Chapter 206 A Step We Had To Take

• Now, hearing those eerie, endless noises—distant wails and whispers clawing through the thin veil of reality—I was no longer just suspicious. I was *certain*. A thousand percent confident. *Something* was coming. And it wasn’t going to be merciful.
• The Sheriff exhaled sharply, his eyes scanning each of us as if measuring our readiness. "I hate to ask, but... what’s your plan now?" His voice was low, steady, but beneath it, I could hear the weight of the unspoken. The urgency. The fear.
• I pressed my hands together, my fingers digging into my palms. My throat was dry, but I forced myself to speak. "He’s left us in a maze with only one way out." My voice hardened, "No matter which path we take, it all connects us to the same path" the realization cutting through me like a blade. "And that path? It leads straight to him. He *wants* us to take it, because at the very end—" I sucked in a breath. "That’s where he stands."