Chapter 55: Catalyst Bound, II
Clara was gone.
The moment she passed through the threshold, the house had swallowed her.
The air still shivered from the rupture. A low hum lingered in the snow around us, like the moment hadn't fully settled. My legs were already moving.
Konrad tried to follow, but the doorway rippled and snapped shut like a breath caught mid-sentence. His hand hit the frame and recoiled—burned.
"She's inside," I said. I could feel it—through the thread. Weak, but pulsing. Twisted. Like it was trying to reach out through water.
"We'll find another way," Konrad said, already scanning the perimeter.
But I didn't wait.
I stepped forward, pressed my palm against the wood.
It bent inward—like breath against glass—and let me through.
***
The world twisted the second I passed through.