Nancy didn't tell anyone what the entity said.
Not fully.
Because how was she supposed to explain that the monster inside her had sounded… gentle?
She couldn't even explain it to herself.
So instead—
she trained.
Hard.
Until her muscles burned and her thoughts had no room to breathe.
Punch.
Step.
Turn.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Kai caught her wrist on the fourth round.
"That's enough."
Nancy pulled back.
"No."
His grip tightened just enough.
"Yes."
The clearing was empty except for them.
Sunset spilling gold through the trees.
Too quiet for lies.
She looked away first.
Bad sign.
Kai noticed.
Also bad.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Terrible answer."
"I'm very talented."
"Nancy."
Her name.
Soft.
Careful.
Dangerous.
She exhaled sharply.
"It told me to choose survival."
Kai stilled.
The joke left the air instantly.
"…what?"
She laughed once.
Humorless.
"Exactly."
His voice lowered.
"What does that mean?"
"It means maybe it's not trying to kill me."
A pause.
"Maybe it thinks merging is saving me."
Kai's expression hardened.
"That doesn't make it right."
"No."
She looked at him.
"But what if it believes it is?"
Silence stretched.
Because intention didn't erase damage.
But it complicated blame.
And everyone hated complicated blame.
Especially when feelings were involved.
Leo, Unfortunately
"Good evening, emotionally constipated lovers."
They both turned.
Leo stood there with food and absolutely no respect for privacy.
Nancy groaned.
"Do you appear naturally or like… through ritual sacrifice?"
"Mostly instinct."
He took one look at their faces and sighed.
"Oh, wow. This is a feelings conversation. I should've brought wine."
Kai muttered, "Leave."
Leo ignored him.
"Counterpoint: no."
He leaned against a tree.
"Look, terrifying shadow demon aside, you two have the same problem."
Nancy regretted asking.
"What problem?"
"You both think loving someone means protecting them from choices."
Silence.
Well.
That was rude.
Also accurate.
Leo pointed dramatically.
"Kai tries to martyr himself every five business days."
"Untrue."
"Deeply true."
Then at Nancy—
"And you keep trying to carry impossible decisions alone like suffering is a personality trait."
She opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Annoying.
He was annoyingly right.
Leo nodded like a professor.
"Thank you. I accept your silent apology."
Kai rubbed his face.
"Why are you like this?"
"Because God knew you'd all be boring without me."
Honestly…
fair.
The Alpha's Answer
That night, the Alpha finally gave them what they'd been missing.
A plan.
Everyone gathered in the main room.
Mara perched on the couch.
Evan leaning near the window.
Leo upside down in a chair like a possessed raccoon.
The Alpha stood in front of them.
"There may be a way to separate the merge."
Hope.
Sharp.
Immediate.
Nancy hated how fast her heart reacted.
"How?"
His expression stayed grim.
"It requires returning to where the split first happened."
The room quieted.
Kai frowned.
"Where?"
The Alpha hesitated.
And that hesitation said enough.
Nancy's stomach dropped.
"No."
He met her eyes.
"Yes."
She stepped back.
"The Hollow."
Even saying the name felt wrong.
Cold.
Old.
The place from her nightmares.
The place the entity always seemed closest to.
Leo sat upright.
"I'm sorry, is that a haunted forest name or are we trying to die poetically?"
Mara muttered, "Honestly both."
The Alpha continued.
"That is where the original fracture happened. If separation is possible, it starts there."
Nancy's hands were shaking now.
Because she remembered that place.
Not clearly.
But enough.
Dark trees.
Blood.
Screaming.
And something being torn apart.
Inside — Panic
The entity reacted violently.
No.
Nancy froze.
The voice wasn't calm this time.
It was fear.
Raw.
Immediate.
You cannot go there.
Her pulse spiked.
Why?
Silence.
Then—
Because that is where they left me.
Her breath caught.
Not created.
Not born.
Left.
Abandoned.
The pain behind those words hit harder than anger ever had.
And suddenly—
The Hollow wasn't just a place.
It was a wound.
Outside — The Decision
Kai stepped closer.
"We're not forcing this."
Nancy looked at him.
Then at all of them.
Waiting.
Trusting.
Ready.
Even now.
Even after everything.
She swallowed hard.
"I have to go."
Kai nodded once.
"I know."
Leo sighed dramatically.
"Well. Terrible idea. Obviously I'm coming."
"Same," Mara said.
Evan crossed his arms.
"You weren't leaving us behind."
The Alpha gave a single nod.
"Then we leave at dawn."
Nancy stood there—
terrified.
Certain.
Because some places don't stay in your past.
They wait for you.
And The Hollow…
had been waiting a very long time.