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The Clove Man had spent weeks finding ways inside my head.

Now that I was actually coming to him…

He had nothing to say.

Streetlights thinned. Buildings changed. Homes became warehouses. Warehouses became fenced yards. Then even those disappeared. Rain began somewhere outside the city. Fine and soft. Almost invisible against the glass.

My hand tightened around The Phantom. Rain. No. I looked away. The driver turned onto a narrower road. Trees crowded closer. Another turn. Then gravel.

“You’re sure this is right?”

I checked the coordinates. “Yes.”

He drove another half mile, then slowed. Headlights swept across rusted fencing. Concrete. The skeleton of an old industrial building beyond it.

My stomach dropped. “No.”

The word escaped before I could stop it.

The driver looked at me in the mirror. “You okay?”

I stared ahead.

Steel.

Concrete.

Darkness.

My body knew before my mind did. My thumb started aching. Then my thigh. Old pain waking beneath old scars.

“Miss?”

I forced air into my lungs. “Yes.”

“Do you want me to wait?”

Yes.

God.

Yes.

I looked at him. A stranger. Normal. Safe. One word and he’d stay. One word and I could get back into this car ten minutes from now.

I opened the door. “No.” Cold rain touched my face. “I won’t be long.”

I stepped out and the car drove away. Red taillights disappeared along the road. I stood alone and for several seconds… nothing happened.

Then my phone vibrated.

I looked down.

You came.

My blood turned cold. I hadn’t told him. Hadn’t messaged. Hadn’t called. Nothing. I slowly lifted my gaze toward the building. Dark windows stared back. My phone vibrated again.

You came farther last time.