Clementine:
"So it is decided. We will take the stone from this tower and head straight toward the dark side of the north. You and the others will go to the other tower we left behind, remember?" Ian said to Yorick.
We stood next to the tower, our heads tilted back and our eyes fixed upward.
"You will take the stone from there and bury it in the woods on this side," Ian continued, giving the final instructions as we nodded.
I turned to Fauna and noticed her eyes squinting several times.
"Before we go, I want to say something," I said, drawing everyoneโs attention.
Fauna quickly turned to me.
That was how I knew she was the most scared, because she seemed to be looking for someone who would help her.
"This place is heavily infested with slaughs, and they smell fear," I explained, recalling how we had been attacked here by those flying bat type creatures.
She immediately grabbed Haidenโs hand, and his head snapped toward her, as if asking why I was saying all that.
I saw the fear on her face, and I was afraid she might somehow summon those monsters by panicking.
"You do not have to worry about anything. You have me," Haiden assured her, smiling.
She nodded faintly again, still looking timid and afraid.
"With that said, we should take off the stone," I said.
As soon as the words left my mouth, everything felt real.
Ian and I began to climb the tower, one step at a time.
He had done it before, so he moved with ease.
The problem was that specific tools were needed to remove the stone, and we realized that only when we stood right beside it.
"Now what?" I asked Ian.
He stared at the poles and chains securing the stone, then looked at me.
"We do not need to secure anything anymore. It is not like we are going to put it back," he replied.
As soon as he said that, I understood.
We attacked it without hesitation.
We tore at the chains, yanked at the poles, and punched until the metal began to give.
Finally, the stone came loose.
The moment it fell free and the chains snapped, something felt wrong.
The earth beneath us shook violently, and I nearly slipped until I felt a grip around my wrist.
Ian had caught me.
"Always there to hold me. My hero," I commented, and he chuckled.
He pulled me up with one arm and wrapped the other around me, smiling as he jumped down from pole to pole like Spider Man, holding me close and making me giggle.
It was inappropriate to treat the mission like this, but these were the only moments we had to feel happy.
I did not stop myself from letting out a small chuckle whenever Ian did something special for me.
We landed on the ground, and everyone leaned in to look at the stone.
It seemed to be beating now.
That was because it had been taken away from the main heart of the tower.
"Okay, everyone. We have broken the heart," Ian announced.
As he spoke, everyone stared at each other.
We lifted our heads and watched black clouds fill the sky.
Now we stood in the dark side, everything gray and dim as if the sun had never shone there.
"What the fuck?" Leysa whispered.
I turned to look at her.
The way she clutched Troyโs hand, I could not blame her for being scared.
This place was the scariest.
We tried to adjust to the air while moving forward when I heard Leysa gasp.
We stopped and turned to see what she was staring at, and it was not something small that could be missed.
The monster stood tall in the clouds, releasing a strange sound.
"What the fuck is that?" Leysa asked, pointing at it.
"That is the Hollow Man," I stated.
Troy and Leysa looked at me, then at Ian.
"Yeah. This thing changes its pattern. It also changes the way it can be killed," Ian explained.
We understood then that we were not supposed to engage with the Hollow Man.
There was no single way to kill him.
One day he could be killed by one method, and the next day that same method would fail.
"Letโs go. We have to avoid it," I shouted.
We rushed forward.
The monster began chasing us.
It had seen Ian and me escape too many times to let us walk away again.

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