Chapter Eleven
The town's main lane stretched ahead, cobblestones slick from the morning drizzle. Rebecca walked in unison with Nathaniel, her arm brushing the sleeve of Nathaniel's coat as he kept pace beside her. The weight of the ultrasound results pressed down on Rebecca like a lie to a patent. Three babies. She hadn't found words for it yet not for herself, let alone anyone else.
Her thoughts tumbled and snagged on themselves. Bryan. Divorce papers barely cold, and now this. Her mothers words ringing in her ear "That town took my mother." The whispers in dreams, Tina's face, the stranger who wore Nathaniel's face but wasn't him. Nothing fit neatly; every piece of her life felt like it was out of place. She'd only been in this town four days, and it's been a whirlwind of information.
Nathaniel's silence wasn't empty. He glanced at her once, then again, as if listening to the words she wouldn't say. His presence was steady, protective, yet there was something in his gaze that told her he already knew the secret she was keeping. Knew more than she had shared. Knew what stirred inside her heart and her womb.
"Three," she whispered before she realized she'd spoken aloud.
Nathaniel slowed, letting the crowd thin ahead of them before he answered. "Yes. Three." His voice carried a certainty that stopped her breath.
She turned, eyes narrowing. "How could you know?"
But he only held her gaze, the faintest shadow flickering at the edge of his expression. "Because some truths are not given. They are felt."
Rebecca looked away, blinking back tears unsettled that he knew what even her own lips had barely formed. Ahead, the warm glow of the Rose & Thorn Cafe windows spilled onto the street, promising comfort and a warm cup of coffee. Yet with every step, she felt the shadow Clara warned her about pressing closer to her it felt as if it was trying to grab at her. Whispers in the wind coming from all directions.
The bell above the door chimed, breaking the whispers that had followed them down the street. Rebecca stepped inside with Nathaniel just behind her, grateful for the warm glow and the rich scent of coffee beans that wrapped around her like a blanket. The murmur of voices and clink of dishes grounded her in something that almost felt normal. Almost.
"Rebecca!" Star waved from behind the counter, her smile as bright as the coppery hair piled artfully atop her head. She always seemed to belong to the room as much as the light itself.
The Rose & Thorns customers quieted, almost as if the air itself grew heavier. The bell over the door jingled again but no one had pushed it open. A gust of cold seeped across the floorboards, rattling cups in their saucers.
Rebecca's skin prickled. She looked toward the windows. The lamplight outside flickered, shadows stretching unnaturally long until they pressed up against the glass like black veins.
Star's smile faltered. She rose slowly, her hand sliding beneath the counter where she kept more than spoons and sugar jars. "They've never been bold enough to step inside," she whispered.
Nathaniel was already moving. He crossed the floor with quiet authority, drawing a circle on the wood with his fingertip as if his nail were ink. The floorboards seemed to come alive in response to the touch.
The first shadow slipped through the windowpane like smoke, pulling itself into the form of a man whose face never settled. Customers gasped, chairs scraped. Rebecca clutched her bag to her chest, and held a firm hand on her abdomen,her heart slamming against her ribs.
"Stay behind me Rebecca," Nathaniel commanded, his voice a low thunder.
Star lifted her hand from beneath the counter, a silver pendant dangling from her fist. It glowed faintly, casting light sharper than the lamps overhead. She spoke words Rebecca couldn't understand, and the shadows hissed, recoiling.
But more pressed through three, then five, their forms stretching across tables and walls, making the cafe feel suddenly too small. Dishes shattered as one reached for a frightened child crying and cowering near the door.
Star's pendant flared, sending a bolts of shimmering lights across the room that pinned the shadow to the wall like a moth in glass. "Nathaniel!" she cried.
He answered with a sweep of his arm, and the circle he had traced on the floor erupted in a ring of pale fire. The flames weren't hot, but they held the shadows back, forcing them to the edges of the room. The people huddled together inside the protective glow, trembling but safe.
Rebecca's breath came in shallow gasps. She pressed her hand over her stomach, feeling the thrum of three tiny heartbeats as if they, too, were aware.
Nathaniel's dark eyes met hers across the circle of light. "This is only the beginning," he said, his voice cutting through the shadows' shrieks.
Star steadied her pendant, her voice firm despite the tremor in her hands. "And it looks like Hollows Edge has finally stopped pretending like things are just super normal."
The cafe glowed like a lighthouse in a storm steering ships to safety, but outside the windows, the shadows thickened waiting, watching and whispering things Rebecca just couldn't make out.
The shadows writhed against the circle of flame looking for a weak spot to enter the circle, clawing at the invisible barrier that Nathaniel had drawn the frustrated screams nerve wracking. Rebecca pressed back into her chair, but when she glanced at the other townsfolk, she realized something startling.
No one was screaming anymore.
The café had gone quiet, not with fear, but with grim acceptance. An old man near the counter calmly murmured, "Same thing as last winter." A young mother clutched her child, not in panic, but in weary practice. And when the pendant in Star's hand blazed brighter, half the room raised their palms in silent reverence as if they knew the words she spoke, even if Rebecca did not.
"They've grown stronger," Star warned, her voice steady though her knuckles whitened around the chain.
Nathaniel's reply was clipped. "Then they've been feeding again."
A murmur rippled through the people. A woman in a flour-dusted apron whispered, "Feeding in the weak places. The new ones always stir them up." Her gaze flicked to Rebecca, but only for a heartbeat before shifting back to the shadows.
Rebecca's chest tightened. New ones. Was that what they thought she was. Is this what she brought to the town?
Nathaniel's circle flared brighter, and one by one the shadows dissolved into wisps of smoke, shrieking as they were burned back through the windows. The last one clung longest, its form stretched thin, and before it vanished, its faceless head turned directly toward Rebecca and tried to reach for her through the fire and the light, it shrieked at failure.
Then silence.
The flames blew out, leaving only the faint crackle of the hearth and the uneven breathing of those gathered inside.
Star lowered her pendant, tucking it close to her chest. Her eyes swept the room. "All right, folks. It's done. For now."
The people nodded, some already returning to their coffee as if this were little more than a storm passing overhead. Like it was just a normal day to them.
Rebecca stared, stunned. "You all knew? All of you?"
The flour-dusted woman gave her a long, assessing look. "Darlin', you don't move to Hollows Edge without knowin' something's wrong in the Hollow. Question is, how much you're willing to see."
Nathaniel laid a hand on the back of her chair, grounding her. "Now you see, Rebecca. The shadows are not whispers or dreams. They are here. And they know you."
Rebecca's throat went dry, the family photo inside her bag suddenly feeling like it burned against her side. Everyone knew. Everyone except her.