For a heartbeat, the whole group is still. Heidi thinks maybe everyone is too numb from Junie's breakdown to process anything else. But then she hears it too… the shuffling. The slow and hypnotic dragging of footsteps. It's not the confident steps of wolves who've survived hell, but the weird, stiff cadence of puppets tugged by invisible strings.
Heidi jerks her head up. And her stomach drops.
Across the multiple paths of the labyrinth, Moon Blessed are… scattering. They are not even running or strolling with purpose. As it appears, they are just drifting forward, one by one, as if some unseen magnet is pulling them deeper into the maze. Their faces are slack, eyes fixed ahead on nothing. They look like zombies in an apocalypse show… except way more terrifying because this is real, and she knows those people.
"Wait—wait, what the hell are they doing?" Val whispers, her hand still clinging to Junie's.
