Chapter 506: The Sound Of Silence
"She’s going to shatter."
Dante’s voice was low and calm, but each word hit like a blade. He stood near the window in one of the deeper rooms of Hallow, arms folded, posture tight. Behind him, the wind howled through the jungle outside, and Tink and Snowflake let out chirps and growls of unease. But inside the house, the room held its breath.
Eric was seated at the long table, his back to the windows as his fingers tapped restlessly against a mug of untouched tea. Across from him, near the archway, Chang Xuefeng stood, arms crossed in front of him, gaze fixed on the flickering wall sconce as if he were watching memories in the flame.
"You’ve seen it," Dante said. "You’ve both seen what’s happening to her. The only problem is that what we’ve seen isn’t nearly one tenth of what is going on inside of her head."
"She’s holding on to too much," Eric replied, finally stilling his fingers. "Her system wasn’t made to carry the full spectrum of demonic emotion. Even with all of us here for her... she’s cracking."
"She doesn’t need us to be beside her, wringing our hands," Dante snapped. "She needs relief. She needs a space inside her mind to breathe."
Chang’s voice was calm, as always. "Hattie was never built for emotions," he said, remembering the girl he had met in Camp Hell. "She could barely hold on to her own. You’ve touched her mind. What did you see?"
Dante nodded once. "She let me in. And it’s worse than any of us thought. She’s not just hearing voices. She’s feeling everything. Fear, lust, hunger, pain... all of it. Constantly. There’s no barrier. No filter. It’s like she’s walking around in the middle of a crowd, being attacked on all sides. I tried to build her a glasshouse to keep the voices and feelings away from her, but the screams and pain from a demon miles away are like a stone hitting a window. Eventually, the house is going to break."
Eric leaned forward. "You were able to build her a shield?" he demanded.