Chapter 17: The Town Shifts
The morning after the girl's warning, Whisperwood felt different.
The air was thick, pressing against Lyra's skin like unseen hands. The streets were too quiet, the usual murmurs of the townsfolk replaced with an eerie hush.
She glanced at Kael. He was pale, his fingers still wrapped around the pendant. He hadn't slept.
Neither had she.
They needed to find the weaver again. She had been afraid, but she had known something. Maybe she was ready to talk.
But when they reached the market, her stall was gone.
Not just closed.
Gone.
The wooden frame had been dismantled. The baskets, the fabric vanished. It was as if she had never been there at all.
A cold dread crept up Lyra's spine. She turned to Kael, but his gaze was distant, unfocused.
"Kael?"
He blinked, his grip tightening on the pendant. His lips partedbthen he hesitated, his brow furrowing.
"I… We were looking for someone, weren't we?"
Lyra's stomach dropped. "The weaver. The woman from yesterday."
Kael frowned. "What woman?"
The world seemed to tilt.
Lyra grabbed his wrist, forcing him to look at her. "She told us people disappear when they remember. You were standing right next to me."
Kael's expression remained blank for a moment too long.
Then, his eyes flickered with something like recognition. His breath hitched.
"I—I don't…" His hands went to his head, pressing against his temples. "Why can't I "
He gasped sharply, stumbling back. Lyra caught him before he could fall.
Kael's fingers curled into fists. His breathing was ragged, panicked.
Something had taken the memory from him.
And worse he hadn't even realized it was gone.
They left the market, the weight of the unseen pressing closer.
As they walked, Lyra caught movement in the windows townsfolk watching. But their eyes were… wrong.
Blank.
Not empty, but rewritten.
One man someone who had walked past them yesterday without a second glance suddenly smiled at Kael like they were old friends.
"You're back," he said. "It's good to see you."
Kael stiffened. "Do I know you?"
The man's smile didn't waver. "Of course. You've always been here."
Lyra's heart pounded.
The town is shifting around him.
She pulled Kael away, ignoring the man's unblinking stare.
Whatever was happening to Whisperwood, it wasn't just erasing people.
It was replacing them.