The Holloway House was still and unremarkable. Gwen moved carefully through its dusty halls, half-expecting something eerie—strange symbols, flickering lights, whispers from the walls. But there was nothing.
Just the quiet creak of old wood and the smell of a house long left behind.
Room after room revealed nothing but neglect. Faded wallpaper. Scuffed floors. A few pieces of mismatched furniture someone had probably dragged in off the street.
Then, in the back sitting room, Gwen found her.
Liora.
She sat barefoot on a worn couch, a chipped mug steaming in her hands. The room was simple—an old suitcase in the corner, a blanket draped over the arm of the couch, a single lamp casting soft light. It looked like someone passing through, not someone settled in.
Liora met Gwen’s gaze with a tired, calm smile. “You found me.”
“You’re living here?” Gwen asked, still standing in the doorway.
“For now,” Liora said. “It’s quiet. Out of sight.”
Gwen stepped in slowly, her voice sharper. “Why did you send me those videos?”
Liora set her mug down. “Because you were already too close.”
Gwen blinked. “What do you mean?”
“You were asking questions,” Liora said. “Digging in places that aren’t meant to be uncovered. You were getting close to something the others didn’t want found. So they decided to pull you in instead of letting you expose them.”
Gwen’s stomach dropped. “So they tried to… convert me?”
Liora nodded. “But not by force. The videos were meant to guide you—reshape how you think, how you feel. They’re crafted to influence, to open you to change. Physically. Mentally. Gradually.”
“And you just... went along with it?” Gwen asked.
“I changed the delivery,” Liora said, her voice steady. “The way it happened. If it had been up to them, you’d have been overwhelmed—fast, disoriented, compliant. I slowed it down. Sent only what I thought you could handle. Because you deserved to know what was happening.”
Gwen sat down across from her, her heartbeat loud in her ears. “You could’ve warned me.”
“I did,” Liora said gently. “In the way I could like in that dream or in the last video in the hopes you could find me. But the truth is... you felt it. Something in you responded. It wasn't just the videos. It was you.”
Gwen looked down at her hands—softer now, unfamiliar in a way that didn’t scare her as much as it should have. “So I was changing because… I started asking the wrong questions?”
“No,” Liora said quietly. “You were changing because something in you wanted answers. They just used that as an opportunity.”
Gwen swallowed. “And now?”
Liora leaned back slightly. “Now you get to choose. Keep pulling on the thread… or let it go.”
Gwen didn’t answer right away.
But deep down, she already knew she wasn’t letting go.