51. Spreading Darkness

They weren’t the only ones trapped in this twisted web of fate—there was another soul, bound by an unseen force, away from all of them, by something far darker than she could have ever imagined. It was slow, suffocating, and insidious, creeping into her every thought and action. The night Rose had bitten Jayden, everything changed. She returned to the graveyard, her heart heavy with an emptiness she couldn’t quite grasp. Her eyes, once full of life, were now hollow, as if all the tears she had ever cried had been drained from her. Her emotions had frozen over, leaving only a cold, numb shell in their wake. There was no real plan in her mind as she wandered through the fog-filled graveyard, but deep down, a strange certainty pulsed within her. She knew she would find Hawkbone here. And sure enough, he stood alone near a weathered tombstone, his figure dark against the pale moonlight. As she approached, she wiped the remnants of her tears from her cheeks, not caring that they were alread