Friday: “Coordinates to what?
The next morning, Jas felt slightly better, though the events of the previous night lingered in his mind. As they sat together over breakfast, Ivy Mae held up the journal.
“I’ve been looking through this,” she said. “There’s something written at the back—like a code or coordinates.”
“Coordinates to what?” Roman asked, leaning over to see.
Before Ivy Mae could answer, the ground beneath them rumbled faintly. The trio froze, their eyes wide.
“It’s starting again,” Jas said, gripping the table.
A loud crack sounded from the direction of the tree, and they rushed outside to see a fissure splitting the ground near its base.
The tree groaned like a living thing, tilting slightly as though trying to uproot itself.
“What’s happening?” Ivy Mae cried.
Then, from deep within the fissure, a bright light began to emanate, and the whisper returned—this time louder, clearer, and in unison: “You are not ready.”