It hovered there—beautiful, but not in any way that comforted the soul. Its form shimmered like fractured moonlight across water, shifting and translucent, as if made of memories and whispers. And yet, there was something deeply wrong. Its beauty was the kind that twisted the stomach. Pale and cold, like a frozen corpse dressed in wedding silk. The face, if it could be called that, changed with every flicker—young, old, sorrowful, laughing—none of them real. All of them terrifying.
The cry it let out again was no longer distant. It was here. In the chamber. With them. Crying like a mother who had lost her children. Crying like a bride abandoned. Crying like a monster who remembered being human.
And then, it moved.
There was no warning. No rush of air. No build-up. Just a sudden, violent streak across the room. Before anyone could blink, it slammed into Sera's chest.
