The Hollow came without a body.
That was the first thing I noticed.
There was no creature.
No shadow.
No figure waiting between the trees.
Just voices.
Everywhere.
Athena's voice.
My mother's.
Seraphine's.
Thomas's.
Voices from memories that didn't belong to me.
"Axel."
I turned.
Athena was beside me.
Real.
I could hear her heartbeat.
I could smell her.
I reached for her hand.
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She grabbed mine.
"Still me."
"Still you."
The voices grew louder.
"Axel."
"Look at me."
"Come here."
"Leave her."
"Save yourself."
Seraphine covered her ears.
"It wants you to separate."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because together you're harder to control."
Athena squeezed my hand.
"So we stay together."
Seraphine shook her head.
"That's exactly what it wants."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"It wants you to think staying together is enough."
A cold feeling settled in my chest.
"What does that mean?"
"The Hollow isn't trying to make you leave each other."
She looked toward the woods.
"It's trying to make you believe you're safe."
The voices stopped.
Everything became silent.
Then Athena gasped.
I turned.
She wasn't there.
My hand was empty.
"Athena?"
No answer.
Panic hit me.
"Athena!"
Seraphine grabbed my arm.
"Don't move."
"She's gone."
"Not physically."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"The Hollow took her into a memory."
My stomach dropped.
"Get her back."
"I can't."
"You have to."
Seraphine looked at me.
"No."
She pointed at my chest.
"But you can."
I understood immediately.
"No."
"You can follow the connection."
"Inside the Hollow?"
"Yes."
"That's insane."
"Probably."
"You're asking me to walk into the thing that has spent weeks trying to destroy us."
Seraphine nodded.
"Yes."
I looked toward where Athena had disappeared.
Then I closed my eyes.
I found her.
Not with sight.
Not with sound.
With something deeper.
A memory.
Rain.
A car.
A girl laughing.
Me beside her.
The crash.
The hospital.
The necklace.
The woods.
Every moment we'd shared.
I felt the Hollow pulling at them.
I opened my eyes.
"I'm going in."
Seraphine caught my wrist.
"If you go in, it will show you what you want most."
I looked at her.
"And if I believe it?"
She released me.
"Then you won't come back."
I stepped forward.
"I'll come back."
Seraphine whispered,
"Everyone says that."
Then the world disappeared.