- 2 days ago
The Moonstone Brok: I Ran Fu Engsub
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Short filmTranscript
00:07My best friend stole my future, Alpha. On bonding day, she wore my Luna gown. He followed,
00:12half-dressed, marked. I smiled and gave my blessing. Because the moment he touched me,
00:17my grandmother's moonstone charm shattered. She said if it breaks, run. A catastrophe was
00:22averted. Whoever was closest got what was meant for me. That morning, Chantel claimed it was an
00:28accident. I put on your Luna gown by mistake, and Ian drank too much. He didn't even realize who he
00:34was with. Chantel in my torn gown, marks everywhere. Ian wouldn't look at me.
00:41My dad kicked him to the floor. Ian hugged me. Caitlin, I messed up, but we can't ignore what
00:48happened. Please, just let us be happy. I'd always said no. Everyone expected me to explode.
00:54Instead, I smiled. So go ahead. You two can complete the bond today. Right here.
01:01Ian breathed out like I'd freed him. Caitlin Hale! You're really letting these two trash wolves get
01:08away with this? Get on! My mother screamed I'd humiliated our family. I grabbed both of them
01:14and pulled them away before they lost control. They were shaking with rage. At the corner of the
01:20hallway, I reached inside my dress and took out the moonstone charm my grandma had left me. Or rather,
01:25what was left of it. It had split clean in half. The second they saw it, all the anger drained
01:30from
01:31their faces. Mom. Dad. Grandmom's charm broke.
01:39Now it was in two pieces in my hand. Mom grabbed my wrist and hauled me into the elevator. She
01:47stared
01:47at the broken moonstone, then at me. This just happened? Dad's face went from red to gray. His
01:53nose trembled. No. No way. The mitt broke when Ian hugs me.
02:00Mom and Dad exchanged a look. The panic on their faces hit me harder than anything upstairs.
02:06The moonstone charm was no ordinary keepsake.
02:10It was meant to intercept one catastrophe for me. Just one. If it broke, something catastrophic
02:14had just been diverted. We're moving. Now. Hurry.
02:18Outside, my parents kicked for Ian's photo stands and took mine. Mom told the coordinator
02:22every word, every photo, every image. Nothing with my name could stay. I pulled out my phone
02:29and deleted everything of Ian. His number, his photos, his contact info, everything. We fled
02:36the lodge in a panic. That same night, my whole family left the city. The reason my whole family
02:43panicked that hard was the moonstone charm. My grandma wasn't just an old woman with stories.
02:47She was the seer. The day she died was a bright winter afternoon. She was sitting in the yard
02:52in her rock when she called my name. Caitlin. I was eight. She took off the moonstone charm.
02:57She had worn her whole life and tied it around my neck. She told me to keep it on. Never
03:01take
03:01it off. If it ever broke, it meant it had just blocked disaster for me. Then I had to run
03:06immediately
03:07away from whoever was closest when it shattered. When the stone breaks, it won't be bad luck.
03:11It'll be ruin. I didn't understand. I asked her what kind of ruin. She locked eyes with me
03:16and rasped three words. Three pines hollow. Three pines hollow. Just those three words.
03:24Then she leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes, and passed away peacefully.
03:29Grandma. Her funeral was huge. Not just our pack came. Important people from six neighboring
03:35territories showed up too. That was how much her name still carried. Afterward, I told my
03:40parents everything. What grandma had given me. What she had said. Then I asked them what
03:45three pines hollow meant. They refused to answer. Instead, they packed our bags and retreated
03:50to the city overnight.
03:57Years later, all those buried memories came rushing back. What happened between me, Ian and
04:03Chantel spread all over social media. At first, everyone dragged Chantel, called her trash for
04:09sleeping with her best friend's fiance. But then people found out I hadn't screamed. I hadn't fought.
04:14I handed over the groom and the entire bonding ceremony without a scene. And suddenly they turned
04:19on me. Now I was the coward. The weak one? The rumors got uglier by the hour. But I didn't
04:25care.
04:26Let them talk. Chantel stole my place in the ceremony. Now she was standing in the Luna's place,
04:32Ian's publicly recognized mate, and she loved every second of it. She posted nonstop, a diamond ring the
04:39size of a robin's egg, a two million dollar mating token. Ian kneeling to fasten an old family anklet
04:44around her ankle. Closet after closet of luxury goods. Every post screamed the same thing. She had
04:51won. And her captions thanked me. Thanks, Caitlin. And thanks to the version of me who was brave enough
04:57to chase love. She said this time she was getting both money and love. I looked at their fake happiness
05:04and laughed. She had no idea what she had taken from me. She took everything public, bragging about
05:09stealing my ceremony like it was a bold love story. Overnight she gained half a million followers.
05:14Comments cheered for her. Then people found out my family had moved. They called us cowards and losers.
05:20I could take the insults aimed at me. But when they mocked my parents, I snapped. I wrote in Chantel's
05:26comments, say what you want about me, but leave my family out of it and stop using me for clout.
05:31Chantel never replied. She just liked every comment that trashed me. I shook my head. The moon goddess
05:38sees everything. We moved half a territory away. Mom suggested a nearby city, but Dad insisted on going
05:45hundreds of miles. So we went. That night, I finally asked my parents what Grandma meant by ruin.
05:51Their faces went stiff. Mom, Dad, when Grandma said ruin, what exactly did she mean?
06:01Maybe it's time we tell her. Dad hesitated. You tell her. Ruin how?
06:08I asked what kind of ruin, like a wildfire or a landslide. Do you remember Three Pines Hollow?
06:15Yeah. Grandma said it right before she died. Mom's expression turned uneasy. She explained that Three
06:21Pines Hollow was a settlement just beyond our old pack lands. Hundreds of people lived there. Then one night,
06:27every single person was found hanging. The warmth of the table died instantly. I was stunned. All this
06:35time, I thought Grandma had meant a natural disaster. A flood. An earthquake. I never imagined something
06:40so twisted. My parents both looked uneasy. They answered together. That place was under a curse.
06:46We finished dinner, but the shock stayed with me. No wonder Grandma had given me that moonstone right
06:51before she died. That little stone had blocked something huge. Something monstrous. Grandma hadn't
06:57just read Fate for others. She had seen mine too. Just thinking about Three Pines Hollow made my neck
07:03prickle. Hundreds of people hanging overnight. That wasn't just tragedy. That was a nightmare. But one
07:08question kept digging at me. Why hadn't the charm broken earlier? Why only after Ian and Chantel
07:15crossed that line together? I was still sitting there, half in awe of how terrifyingly sharp she had been
07:20when my phone rang. An unknown number. Caitlin, are you okay? Caitlin, are you okay? It was Ian's smooth voice.
07:30I hung up immediately and blocked the number. Not after that night. After that, I stopped answering
07:36every unknown call. I was terrified. Meanwhile, Chantel kept showing off online like she had won the world.
07:44Luxury cars, designer watches, gold, silver. Late that night, Chantel went live. She was dressed to kill.
07:53Full glam, pale fur, pack-crest jewelry. Lounging on a couch inside the Alpha Estate,
07:59like she'd been born there. People flooded in, praising her looks. She played the part perfectly.
08:05She said she was bored and wanted to spend time with everyone. Then she showed off a few designer
08:10bags. And then, because of the comments, she brought me up again. Some girls are just not cut
08:16out for it. Even if you spoon feed them, they still can't swallow it. She laughed and claimed I'd never
08:22truly treated her like a best friend. She called it classic insecure friend behavior. Then she leaned back
08:28and smiled wider. She said I was probably hiding somewhere. That my family ran the same night she
08:33and Ian bonded. Her whole family ran away that night, afraid that I would come back as the Alpha's wife
08:39to take revenge. Lie after lie. Listening to her rewrite everything, I kept thinking. How the hell
08:48had I ever been this blind? But while she was busy smearing me, people in the livestream started noticing
08:54something strange. Wait, did her closet just move? Did anybody else see that? Why does it look like
09:00something's in there? Chantel, check behind you.
09:06At first she didn't notice the comments. Then the chat moved so fast, the whole screen seemed to scream
09:11at her to turn around. And I saw it too. The closet behind her was cracked open, just a sliver.
09:18In that narrow
09:19gap there appeared to be an eye. You people are so sick. You love trying to freak me out. She
09:25insisted
09:25no one else was in the estate that night. Then, as if to prove a point, she walked over to
09:29the closet in
09:30her heels, grabbed the handle and yanked it over. A man in black leather tumbled out upside down and hit
09:36the floor. Expensive jewelry spilled around him. There's something in here. Don't let it touch me. Then he looked up,
09:42not at Chantel, but past her. At something behind her. He let out a raw, broken scream, dropped to his
09:48knees, and started prostrating himself. Slamming his forehead into the floor until blood pooled.
09:54Chantel froze for half a second, then clutched her chest and screamed for help. Everything turned
09:58chaotic. Someone hit the phone. The livestream crashed sideways. After that, I couldn't see what
10:04happened. Then I thought of what my mom had told me about Three Pines Hollow and a sick feeling
10:08twisted in my stomach. Maybe this was the beginning of that ruin, because I knew one thing for sure.
10:12There was something old and wrong inside the alpha state now.
10:19The break-in at the alpha state blew up online. Ian rushed back to calm Chantel. I had been watching
10:26the livestream too, but exited as soon as Ian appeared. That ruin was getting closer. I wanted
10:31nothing tying me to him. My phone lit up. Sophie, my college roommate, messaged me. She knew
10:37Chantel too. Sophie said she heard what Chantel did and told me not to be upset. I wasn't heartbroken
10:44anymore, so I just thanked her. I turned Sophie down flat. Then she asked if I wanted payback.
10:50That made me pause. Sophie and Chantel had always been close. Did I hate Chantel? Yes. But go near her?
10:58No. She was sleeping beside Ian, standing in my place. I turned Sophie down flat. She kept pushing,
11:05trying too hard. I got annoyed and muted her. Mom. Dad. What is all this? Are we stocking up for
11:16the
11:16apocalypse? Cut back on those doom day novels. But this time, it's not that different. We just don't
11:22know how long it's gonna last. For the next month, staying alive matters more. I had to take time off
11:28work
11:28or quit. Staying alive mattered more. And one more thing. You're not watching those either. They cut
11:36off every way the thing could touch us. Dad also told me to stop watching Chantel's live streams.
11:44I blocked her account. Dad sat on the balcony smoking, staring at red clouds.
11:58We shut ourselves in. Didn't go out once. My parents talk about Three Pines Hollow was still vague. But if
12:05hundreds of people really hanged themselves in one night, what else could it be? Meanwhile, Chantel
12:10and Ian lived better than ever. Luxury stores, yachts, everything was perfect.
12:17So the three of us shut ourselves in. Didn't go out. Not once. Until the middle of that month.
12:24The haunting took hold at the Alpha Estate. Even with Chantel blocked, I heard about it.
12:29One night, Chantel woke to crying. It got louder, sharper, like a blade scraping through dark.
12:35She realized it came from her balcony, on the fourth floor. No one should have gotten there unseen.
12:41She looked over. A woman in a white dress, long black hair, curled upside. Chantel screamed.
12:48Servants came running. Balcony door locked. Nothing outside. No one.
12:53Chantel, can you just wind you? Ian's family said Chantel imagined it. Until the second thing.
13:00Ian's younger brother sleepwalked. That night, he dreamed of a girl in white by the pool. He tapped her
13:06shoulder. She laughed, high-pitched and sharp. The sound echoed through the whole state.
13:13When he snapped out of his face, then something dragged him into the pool. Two fingers jammed
13:19into his eye sockets. He screamed. Guard safe.
13:25One incident? Coincidence. Two in a row? No chance. Two incidents in a row? No chance.
13:32Chantel told it all on livestream. What happens in the pack, stays in the pack. We don't air any pack,
13:38and stays will plagues. We days go air dirty laundry on the web. After I listened to one creator break
13:44the
13:44whole thing down, a chill crawled right up my spine. A chill crawled up my spine. Just looking at it
13:52made me
13:52grateful all over again for how far ahead grandma had seen. This was just the beginning. Worse than Three
13:59Pines Hollow? I didn't want to imagine. Yeah, what is it?
14:11I sat on the sofa, sipping red wine to calm my nerves, silently grateful for grandma's foresight
14:16all those years ago. Then my phone rang. Yeah, what is it? You heard about what's happening at
14:21Chantel's place, right? Yeah. Caitlin, what do you think? Do you think somebody's taking revenge
14:26on her? What are you trying to say? That I did it? Because I didn't. No, no, I'm not saying
14:30that.
14:30I just mean, maybe this is karma. Caitlin, I heard your grandma used to be this famous seer.
14:34Did anyone in your family still know the old boarding rules? No. Sophie was Chantel's go-between.
14:39Maybe even her spy. They could keep dreaming. Sophie called about Chantel. At dinner, I told my parents.
14:46Your grandma saw this too. Dad said grandma saw this too. I nearly choked.
14:52Oh my god, grandma was unreal. This ruin can't be avoided. The Moonstone only intercepted it for you
14:57once. Only once. As for everyone else, they'll have to depend on their own fate. As for that backstabbing
15:03friend of yours, if they really want a chance, have somebody tell them to go south of the city,
15:07Blackwood Ridge. There's an old rights keeper that can do anything that depends on what kind
15:11of debt has found their line. My dad really was too soft-hearted. Honestly, I had never planned to
15:17save Chantel, but once he said it, I nodded. Then I passed his message to Sophie word for word and
15:23told her reflay it to Ian's family. They moved fast. Really fast. Go to Blackwood Ridge. Right away.
15:37Ian's family moved fast. They sent people to Blackwood Ridge and brought the old rights keeper
15:41back that same night. We stayed holed up at home like cowards. We had just moved into a new apartment.
15:49Every time we went out, we wore masks and avoided neighbors. We couldn't be recognized or tied back
15:54to Ian's line. So far, nobody knew we were the family mocked online. My parents followed grandma's rules.
16:00Stay quiet. Stay hidden. At first, I thought Chantel might dodge this thing, but we were wrong. Dead wrong.
16:08Someone in Ian's family died. The first one to go was Ian's father.
16:15It happened on the night of his 70th birthday. He drowned. The marks around the bathroom showed he
16:21had fought back hard, and there were scratches all over his face. Either the alpha patriarch forced
16:25his own face into the toilet and drowned himself, or something from inside the toilet reached up,
16:29grabbed him, and held him there until he died. A birthday turned into a funeral. Ian's whole family
16:34fell into panic. That doesn't make sense. By the old rules your grandma followed, even if the rights
16:39keeper couldn't stop the ruin, he should have at least been able to slow it down. But it's barely
16:44been any time, and someone's already dead. Maybe this is just the debt coming due. Or maybe,
16:51maybe they never found the keeper at all. Caitlin, call and ask. And remember, do not tell them where
16:57we are. I nodded and called Sophie. Hey Caitlin, what's up? That old rights keeper I told you about,
17:07did you pass the message on or not? Huh? Well, um, Caitlin, where are you guys right now?
17:14The second she said that, my whole family went on alert. Don't worry about where I am.
17:19Answer my question first. I did tell them about the keeper, but Chantel told me that keeper broke
17:24from fright. What?! Start over, tell me exactly what happened. We went to the Ridge Temple, and when we found
17:32him...
17:36From what Sophie told me, Chantel went straight to Ian with the message. The very next day, Ian sent
17:41people up to Blackwood Ridge to find the old rules-keeper. And that same night, they brought
17:45him back to the estate. The man was gaunt, skeletal, in faded robes. He walked the ground slowly,
17:52listening to something under the walls. Then he told them the truth. Something old in the
17:58city's walls, and it is far more terrible than you can imagine. The family panicked and moved out,
18:04leaving him toward the house. He covered it in paper wards, painted sigils, burned bitter herbs.
18:13The place felt like a coffin.
18:18Guards heard nothing all night. At dawn, the family rushed back. Everything looked the same,
18:23but the keeper was gone. They searched. Old gentleman? Ian found him in the underground cellar,
18:32curled up against dry storage bags. The flower had turned black. The keeper's eyes twitched wildly.
18:38He kept muttering, Forgive me, don't come back! And he gouged out both his own eyes.
18:48Grandma's moonstone hadn't saved me. It had cut me out of a blood debt.
18:53Caitlin, do you know any other way to stop this? Dad motioned me to hang up.
18:58I don't know. I said I didn't know and ended the call. Dad failed.
19:02We have to go. Right now. We can't stay here either. We're leaving the province.
19:23We left the province in a panic. Didn't even take our supplies. We bought plane tickets and got out.
19:34By the time Chantelle found our home address, all she could do was curse us out.
19:38To stay alive, we headed straight for the countryside and checked into a hunting lodge.
19:45Good thing we ran fast. They started calling me like lunatics.
19:50Hundreds of numbers. But I had set my phone to auto-reject.
19:56This time, the one who died was Ian's younger brother. Found hanged. A deep ligature mark around
20:04his neck. But police never found a rope. No cord. No belt. No murder weapon.
20:11Now Chantelle was truly terrified. Ian's family scattered. Some fled overseas. Some begged the
20:17PAC council for protection. Everyone tried to get away from Ian's bloodline. Chantelle and Ian brought
20:22in more warders, more rights workers, day and night. Dad just said it was useless. Back then,
20:27even hundreds of people together at Three Pines Hollow didn't survive. What happened at Three Pines
20:33Hollow was bizarre. Grandma had foreseen total destruction. She went there and asked if they
20:37had done something unforgivable. Crazy old woman. Get out! They denied everything and chased her away,
20:45calling her a mad woman.
20:59That same night, a child vanished from Three Pines Hollow. The whole village searched. They found him
21:05trapped inside a dense blackthorn thicket. The branches were covered in vicious spikes. And blackthorn
21:10never grows alone. It forms a living cage. The boy's cries came from the center.
21:15They had to chop the whole thing down. When they pulled him free, he was out of his mind.
21:22A few days later, the villagers begged Grandma for help. I cannot save you.
21:39A few days after that, the whole village was found hanged in their own homes.
21:43No murder weapon. No rope. Nothing. Overnight. Wiped out.
21:48Later, Grandma learned something. Done.
22:02Water. Give me water.
22:06Go away.
22:07The people of Three Pines Hollow had ruined a woman who was only passing through. She came asking for water.
22:20The whole village tried to trap her. They locked her in an abandoned barn. They starved her. Broke her.
22:27To her leave, the son brought her food. They found her hanging. Dead. Rotting. Her white dress swaying in the
22:34dark.
22:34Her neck stretched too long. By then, she was no longer in her right mind. Whatever they did had broken
22:40her before death.
22:41I thought, Three Pines Hollow was wiped out by hanging. Ian's brother was hanged too. Could this be the same
22:49thing? My parents hated my guesses.
22:51Go down that rabbit hole. If your grandmother's charm hadn't blocked this for you, the people dying right now wouldn't
23:01just be them.
23:07A chill went through me. If Grandma hadn't left me the moonstone, and if Fanyad Hinn, Shantin hadn't stolen Ian,
23:15I would be the one trapped in that estate.
23:19Shantin had become my stand-in.
23:22Then the one who ran farthest died, Ian's uncle overseer, hanged.
23:27I noticed a pattern. The farther they ran, the faster the debt found them.
23:32Like something unseen was warning. Don't leave the estate.
23:42Could this be karma for stealing someone else's alpha?
23:47If I apologize now, is it too late? She blocked my number.
23:52I wronged you.
23:55The cheating was my fault. My family's being punished now.
24:00Can you please save me?
24:02I just shook my head.
24:04Cheating had only redirected the disaster. There was something older underneath it all.
24:09Then Ian had a dream.
24:11The strange girl took his hand and said she would show him somewhere beautiful.
24:14She told him to lift the stone pressing on him.
24:17He obeyed.
24:18Then to put his hand here and pass through the waterfall.
24:21Lift the stone.
24:22He did.
24:22That's pressing on him.
24:23Then to climb the mountain.
24:24He did.
24:25Then to cross a stream.
24:26She stepped over first and waved.
24:28Ian said okay and was about to follow.
24:37The girl's face twisted.
24:38She snarled,
24:39You're awake!
24:41Chantel dragged Ian back from the rooftop edge.
24:44Below was a ten-story drop.
24:46One more step and he would have been dead.
24:48The whole thing was caught on livestream.
24:51Ian finally understood.
24:53Lift the stone meant throw off the blanket.
24:56Pass through the waterfall.
24:58Don't go over!
24:59Unlock the door.
25:01Climb the mountain.
25:03Meant take the stairs.
25:05Cross the stream.
25:07Meant jump.
25:11I heard about it.
25:13It scared me numb.
25:15This ruin could not be avoided.
25:18Chantel had told Ian about my grandmother, so now they were hunting for us.
25:23More deaths from overseas.
25:25The farthest runners died fastest.
25:27Chantel, the first to see the woman, stayed closest to the estate and was still alive.
25:32I told my parents.
25:34Dad said maybe it was a warning not to run.
25:36I asked if staying closer meant better odds.
25:39They didn't answer.
25:41I thought for a long time, then had Sophie pass along what I observed.
25:46That same night, Ian and Chantel moved back into the estate.
25:50More than half a year passed.
25:52Ian's family was wrecked.
25:53Yet somehow, Ian and Chantel were still alive.
25:56People said they had escaped the curse.
25:58They kept living in the mansion, covered in the dead keepers' centers.
26:02Then new updates came.
26:04Both had completely broken down.
26:06Their minds were gone.
26:07They couldn't clean.
26:09Couldn't function.
26:09Barely recognized day from night.
26:11The estate became a nightmare.
26:13Trash.
26:14Rotting food.
26:15Rats.
26:16Roaches.
26:16It looked like a giant grave.
26:18I thought the disaster was finally over.
26:21Then Dad told me something that stopped me cold.
26:26Ian had been the child trapped in the Blackthord thicket at Three Pines Hollow.
26:33His parents sent him to a hospital in another province.
26:36That was why he survived.
26:38He eventually came back to himself, but forgot his childhood.
26:42Then he was adopted by a good family.
26:43Iain's father's line.
26:45Grandma had seen it.
26:47On the night Three Pines Hollow fell, one person probably slipped through.
26:51Ian's age matched that boy.
26:53The death had never ended.
26:54It had changed houses, changed names, waited.
26:58But I still told myself none of it had anything to do with me anymore.
27:02Then something new happened.
27:04Many people online said they had all dreamed of the same woman in white.
27:07Every one of them had watched Chantel's livestreams.
27:10I finally understood what Grandma meant by ruin.
27:13The livestream hadn't just shown the horror.
27:15It had carried it.
27:17It turned every viewer into a witness.
27:19And witnessing opened the door.
27:27When Three Pines Hollow fell, she had not harmed any innocent outsider.
27:31She still knew who she wanted.
27:33But now, strangers who only watched through a screen were dreaming of her.
27:37Her restraint was gone.
27:39The ruin was still spreading.
27:42I scrolled through comments.
27:44People seeing her on balconies by lakes, faceless.
27:49I closed the app.
27:51Outside, autumn wind, acorns falling.
27:54Everything looked peaceful.
27:55Too peaceful.
27:57The net was tightening around thousands of eyes.
28:02After dinner, I helped Mom clear dishes.
28:05She could tell I was still thinking about it.
28:07I asked if that thing could travel through livestreams,
28:10through watching how many people would die.
28:13Mom turned on the faucet, with water running.
28:16She said Grandma once said that woman, when alive, hated being falsely accused.
28:22Three Pines Hollow said she was sleeping around, but she was only passing through, asking for water.
28:26I froze.
28:29She wasn't already like that?
28:32Mom shook her head.
28:33They terrorized her until she broke.
28:35They locked her in the shed.
28:37By the third day, she broke.
28:39By the fifth, she killed herself.
28:42I asked what she was wearing.
28:44Mom shut off the faucet.
28:46A white dress.
28:48Almost white.
28:49That night, I couldn't sleep.
28:51I held the broken moonstone.
28:53Grandma had worn it for 99 years.
28:55I had worn it for less than 10.
28:56It blocked one disaster.
28:58Then it broke.
28:59For the first time, I regretted not asking Grandma one more question.
29:03What was that woman's name?
29:05That night, I dreamed of Grandma.
29:07She sat in her rocking chair.
29:09The yellow dog lay at her feet.
29:10I crouched by her knees.
29:12She called my name.
29:15I asked what happened to the woman from Three Pines Hollow.
29:18Grandma didn't answer.
29:19She touched my head and said,
29:21You just live well.
29:29I woke up with a damp pillow.
29:34Next morning, Dad said he was going to town for supplies.
29:37I went with him.
29:40On the way, he told me Mom wanted to take me back home for a visit.
29:44Not now, after things settle.
29:46Grandma's grave needed fresh soil.
29:48Also, before she died, she left a box under her bed.
29:50They never touched it.
29:52Mom thought it was meant for me.
29:53I didn't ask anything else.
29:55In town, Dad bought oranges.
29:57I stayed in the truck.
29:59Then my phone buzzed.
30:00Sophie.
30:01We hadn't talked in a long time.
30:03She asked if I had heard about Ian and Chantel.
30:06I typed,
30:07Yeah.
30:09She sent a long message.
30:11Two nights ago, during a shift change,
30:13Ian climbed onto a third floor balcony saying,
30:16Once I cross the stream, I'll be home.
30:18An orderly grabbed him, but couldn't hold him.
30:21He jumped.
30:21He didn't die, but both legs were broken.
30:25Chantel was completely gone.
30:27She didn't recognize anyone.
30:28Every day, she hugged Ian's suit jacket, repeating,
30:32It wasn't me.
30:34I wasn't the one who locked you up.
30:38Don't come for me.
30:40Sophie's last message.
30:42If I hadn't given her that ceremony,
30:44would the one in the hospital be me?
30:46I locked the screen.
30:47Outside, Dad looked old.
30:49Half his hair had gone white.
30:51Since Grandma's warning,
30:53If the charm breaks, leave immediately.
30:55They had spent their lives running.
30:57From hometown to city, to another province,
31:00to this little town beyond any pack land.
31:04They had done nothing wrong.
31:06Grandma saw it coming.
31:07They believed her and used everything to keep me alive.
31:11Ian died with the first snow of winter.
31:13Sophie sent the news.
31:15Post-op infection.
31:16Multiple organ failure.
31:18Chantel was sent back to her family.
31:20Still the same.
31:21If not controlled, she hit people and screamed.
31:24No one dared live in the estate now.
31:26Listed for sale for six months.
31:29No buyers.
31:29People said you could hear crying from inside at night.
31:33I deleted the screenshot.
31:34Winter came.
31:35The oak tree was there.
31:37This little town was quiet.
31:39No one knew we had escaped such a large disaster.
31:42The hashtag about the woman in white was scrubbed from trending.
31:46Not because it ended, but because it was too strange and dangerous.
31:49Under the silence, the dreams still happened.
31:52Five springs passed.
31:54People forgot.
31:55Only we were still alive, hiding like survivors on stolen time.
31:59Eventually we stepped out.
32:01The air felt clean.
32:03I was tired.
32:04Not from surviving one terrible thing, but from half a life tied to prophecy.
32:09I wanted to see the ocean.
32:11My parents nodded.
32:12I took a train east.
32:13The ocean opened up.
32:15Waves rolled in, endless.
32:17The wind was wet and salty.
32:19I stood at the shore.
32:20My whole life, I had lived inside prophecy, dragged by invisible ropes.
32:25What was on the other side of the sea?
32:27The waves answered nothing.
32:29Maybe the other side was just another sea.
32:31And the far shore every chained person longs for is not a place.
32:35It is learning to live with the water already inside you.
32:39Under the open moon, with no bond and no pack,
32:41I let out a slow breath.
32:44For the first time in five years, I was not waiting for the next prophecy.
32:48Mar ==
32:48Oh lady, just fantastic.
32:48We know that the benefits of love.
32:48why you aren't expecting me so I'm going to spend a semester and then go back.
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