Page 58 of Presence

“Don’t you really?” Camilla’s figure taunts. “Don’t lie to me, Claire. You know I can see right through you.”

A tendril of darkness snakes toward my ankle, wrapping around it like a vice.

“Fuck, the salt,” Raven cries. But I don’t look at her. Black eyes hold all my attention. “Hold your ground!” she shouts. I hear her as if through a fog. “It’s trying to break you. It’s not Camilla. You know this.”

Camilla—or the presence wearing her face—lets out a low, guttural growl, shaking the room with its force. The floor quivers beneath us like it might crack open and swallow us whole.

“Is this your new friend, my Little Soul?” it hisses, slithering into my thoughts. “She acts like she cares about you. But she doesn’t. All she wants is for you to lose me. She wants you to continue your sad, human life. But you don’t want that, right? You never did. You always wanted an escape.”

Fear gnaws at my soul, but suddenly the shadow gripping my ankle loosens. Instead, it slides higher, caressing my skin on my calf, petting me, beckoning me to trust it.

I’m lost, unsure of what to do. There’s so much I don’t know, so many unanswered questions. But one thing is clear—in this moment, as the shadow curls around my leg, twisting and reaching higher to my thigh, I let it. I spread my legs further.

“Remember how it feels, Little Soul? With me, there’s no loneliness.”

His words stroke my mind, soothing the frayed edges of my sanity. It might be Camilla’s form he’s using to speak, but Echo’s here. He’s fighting for me.

“You can fight against me and struggle alone,” he murmurs, “or you can surrender to me, be mine. You know just how good I can be to you. And there’s so much we haven’t explored yet…”

“Claire, resist it!” Raven’s voice echoes from somewhere far away, as if from another realm entirely.

But she’s just jealous. She wants what I have. She wants to never feel alone. She wants to be happy. I want that too.

With Echo, I was always happy.

The shadows swirl around my vision, forming a cocoon of inky darkness that tightens like a shroud. A tendril around my leg pulses with energy, sending vibrations through my entire being. I recognize this feeling, this bliss that courses through my veins. This energy is mine. And he’s taking it from me.

“We can live in the dreamscape, Little Soul. Let me take you there.”

Camilla’s figure shifts closer, her form blurring and morphing in the encroaching shadows. Her smile is twisted but strangely inviting. It mirrors him, I realize. Come to think of it, I’ve always thought he seemed a bit devilish, a touch sadistic.

It makes sense now.

Echo is the presence. He’s my tormentor and my companion.

I take a step forward, slipping out of the circle of salt completely. The shop owner’s voice rises in panic, her warning like a faint cry from a distant shore.

“Don’t let it consume you, Claire! Fight it!”

But the shadows around my waist tighten, pulling me closer to Camilla’s altered form. Her smile widens as she extends her hand, her fingertips brushing my cheek. I lean into her touch, my breath catching as I lose myself in her gaze, finding comfort in those empty, fathomless eyes. I missed it. I missed him.

“This is where you belong,” a voice murmurs. “With me.”

The final flickers of doubt fizzle out like embers in the dark. My fingers intertwine with hers, and the darkness swells, cocooning us in shadow. I close my eyes and sink into oblivion.

Echo is here with me, filling every corner of my soul. I don’t have to be afraid anymore.

“Take me,” I whisper into the dark. “I’m yours.”

And just like that, I disappear.

17

Lost Cause

I don’t have to be afraid anymore. I don’t have to be afraid anymore. I don’t have to be afraid anymore.

But I am. I’m so afraid it hurts. Just a moment ago, I was wrapped in bliss, but now it’s vanished without a trace. Everything feels different. Where has all that happiness gone? It sank into oblivion along with all the light I’ve ever felt.

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