"…run."
---
The word didn't fully register.
Not properly.
It hung in the air like it hadn't decided whether it belonged to me yet.
---
Lucan's grip tightened slightly on his sword.
Not raising it.
Not lowering it.
Just ready.
Like he had already heard something I hadn't.
---
I should've moved.
I didn't.
My body felt…
delayed.
Like the world had started buffering.
Like I was standing a fraction behind reality.
---
Hop, hop, little bunny…
---
It came softer this time.
Wrong.
Not comforting.
Not warm.
Just present.
Like it was watching through me instead of with me.
---
Something shifted inside the supermarket.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just—
a change in weight.
Like the air decided it had somewhere else to be.
---
My eyes flicked without meaning to.
Down the aisle.
Between the empty shelves.
Too dark to see properly.
But not empty.
---
Why won't you slow your pace?
---
My throat tightened.
That line didn't feel like comfort anymore.
It felt like instruction.
Like something trying to sync me to it.
---
Lucan moved first.
Of course he did.
One step forward.
Then another.
Slow.
Controlled.
Like he was approaching something that hadn't fully decided to exist yet.
---
Mud upon your snowy feet.
---
I took a step back without thinking.
The floor stuck slightly under my shoe.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like it didn't want me to leave.
---
Then I saw it.
Not fully.
Not clearly.
Just—
wrongness.
A shape between shelves.
A distortion pretending to be space.
Like the air had forgotten how to be empty.
---
My stomach dropped.
But my body didn't run.
Not yet.
Not fast enough.
---
Every trail you leave behind
Makes your flight complete.
---
The rhyme stuttered.
Just slightly.
Like it had caught on something.
Like it was trying to keep up with something faster than it.
---
Lucan stopped.
His head tilted.
Just a fraction.
Listening.
Not to me.
Not to the supermarket.
To whatever was inside it.
---
Then—
it moved.
---
Not toward us.
Not away.
Just deciding direction existed.
A shift that made my vision lag behind it.
Like my eyes were late to understanding what reality was doing.
---
I inhaled sharply.
Too sharp.
Too loud.
---
The sound answered.
Not with words.
With presence.
---
Something stepped into the aisle.
Not fully formed in my mind.
Because my mind refused to finish it.
Refused to give it shape.
---
Hop, hop, little bunny…
---
The rhyme continued.
But it broke here.
Not stopping.
Just…
misaligned.
Like the words were being said in the wrong order by something that didn't understand rhythm anymore.
---
Will you make it through?
---
I didn't hear Lucan move.
But suddenly he was closer to me than before.
Not behind me.
Not in front.
Just—
between me and the aisle I wanted to pretend wasn't real.
---
The thing in the shelves shifted again.
And this time—
it reacted.
To me.
Not Lucan.
Me.
---
My breath stopped.
Not fear.
Recognition.
That horrible sinking feeling that something had noticed I existed correctly.
---
The rhyme softened again.
Almost gently.
Almost kindly.
---
The forest keeps its secrets well…
We hope it keeps you, too.
---
And for a moment—
terrifying, fragile—
I understood why it felt comforting.
Because it didn't demand I be brave.
It didn't demand I understand.
It just said:
keep running.
---
Lucan's voice cut through it.
Low.
Final.
"…Don't look at it."
---
Too late.
I already had.