked. And Natalie had joined them.


    He wasn’t imagining it. They weren’t just friends growing closer again. Something else was slipping in between their connections, changing them from the inside. He couldn’t feel La the same way he once did. Not when her gaze lingered too long and her lips curved in that same, wide, knowing smile Rose had worn after theke. It was subtle, but he saw it now - Natalie’s voice softer and eerily calm, the way she mirrored Rose’s movements when she thought no one was looking.


    Jude sat down on the rock and ran a hand through his hair. He was the only one awake to it. No, that wasn’t true. Sophie. Sophie had seen it too.


    He made his way back to camp slowly. As he approached the houses, the scent of cooking fruit and grilled fish drifted from the fire pit. Lucy was flipping pieces of root and berries in a carved pan, humming a cheerful tune. Susan sat beside her, her legs crossed, her hand lightly brushing Lucy’s thigh every few seconds. Casual. Affectionate. But... not how Susan used to be.


    "Morning," Jude said, forcing a smile.


    Lucy looked up. "You disappeared early."


    "Walked the river trail," he said, sitting beside her. "Wanted to clear my head."


    Susan met his eyes. "And what did you find?"


    He hesitated. "Still clearing."


    She smiled at that, but it was tight. Polished. She returned to watching the fire, and Lucy leaned into Jude’s shoulder.


    "Zoey and Emma went to get more leaves from the eastern grove," Lucy said. "Rose is leading a foraging team to the cliffs. I think La and Natalie went with her."


    Of course they had.


    "Are Sophie and Grace around?" he asked.


    "They were at the water wellst I saw," Susan said, brushing a leaf from Lucy’s shoulder. "Why?"


    "No reason."


    But he moved fast.


    He found Sophie near the well, bent over with the rope taut in her hands, pulling up a sloshing bucket. Grace stood beside her, fanning herself with a bundle of folded leaves.


    Jude stepped beside them and took the rope from Sophie’s grip without a word. She blinked up at him, surprised. But when she saw the tension in his jaw, she said nothing until the bucket hit the stones and sshed cold water across her feet.


    "I saw them again," he said under his breath.


    Sophie’s lips thinned. "Where?"


    "In the woodsst night. Same thing. Same circle. Same hum."


    "Who?"


    "Rose. La. Natalie."


    Grace looked between them, confused. "Why are you whispering? What’s going on?"


    Sophie gently touched Grace’s arm. "Nothing. Just something Jude and I need to check on."


    Grace frowned. "You’re both acting weird."


    "I’ll exinter," Jude said, then motioned for Sophie to follow.


    They stepped out of earshot, down the slope of the hill until the sounds of camp were distant.


    "It’s growing," he said. "She’s pulling more of them in."


    Sophie’s jaw clenched. "It’s not just the humming. I noticed it with Natalie this morning. She touched my back when she passed me - just a brush - but it felt wrong. Not... sexual. Just cold. Empty."


    "And did you notice how Susan’s been acting around Lucy? They’re not close like that. Not normally."


    "It’s like they’re mirroring Rose."


    Jude nodded. "Exactly. I’m starting to think whatever Rose brought back from theke - it’s not gone. It’s inside her. And she’s spreading it."


    Sophie nced at the trees. "We have to stop her."