(Adelaide)
The sound rolled through the forest like thunder dragged across stone. Low. Rumbling. Older than memory. It crawled along the bark of the trees and down into the roots, a sound the land itself seemed to remember, answering with a faint, shuddering ache.
Adelaide’s heart slammed once against her ribs so hard she thought it might bruise. The impact knocked the breath from her lungs for half a second, the world narrowing to that single punishing thud. The girls around her clutched each other, white knuckles clutching white dresses, eyes stretched wide in silent horror.
Another growl followed—closer this time, deep enough to vibrate the earth beneath her bare feet. Pebbles quivered, loose dirt shivered around her toes, and the fine hairs along her calves lifted as if the sound it
