ins. Her mind raced with thoughts of Rowan, the look in his eyes when he had first ment

. She wasn't sure if she was ready to know the full extent of the darkness that lingered around him. As if on cue, a faint tapping sound b

hing. The street outside was empty, just the fog rolling in from the woods surrounding the town, the eerie glow of the streetlamps casting long shadows on the cobblestone road. The tapping had stopped, and the world seemed as quiet as ever. She let

ghed down by a dark energy. The tapping resumed, but this time it was more rhythmic, almost like a pattern. Tap... tap... tap. Eve swallowed hard, her breath shallow. She couldn't just ignore it anymore. With a shaky hand, she opened the window. The cold night air rushed in, and as her eyes scanned the street, a shape emerged from the fog. It was a figure, tall and hooded, standing at the edge of the forest. Eve's heart skipped a beat.

ure of urgency and something else, something that made her feel both protective and afraid. "Eve," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, carried by the wind. "Come outside."

hing made her blood run cold. She had heard the rumors and the stories about creatures lurking in the forests around Hawthorne Falls but she had never taken them seriously. Unti

st's edge. The fog seemed to part before them, as if guiding them forward. Eve could hear nothing but the rustling of the trees in the wind, and for a moment, she felt an odd sense of calm. Until she heard the faint, melodic whispering. She stopped in her tracks, her heart pounding in her chest. It sounded like voices,

the darkness seemed to press in on them, and the whispering voices grew louder. They were no longer distant, no longer just a hum in the background. They were right there, all around them, speaking in an ancient tongue that Eve couldn't understand but felt in the marrow of her bones. Rowan stopped, his posture rigid as he scanned the trees around them. "It's here," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "The creature who controls the curse. It's been hunting me for centuries." Eve looked around, her breath catching in her throat. The darkness seemed alive, and something malevolent was watching them from the trees. She could feel a presence that was older than time itself, watching them with unblinking

, he tossed it toward the creature, and the moment it hit the ground, a burst of bright light exploded, illuminating the woods in a blinding flash. The creature screeched in pain, recoiling as t

reeling. Rowan's curse, the creature, the supernatural forces at play