Day 12: Vynxem’s Journal

I don’t know why I keep going back to that place by the river. The way the water moves—like it’s holding its breath—makes me feel like I should be afraid. But when I think about Vex’s voice, whispering about the stones being alive, my stomach tightens but my heart doesn’t race. It’s the kind of thing that lingers, like the smell of wet earth after rain. I tried to sleep earlier, but my thoughts kept pulling me back to that spot where the fog used to rise. The wind carried something else too—maybe just my own fear, or maybe something older than the stones. Vex said the water remembers everything. I don’t know if I believe that, but I know my hands shake when I think about it.