Chapter 868 - 870
He didn’t answer. He carried her back to camp, the forest too quiet, the trees bending just slightly in the wrong direction as they passed. That evening, as the sun began to dip and cast long shadows through the canopy, Jude called the others together again. This time there was no pretense of normalcy. They knew something was wrong. Even the air seemed heavier.
They gathered by the main fire pit. The flames flickered low, but none of them moved to add more wood. Jude stood, hands clasped behind his back, eyes sweeping over the circle of faces he’d come to love, to rely on, to protect.
"I need all of you to tell me the truth," he said. "Has anyone else blacked out recently? Even for a moment?"
They exchanged glances, nervous, wary.
Grace shifted first. "Earlier this morning, I went to the edge of the camp to check on the drying rack. I turned around and it was like... I lost ten minutes. I thought I just daydreamed."
"I felt it too," said Serena quietly. "Near the cliffs yesterday. I was picking herbs and suddenly I was back at the shelter. I don’t even remember walking there."
Natalie raised a shaking hand. "Two nights ago. I woke up in the middle of the night standing outside the treehouse. I was barefoot. My hands were bleeding. I don’t remember how I got there."
One by one, they admitted it. Not every day, not even every week, but moments, flashes, disappearances of time and thought. Blank spaces that they filled in with sleep or distraction because the alternative was worse. Lucy said nothing, but Jude didn’t press her. She was already sitting close to him, too close. Her hand was gripping his so tightly his knuckles ached.
Sophie looked around the fire. "What is it? What’s doing this to us?"