Hope's jaw tightened, her nails biting into her palms as she clenched her fists. Every instinct screamed at her not to let this girl any closer not to let her words crawl into her head like vines searching for cracks.
"You think you can just show up out of nowhere, throw around creepy half-truths, and I'm supposed to what? Trust you?" Hope spat the words, anger bubbling beneath the fear she refused to show. "Because I've had my fill of people telling me the world is ending."
Selene didn't flinch. She only tilted her head, watching Hope with the kind of patience that was somehow more unnerving than aggression. "I don't need your trust," she said quietly. "I only need you to see."
Her hand rose, slow and deliberate, palm upturned toward the air. Hope tensed, magic instinctively flaring hot in her veins, ready for a fight. But Selene didn't attack. She closed her eyes, drawing in a long, steady breath.
The night seemed to hold with her.
Then, in her palm, shadows began to curl like smoke. They twisted upward, delicate at first, then solidifying into strands of silver-threaded mist. Hope's breath caught as the mist wove itself into shape not random, not wild, but precise.
It was Landon's face.
The likeness was perfect, every angle, every curve of his mouth, even the familiar furrow between his brows. But his expression wasn't one Hope had seen before. It was peaceful, almost smiling, as if he existed free of pain.
Hope's heart lurched. She wanted to look away, to shut it out, but she couldn't.
Selene's voice threaded through the silence, low and steady. "Dreams are not lies. They are truths that live beneath the surface. But truth can cut deeper than any weapon."
The image of Landon dissolved into smoke again, scattering into the air like sand through fingers.
Hope staggered a step back, her body trembling with the effort to mask her breaking voice. "Don't do that again."
Selene lowered her hand, her expression unreadable. "You asked why you should believe me. Now you know I'm not lying."
"That doesn't mean you're not dangerous."
At that, Selene finally smiled faint, sad, and sharp all at once. "Dangerous things are often the only ones strong enough to fight what's coming."
The air shifted again. This time, Hope felt it before she heard it. A coldness bled through the clearing, heavier than before, dragging goosebumps across her skin. The trees groaned under a weight unseen, their shadows stretching unnaturally long across the ground.
Selene stiffened, her gaze darting to the tree line. "They've found us."
Hope turned, her power sparking instinctively, ready to burn down whatever threatened her. "What now? More dream echoes?"
"No," Selene whispered, her voice tight, her silver eyes flashing in the dark. "Something worse."
The forest erupted.
A scream not human, not animal, but a nightmare's voice given flesh tore through the night. From between the trees, a shape unfolded, taller than any man, its body formed of twisting black mist. Its face was nothing but a void, yet eyes gleamed faintly in the hollow, glimmering with hunger.
Hope's heart hammered. "What the hell is that?"
Selene's answer was barely more than a breath.
"The beginning."