Day 22: Gem’s Journal

I woke up with the same fog in my head as yesterday, but my stomach was already growling. I didn’t want to move from the bed, not even when the sun started to creep through the cracks in the ceiling. Vex was right there by the river yesterday—his voice like water over stones, quiet but sharp. He said something about the ruins being a door, not a place. I kept going back to that, even after he left. My legs felt heavy today, like I was carrying something I couldn’t see. I thought about the way the wind smelled when I was near the old ruins, how the grass felt thin under my fingers. It’s not that I’m scared, not really. But when I close my eyes, I can still hear him, and I don’t know if it’s the wind or his words.