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Speaker 1: Emily and I had been talking about leaving the city

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for years, but for a long time it was just talk,

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the idea of it. The fantasy was always easier than

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the reality. Work, schedules, expenses, there was always something keeping

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us in place. But then Emily's job went fully remote

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and my company downsized, leaving me with a severance package

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and more free time than I knew what to do.

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With the noise of the city, the weight of routine,

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it all started feeling suffocating. Emily was the one who

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found the listing. Look at this, she had said, one evening,

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laptop balanced on her knease, It's perfect. I leaned over

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a shoulder, expecting some overpriced cabin in the middle of nowhere. Instead,

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I saw an old two story house with deep green

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shutters and a wrap around porch, nestled right at the

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edge of a vast, untouched forest, the kind of place

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you'd see in an old postcard. I laughed. That looks

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like the beginning of a horror movie, she grinned, or

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the beginning of something good. Emily had always loved the woods.

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When she was a kid. She used to disappear into

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them for hours, coming back with twigs in her hair,

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and stories about deer that let her get too close,

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birds that seemed to follow her. She always said there

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was something different about being deep in nature, something bigger

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than her, but strangely familiar. I had never really understood it,

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but I loved how much she loved it, and maybe

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I needed a change too. So we packed up, left

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behind the noise, and moved to the quietest place we find.

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Our new home was old, but it had character, solid

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wooden beams, a deep front porch, ivy climbing up the

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stone walls. It sat at the very edge of town,

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where the paved roads turned to dirt, where the street

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lights thinned and finally disappeared. It was the kind of

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place where time felt slower, where the days stretched long,

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with the forest pressed in on odd sides like a

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living thing. Emily loved it immediately. She spent the first

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evening sitting on the porch, wrapped in an old sweater,

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watching the sun set over the tree line, with a

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quiet sort of happiness I hadn't seen in years. But

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something about the house the land around it felt too still.

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I couldn't explain it, and for a moment I wished

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we weren't so alone out here. It wasn't the vastness

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of the trees that unsettled me. It was how quiet

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they were. I grew up in the suburbs, but even

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I knew what the woods were supposed to sound, like,

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the rustling of leaves in the wind, the occasional snap

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of branch under foot, birds calling to each other from

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the canopy. But here nothing, not even the buzz of insects.

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The trees stood motionless, the leaves perfectly still in the

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heavy summer air. The sky was overcast, thick with a

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kind of clouds that seemed to press down on you.

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But there was no breeze, not even the faintest shift

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of air. I hadn't realized how much I relied on

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background noise until there was none. I glanced at Emily,

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expecting her to notice it too, but she just smiled,

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stretching her legs out and sipping at tea like nothing

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was wrong. It's perfect, she murmured. It didn't feel perfect

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to me, and I wasn't the only one who thought so. Murphy,

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our dog, had been exploring the yard when we arrived,

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sniffing at the porch steps, trotting through the long grass

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for the moment he got close to the trees, he

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stopped his ears, flattened, his tail, which had been wagging

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all afternoon, slowly lowered between his legs. Then he bagged away.

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Emily clicked her tongue, trying to coax him forward. What's wrong, buddy,

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Murphy whined low in his throat and turned, trotting back

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toward the house with his tail tucked tight against his body.

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I let out a small laugh, shaking my head. Maybe

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he's just not used to all this, But that wasn't it.

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I had never seen him act like that before. Emily

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just sighed, shaking her head. He'll get used to it.

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Then she turned back to the forest, and I swear,

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just for a second, the tree shifted, not in the wind,

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there was no wind, but something moved deep in the dark.

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Emily had always been independent, but something about the woods

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unsettled me. We'd been in the house for less than

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a week when she told me she wanted to explore

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the nearby trails. Are you sure you want to go

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there alone, I'd said, watching her lace upper boots, she smiled,

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adjusting the strap and a pack. It'll be fine. I

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just want to get a feel for the area for

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that feeling, my gut twisted. Just don't go too far.

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She kissed my cheek and was gone before I could

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say anything else. By early afternoon, I expected her coming back.

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By late afternoon, I checked my phone, scrolling absently through messages,

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waiting for a text that never came. By early evening,

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I started to worry. I stood on the porch, scanning

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the trees. The sun had already started dipping below the horizon,

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drenging the woods in a deep orange glow. Still no

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sign of her. I told myself she probably lost track

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of time, that she'd be fine, But that feeling, the

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one I had since we moved in, settled deeper into

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my chest. And then, just as I reached for my

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car keys to go looking for her, I saw her

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coming out of the woods. I knew immediately that something

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was wrong. She moved too slowly, as if walking was

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an afterthought. Her skin looked pale, like she'd been out

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in the cold for hours, but her forehead glistened with sweat.

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Her clothes were dirt streaked, her sleeves damp and darkened,

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but there was no sign that she had fallen, and

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her boots her boots were wet. It hadn't rained in days.

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I stepped forward, feeling my pulse pick up. Where the

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hell were you? I was about to go looking for you.

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Emily looked at me like she had just registered I

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was there. I I think I got turned around, sounded dazed,

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like she'd just woken up from a dream. I frowned,

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you got lost a pause, then too slowly, she nodded, yeah,

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I think so. She stepped past me and onto the porch,

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heading inside without another word. I hesitated before following. Something

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was off. She wasn't acting scared, embarrassed or frustrated, just

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plank like she wasn't entirely there. That night, Murphy refused

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to go near her. I had been sitting on the

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couch when he suddenly stopped in the middle of the room,

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his ears flattening against his head. His eyes locked onto Emily,

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who was standing in the kitchen refilling her water bottle.

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Then he growled, a low, rumbling sound I'd never heard

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from him before. Emily glanced over, frowning, what's wrong with him?

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I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could,

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Murphy backed away, not ran, not bolted in paniced, just

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backed away slowly. Carefully, his entire body rigid, tail tucked

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between his legs, ears pinned back, like he'd just encountered

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a predator. Then he turned and darted into the hallway,

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disappearing under the couch. Emily laughed, but something about it

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felt off. Maybe he just doesn't recognize me in my

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hiking gear, but she wasn't wearing her hiking gear anymore.

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And I'd never seen Murphy afraid of anything before. It

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started as a whisper of unease, the kind you feel

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in your gut before your brain can explain it. Emily

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was the same, but not, And maybe that's why it

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unnerved me so much, because the changes were subtle enough

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to make me doubt myself, but noticeable enough that I

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couldn't ignore them. It was a morning like any other.

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I was making coffee, half asleep, while Emily sat across

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from me at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of yogurt.

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She was scrolling through her phone, a spoon moving mechanically

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from bowl to mouth. I don't know what made me

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notice it, but as I took a sip of coffee,

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something felt wrong. Emily's eyes they were locked on a screen,

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unmoving too still. I watched her between SIPs, waiting for

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her to blink. She didn't. I shifted in my seat,

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my pulse kicking up a notch. Maybe I wasn't paying

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close enough attention. Maybe I was imagining things. So I

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leaned forward, watching harder. Nothing. I felt my stomach twist.

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Thirty seconds, a full minute too. Still, her eyes stayed open, glassy,

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reflecting the blue glow of her phone screen. Did you

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sleep okay? I asked, trying to keep my voice light.

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She looked up at me, a slow, lazy smile, curling

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at her lips. Yeah. Why. I stared at her, my

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heartbeat thudding in my ears. Still, no blink. I forced

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the chuckle, shaking my head, no reason. She held my

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gaze a little too long before turning back to her phone.

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The air felt heavy in my chest. I waited again,

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and still she didn't blink. On top of this, Emily

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had always been graceful, the kind of person who moved

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without thinking, quick, fluid, comfortable in her own skin. But

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now it was like she was adjusting to herself. I

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noticed it one night when she got into bed. She

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lifted the covers, sliding beneath them, but then stopped her

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hand hovered in mid air, fingers curled like she was

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about to grasp the blanket, but she just froze. Her

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breathing didn't change, She didn't react, she didn't flinch. She

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just stayed like that, mid motion, as if she had

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forgotten the next step. A second passed then too. I

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was about to say something to shake her, when she

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finally moved again, smooth, slow, like nothing had happened. I

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didn't sleep well that night. The morning air was biting,

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crisping off to see my breath in little white clouds.

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As I stood on the porch sipping my coffee. The

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ground was damp with frost, the sky overcast with heavy

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and low gray clouds. Emily stepped outside barefoot. I winced

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as a foot hit the wooden floorboards. She took a

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deep breath, stretching her arms above her head, staring out

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into the woods like she belonged to them. I wrapped

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my flannel tighter around me. Jesus, em aren't you freezing?

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She let her arms fall back to her side, tilting

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her head slightly as if considering the question. Then she

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smiled no. She turned back to the trees, the wind

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lifting her hair. I watched her arms, waiting for the

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telltale bumps of goose flesh to rise on her skin.

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They never did, and as I watched, I realized something

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else her breath. The cold air should have made it visible,

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but there was nothing. Murphy growling at Emily, but he

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still wouldn't go near her. It wasn't just fear anymore.

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It was avoidance. At first I thought he was skittish,

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acting out, But as the days passed I started watching closer,

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and I realized something that sent a chill through me.

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Murphy wouldn't look at her, not once. It wasn't just

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that he stayed away. It was like he couldn't see

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her at all. One night, were in the living room.

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Emily stood by the window, arms crossed over her chest,

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gazing out into the dark. Murphy sat on the floor

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a few feet away, His ears relaxed, his eyes half

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lidded with sleep. But he wasn't looking at Emily. He

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was looking past her, No, not past her, at the

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space next to her. He stared at it, stared at nothing.

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I felt a cold shiver run up my spine. Murphy,

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I called, His head snapped back toward me instantly, tail

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thumping against the floor. His ears perked up. I glanced

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at Emily, expecting her to notice, but she hadn't moved.

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She was watching me. The silence stretched between us. I

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swallowed hard, my throat dry. If Murphy doesn't see her,

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then what does he see? To get some fresh air,

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I went to the shops. I don't know why, but

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I brought it up to the shopkeeper. It was an impulse,

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something about the weight to my chest, the feeling I

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couldn't shake. I guess I just couldn't keep it inside

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any longer. I was standing at the counter waiting for

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my change when I said, my wife went hiking a

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few days ago. I think she got turned around. She

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was out there a long time. The shopkeeper, a wiry

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old man with a permanent squint, froze. He didn't ask

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where she went, he didn't ask if she was okay. Instead,

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he reached from my bag and muttered, you should be

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careful of there. Something in his tone made the hairs

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of my arms rise. I forced to chuckle. Why is

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that he hesitated sliding the bag toward me. Something stay

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in the woods. My fingers curled around the paper handles.

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I tried to laugh again, but it came out wrong.

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What does that mean? He just shook his head. Nothing.

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Just be careful. His eyes flicked up, scanning the shop

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like someone else was listening. And suddenly I didn't want

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to press him anymore. At home, the dditis didn't stop.

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It happened the first time I touched her in days.

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Emily had always run cold. She used to press her

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cold feet against me in bed, just to hear me yelp.

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Used to complain when I turned the ac up too high,

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always pulling the blankets tighter around herself at night. Now

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her skin was cold, not just cool, not just the

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kind of chill you get after stepping outside on a

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brisk evening, cold like stone. It was a casual touch,

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just my fingers brushing against her arm as I passed

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her in the hallway. But the moment I felt it,

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my stomach dropped. I stopped. Jesus, M you feel frozen.

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She turned her head toward me, slow and smooth, too

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smooth do I I forced the chuckle? Yeah, are you

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feeling okay? She smiled the same way someone smiles when

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they're trying to make you feel stupid for worrying. I

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feel fine. I watched her for a second too long.

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Her pupils seemed darker than before. The irises like thin

238
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rings of gold around a deep, endless void red around

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her eyes strained, looking like it was taking its toll,

240
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and then turned away, never blinking the whole time. I

241
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,039
told myself it was in my head that maybe she'd

242
00:20:05,079 --> 00:20:10,200
just been outside too long. But later that night I

243
00:20:10,279 --> 00:20:15,400
woke up to something worse. I woke in the dark,

244
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my body heavy with sleep, my mind groggy. I rolled

245
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:28,599
over instinctively, reaching for her empty sheets. My heart jumped,

246
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:34,200
and I sat up, blinking into the darkness. Emily was

247
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sitting on the edge of the bed. Her back was

248
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:42,000
to me, her shoulders rigid, her head slightly tilted toward

249
00:20:42,039 --> 00:20:47,240
the window. She didn't move, didn't shift, didn't acknowledge me.

250
00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:58,079
I swallowed em no reaction. She just stared. I swung

251
00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:00,799
my legs over the bed, pressing my bare feet to

252
00:21:00,839 --> 00:21:05,319
the floor, feeling the cool wood beneath my toes. My

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00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:11,000
throat was dry. Slowly, I reached out, gently, touching her shoulder.

254
00:21:12,799 --> 00:21:17,359
Her skin was even colder than before, like she'd been

255
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:22,279
sitting outside in the frost all night. That's when I

256
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:31,200
noticed something else. She wasn't breathing. I froze, my fingers

257
00:21:31,279 --> 00:21:35,039
curled slightly against her skin, waiting for the telltale rise

258
00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:40,880
and fall of her shoulders. Nothing. She wasn't even trying

259
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:45,119
to fake it. I slowly moved my hand toward her mouth,

260
00:21:45,519 --> 00:21:49,559
hovering just over her lips, waiting to feel warmth, a

261
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:58,880
soft exhale of air. Nothing. She just wasn't breathing. I

262
00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,920
yanked my hand back, and my pulse hammered so loudly

263
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:06,160
in my ears that I almost didn't hear her almost

264
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:14,400
go back to sleep. Her voice was soft, almost too soft.

265
00:22:15,759 --> 00:22:19,359
She still hadn't moved, hadn't turned her head, hadn't blinked.

266
00:22:20,759 --> 00:22:29,079
I swallowed hard, Emily, what are you? She finally turned slowly,

267
00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,440
her head tilted just enough to look at me over

268
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,839
her shoulder. The dim close of the moon through the

269
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window caught her eyes at the perfect angle, so dark

270
00:22:40,759 --> 00:22:45,599
they reflected nothing back at me. Her lips curled at

271
00:22:45,599 --> 00:22:52,000
the corners. You should sleep, she whispered. I don't want

272
00:22:52,039 --> 00:22:59,759
you tired. I didn't move, didn't breathe myself. Then, just

273
00:22:59,759 --> 00:23:03,480
as slowly as she had turned, she faced forward again

274
00:23:04,079 --> 00:23:10,279
and continued staring out the window. I didn't sleep again.

275
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,960
I barely functioned the next morning, running on coffee and

276
00:23:16,079 --> 00:23:21,200
frayed nerves, feeling my body betray me with exhaustion. I

277
00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:29,079
needed answers, so I went into town. I don't know

278
00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:33,839
what I was hoping for. Maybe just human contact, someone normal,

279
00:23:34,279 --> 00:23:36,440
someone who would pull me out of my own head,

280
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,720
Maybe an excuse to get away from the house for

281
00:23:39,759 --> 00:23:43,000
a few hours. But when I stepped out of the

282
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general store, he was waiting for me. An old man,

283
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,559
thin and wiry, with deep set eyes and a face

284
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,960
that looked like it had weathered decades of bad seasons.

285
00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:01,240
The old shopkeeper from before on a break. He was

286
00:24:01,279 --> 00:24:04,880
sitting on the bench just outside the entrance, one leg

287
00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:08,759
crossed over the other, hands folded neatly in his lap.

288
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:14,960
I nearly walked past him, but then he said, you

289
00:24:15,039 --> 00:24:20,200
need to leave. I stopped in my tracks, turned to

290
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:24,880
look at him. His eyes were on me, sharp and certain.

291
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,000
Not the words of a crazy old man, not a

292
00:24:29,079 --> 00:24:33,839
warning throwing it just anyone passing by, he meant me.

293
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:40,839
I swallowed hard, forcing out a weak laugh. Excuse me,

294
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:47,920
he didn't blink. If she came back, she wasn't supposed to.

295
00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:54,000
A cold sensation trickled down my spine. The way of

296
00:24:54,039 --> 00:24:57,920
those words pressed into my ribs, settling into the space

297
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,680
between my lungs. I open my mouth to demand an explanation,

298
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,279
but the old man was already pushing himself to his feet.

299
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,839
I took a step closer. What the hell does that mean?

300
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,200
He shook his head, eyes darting briefly to the street,

301
00:25:17,599 --> 00:25:21,759
as if checking for some one. Then he leaned in, slightly,

302
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:30,880
lowering his voice. Don't let us sleep. My mouth went dry.

303
00:25:32,079 --> 00:25:35,839
Before I could say another word, he turned and walked away.

304
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:42,920
I watched him until he disappeared around the corner. I

305
00:25:43,039 --> 00:25:46,359
didn't go home right away. I sat in my car,

306
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,720
gripping the steering wheel, staring at nothing, hearing his words

307
00:25:50,759 --> 00:25:55,960
repeat over and over again in my head. She wasn't

308
00:25:55,960 --> 00:26:03,119
supposed to come back. Don't let us sleep. I should

309
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,640
have left. That was the obvious answer. It had been

310
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:10,759
for days. If someone else told me this story, if

311
00:26:10,799 --> 00:26:14,400
a friend came to me trembling, saying something is wrong

312
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,559
with my wife. She's not acting like herself. I think

313
00:26:17,599 --> 00:26:21,799
she might not even be human. I wouldn't hesitate. I

314
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:24,279
tell them to pack a bag, get in the car,

315
00:26:24,599 --> 00:26:29,480
and never look back. But it's different when it's your wife.

316
00:26:30,559 --> 00:26:35,319
It's different when it's someone you love. I kept telling

317
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,920
myself it was in my head that maybe I was overacting,

318
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:42,400
that maybe she was just tired or sick, but that

319
00:26:42,519 --> 00:26:44,839
I was just adjusting to life and in a new place,

320
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,920
reading too much into things. And then there was the

321
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,759
other thought, the deeper one, the one I didn't want

322
00:26:52,799 --> 00:26:57,119
to acknowledge. What if she's still in there, what if

323
00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:00,480
she just needs help? What if I leave her? And

324
00:27:00,519 --> 00:27:05,559
there was never anything wrong at all except me, So

325
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,599
instead of running, I did the worst thing I could do.

326
00:27:10,839 --> 00:27:15,960
I tried to understand. I sat at my desk late

327
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,880
into the night, the glow of my laptop screen the

328
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,440
only light in the room, trolling through old town records,

329
00:27:22,799 --> 00:27:26,839
newspaper archives, anything that might tell me what the hell

330
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,720
was happening to my wife. I searched missing persons reports first,

331
00:27:32,559 --> 00:27:38,000
and that's when I found them. Hikers, campers, locals. All

332
00:27:38,079 --> 00:27:40,759
of them had gone missing near the woods by our house.

333
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,200
Most of them were never found, but one case stood out.

334
00:27:47,759 --> 00:27:51,640
The article was over thirty years old, some news offshoot

335
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,319
that covered conspiracies and urban legends, the kind of source

336
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:59,400
you immediately dismiss as unreliable, Yet it was the only

337
00:27:59,519 --> 00:28:04,000
thing that matched. The scanned newspaper clipping was grainy, the

338
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:09,119
text barely legible, but the headline made my blood run cold.

339
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,720
Local woman returns after three months missing. She was never

340
00:28:14,759 --> 00:28:20,839
the same. I clicked on it, my pulse hammering as

341
00:28:20,839 --> 00:28:26,440
I skimmed through the details. The woman, Margaret Delaney, twenty

342
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,720
seven years old, had gone missing on a solo hiking

343
00:28:29,759 --> 00:28:32,599
trip in the very same forest where Emily had been.

344
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:39,400
She vanished without a trace, resumed dead. Then one evening

345
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,799
she simply walked back into town, no memory of where

346
00:28:43,839 --> 00:28:49,319
she had been, no signs of injury, just back. There

347
00:28:49,359 --> 00:28:52,440
was a quote from her husband, who spent months grieving her,

348
00:28:52,759 --> 00:28:56,400
convinced she was dead. At first I thought it was

349
00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:00,039
a miracle. But the longer she stayed, the more I

350
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:06,799
realized it wasn't her, not really. The hairs on the

351
00:29:06,839 --> 00:29:10,920
back of my neck stood up. I scrawled further. The

352
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:16,160
report ended abruptly, no follow up, no conclusion, except for

353
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,720
a single ominous note at the bottom of the page.

354
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:29,359
Vanished again, this time for good. I stared at those words,

355
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:36,400
vanished again. I thought of Emily standing at the window, unmoving.

356
00:29:37,079 --> 00:29:40,880
I thought of Murphy, refusing to acknowledge her. I thought

357
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:44,359
of the way she felt beneath my hands, too cold,

358
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,200
And I realized something there should have been obvious from

359
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:52,559
the start. I wasn't afraid of what had happened to her.

360
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,119
I was afraid of what was waiting to happen. Next.

361
00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:03,599
I shut the laptop. My hands were shaking. I forced

362
00:30:03,599 --> 00:30:07,160
myself to breathe, steadying the panic rising in my chest.

363
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:11,319
Then I stood up and went to find my wife.

364
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:16,599
She was in the living room, sitting on the couch,

365
00:30:17,039 --> 00:30:23,000
her posture too straight, too still. She'd been reading, released

366
00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:27,240
pretending to her book lay open on her lap, but

367
00:30:27,359 --> 00:30:33,039
her eyes weren't moving. She was just staring. I cleared

368
00:30:33,079 --> 00:30:41,039
my throat emily. She looked up at me, smiled. My

369
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:49,240
mouth felt dry. What happened in those woods? She tilted

370
00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:54,400
her head slightly, that small, distant smile still on her lips.

371
00:30:55,480 --> 00:31:01,079
What do you mean I took a step closer that day?

372
00:31:01,119 --> 00:31:06,960
You got lost? What happened to you out there? Her

373
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:13,839
expression didn't change, but something about her felt different now, lighter, amused,

374
00:31:14,519 --> 00:31:17,720
like I was asking the wrong questions, Like she was

375
00:31:17,759 --> 00:31:21,839
waiting for me to catch up. Why do you keep

376
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:26,799
looking at me like that? She asked. My pulse stuttered.

377
00:31:27,759 --> 00:31:33,519
She didn't answer, She just kept smiling. And suddenly I

378
00:31:33,559 --> 00:31:37,279
felt like I wasn't looking at my wife anymore, like

379
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:43,240
something else was looking back. I wasn't getting anything out

380
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,279
of her, so I went back to trying to do

381
00:31:46,319 --> 00:31:53,480
more research. That night, I woke to a deep, suffocating stillness.

382
00:31:54,119 --> 00:31:56,799
Not just the silence of the house, not just the

383
00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:01,799
quiet of the woods outside. The stillness that felt wrong.

384
00:32:03,359 --> 00:32:05,200
It was the kind of quiet that felt like it

385
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:10,960
was waiting for something. Instinctively, I reached for Emily, but

386
00:32:11,119 --> 00:32:15,640
the sheets beside me were cold. I sat up, my

387
00:32:15,759 --> 00:32:21,440
heart hammering, already knowing where she was. She was standing

388
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,839
by the bedroom window. Her back was to me, her

389
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:29,880
nightgown hanging loose over a frame, her arm's limp at

390
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:34,759
her side. She wasn't moving, wasn't rocking on her feet,

391
00:32:35,079 --> 00:32:39,759
wasn't shifting a weight. She stood like something propped upright,

392
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:43,720
like if I touched her she would tip over and shatter.

393
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,920
The moonlight poured in, outlining her in pale silver light,

394
00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:55,880
and for the first time I realized how unnatural her

395
00:32:55,920 --> 00:33:01,960
stillness was. I swallowed thickly, already swinging my legs over

396
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:10,400
the bed. Emily. She didn't answer, She wasn't even breathing again.

397
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:16,000
My fingers curled against the mattress. I forced myself to

398
00:33:16,039 --> 00:33:21,119
stand step closer. I spent so many nights ignoring this feeling,

399
00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:26,359
worried that doing something would make things worse. But I

400
00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,759
couldn't ignore it any more, not when she looked like this.

401
00:33:31,839 --> 00:33:36,720
Her shoulders were trembling, And then I saw it her

402
00:33:36,759 --> 00:33:44,200
reflection in the glass. She was crying. Tears streaked down

403
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:49,599
her face, catching the moonlight slipping down her cheeks, but

404
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:54,759
her expression didn't change. Her mouth didn't quiver, her brows

405
00:33:54,799 --> 00:33:59,599
didn't furrow, her face stayed eerily blank. Her lips slightly parted,

406
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,240
like a body had forgotten how to cry, Like the

407
00:34:03,319 --> 00:34:08,880
tears were falling against the will. A cold weight settled

408
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:16,559
in my chest. Emily. I stepped closer, my voice barely

409
00:34:16,599 --> 00:34:22,280
above a whisper. Her shoulders twitched, the smallest movement I

410
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:31,760
had seen from her in daze. Then she spoke. I

411
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:39,719
can't blink, she whispered. The words didn't make sense. I swallowed,

412
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:46,400
my hands, curling into fists. What do you mean? Slowly

413
00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:50,880
she turned her head. The movement was painfully slow, like

414
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,960
a body wasn't used to moving this way anymore. When

415
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:58,400
a face finally turned to me, my breath hitched in

416
00:34:58,519 --> 00:35:05,880
my throat. Her eyes they were too wide. The skin

417
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:10,159
beneath them was raw, darkened from exhaustion, but the whites

418
00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:15,480
of her eyes were dry, bloodshot. How long had she

419
00:35:15,519 --> 00:35:18,880
been forcing herself to stay awake? How long had she

420
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:26,039
been fighting this? If I blink, she whispered, the words

421
00:35:26,079 --> 00:35:29,320
caught in her throat. Her lips trembled for the first

422
00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:36,480
time in days. I'll go back. I felt my pulse

423
00:35:36,559 --> 00:35:41,679
hammer against my ribs. Her breath hitched, her body swaying slightly,

424
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:47,039
her exhaustion pressing down on her like a weight. She

425
00:35:47,119 --> 00:35:51,440
wasn't going to last much longer. And then she looked

426
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:56,960
at me, really looked at me, and something deep inside

427
00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:00,440
her eyes was moving, a shadow behind the eye iris,

428
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:09,639
something shifting, stretching, something waiting. Her voice was barely a breath.

429
00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:17,400
I was never supposed to leave. Emily swayed down her feet,

430
00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:23,440
her breath coming in shallow gasps. She was losing. I

431
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,679
could see it now. Her body was failing. The exhaustion

432
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,679
was finally catching up to her, wearing her down in

433
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:35,280
ways that even she couldn't fight anymore. Her skin was

434
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:39,239
too pale, her lips slightly parted, as if breathing had

435
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:44,920
become a conscious effort. Her muscles twitched involuntarily, tiny spasms

436
00:36:45,039 --> 00:36:50,239
rippling beneath her skin, and for the first time I

437
00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:57,599
realized this wasn't Emily's choice. Whatever had happened in the woods,

438
00:36:58,079 --> 00:37:02,199
whatever she had become, it had been forced on her.

439
00:37:03,639 --> 00:37:06,760
She didn't want this. She was just trying to stay

440
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:15,840
and she was losing. Emily stay with me. I reached

441
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:20,039
for her without thinking, my fingers brushing against her arm.

442
00:37:20,679 --> 00:37:24,559
She flinched at the contact, her body tensing, but she

443
00:37:24,639 --> 00:37:30,960
didn't pull away. She just kept staring. The tears streamed

444
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:36,039
down her face, silent, endless, like a body knew something

445
00:37:36,119 --> 00:37:43,880
she didn't, or maybe she did, maybe she had always known.

446
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:48,440
I swallowed hard. You don't have to do this alone.

447
00:37:50,599 --> 00:37:55,360
Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out. Her

448
00:37:55,400 --> 00:38:01,559
legs trembled. She was about to fall. I grabbed her shoulders,

449
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:06,800
holding her up. My own body's shaking. Now just sit down, Okay,

450
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,480
you don't have to I don't want to go back.

451
00:38:13,119 --> 00:38:16,519
Her voice was hoarse, cracking under the weight of so

452
00:38:16,679 --> 00:38:24,800
much fear. I tightened my grip. Then you won't, She

453
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:32,360
shook her head weakly. You don't understand. Her fingers clutched

454
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:35,079
at my shirt, like she was trying to anger herself

455
00:38:35,159 --> 00:38:39,599
to something real. Her body was burning through its last reserves,

456
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:46,159
fighting the inevitable. I had to keep her awake. Emily,

457
00:38:46,639 --> 00:38:51,360
look at me. She was looking at me. She had

458
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:55,920
never stopped. I ran my hands over her arms, trying

459
00:38:55,920 --> 00:39:00,639
to steady her. Come on, just just sit down some water,

460
00:39:01,159 --> 00:39:10,320
let's figure this out. Okay. She blinked. No, she almost blinked.

461
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:15,480
Her eyelids fluttered just for a second, like a muscle spasm.

462
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:21,880
Her body was giving off panic shot through me. No,

463
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:26,920
stay with me, Stay with me. She soaked in a sharp,

464
00:39:27,199 --> 00:39:31,559
shuddering breath, fighting it. Her fingers dug into my skin,

465
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:39,000
her grip weak but desperate. I can't, I can't. She

466
00:39:39,119 --> 00:39:42,960
swayed again, and I caught her, pulling her close, holding

467
00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:48,559
her upright just a little longer, I pleaded, please, Emily.

468
00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:57,400
Her chest rose in one last heavy breath, her fingers loosened,

469
00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:08,760
her eyelids fluttered, and then she blinked. I was still

470
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,800
holding her, or at least I thought I had been.

471
00:40:13,079 --> 00:40:18,840
My arms were empty, now clutching at nothing but air, nobody,

472
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:24,039
no weight. She had been there just a second ago,

473
00:40:24,679 --> 00:40:34,320
warm and trembling against me, and now gone. I staggered back,

474
00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:37,760
my hands still hovering where she had been, my body

475
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:43,960
refusing to understand what had just happened. I looked around frantically.

476
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:48,360
The room was empty, no signs she had ever been

477
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:52,400
there at all. No discarded clothes, no strands of hair

478
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:55,079
on the pillow, no imprint in the bed where she

479
00:40:55,119 --> 00:41:03,239
had slept beside me. Just absence, the kind that felt permanent.

480
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:09,280
A soft breath of air stirred from the curtains. I

481
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:14,679
turned slowly. The window was open. I knew for a

482
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:19,320
fact it had been closed when I went to bed. Outside,

483
00:41:19,679 --> 00:41:27,480
the trees stood still, their dark silhouettes waiting. Watching The

484
00:41:27,559 --> 00:41:33,719
air felt thick, expectant. The woods were completely silent, not

485
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:42,320
just still, not just quiet silent. A sound broke the air,

486
00:41:43,199 --> 00:41:47,440
a small, familiar sound that felt somehow alien in this moment,

487
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:53,840
a tail thumping against the floor. I turned my head,

488
00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:59,320
my stomach tightening. Murphy stood in the doorway, looking at

489
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:06,119
me and wagging his tail, not cautiously, not hesitantly, just

490
00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:11,599
wagging for the first time in weeks. He stepped toward me,

491
00:42:12,599 --> 00:42:15,719
walked right up to me, pressed his nose against my hand,

492
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:21,440
like everything was normal again, like the house was whole again,

493
00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:27,280
like she had never been here. I sank on the

494
00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:31,079
edge of the bed. My hands were shaking, My head

495
00:42:31,119 --> 00:42:35,320
felt tight, my vision narrowing, my thoughts, refusing to make

496
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:41,159
sense of what had just happened. I swallowed hard, staring

497
00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:44,880
at the empty space beside me, at the bed where

498
00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:48,480
she had slept, where we had laughed, where we had lived.

499
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:59,119
I whispered emily. The word barely made a sound. I

500
00:42:59,239 --> 00:43:06,000
already knew she somehow came back, wanting to spend time together,

501
00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:12,480
despite the conditions. But she was right. Whatever happened to

502
00:43:12,519 --> 00:43:20,639
her out there, whatever she encountered, she was never supposed

503
00:43:20,639 --> 00:43:21,039
to leave.