Novel & Cerita They Keep Pulling Me Back In

I tightened my grip on the pen until my fingers hurt. “What if I reverse it?” I said. Jax ducked under a swinging chain that belonged to no particular world, breath coming in sharp pants. “Reverse what?” he shouted. “The treadmill? The apocalypse? Specify, horror girl.” “The flow,” I said. “It’s pulling from me.” I nodded toward the light line. “What if, just this once, I *pull back*?” The idea was insane. It was also the first thing that felt like more than treading water.

Process is underway. ​“No,” Kieran growled, and his voice suddenly sounded closer, echoing with a fierce strength. “You don’t get to decide who stays and who goes.” ​Resistance noted. Futile. ​Suddenly, I felt a sharp, violent pull on my back. It felt like invisible hands were grabbing me, dragging me away from the light. ​“Kieran, it’s pulling me!” I cried. “It’s trying to throw me out!” ​“Hold on,” he urged. “Hold on to me. Not the space around us. Just me.”

“I’m breaking off.” Someone shouts my name behind me, Knox maybe, his voice sharp with warning, but I don’t slow down. I don’t even look back. The bond pulls again, a faint, panicked tug that feels like it might snap if I don’t follow it, and that’s all that matters.

I admitted again, quieter this time. “You will learn.” The same answer. The same calm certainty. Before I could speak again— The space around me shifted violently. A sharp pull yanked at my chest, sudden and disorienting. My breath broke. “What is happening?” I asked, panic rising. “You are being called back,” the figure said. “Wait,” I said quickly. “I have more questions.” “You will return.” The pull intensified. “Wait—” “One thing,” it said, its voice cutting through everything.

Like something in me doesn’t like being pulled. “Okay,” I whisper. “There’s something.” “What does it do?” “It… pushes back.” “Against what?” I hesitate. Because now— Now I can feel the other side of it. The pull. Subtle. Constant. Waiting for me to slip. “To that word,” I say. “Don’t say it.” “I wasn’t going to.” “You were thinking it.” I exhale sharply. “Can you not—” “Stay with the resistance,” he cuts in.

"Like we should have been from the start." I close my eyes. Reach through the bond. Find that tiny flicker of Mira. And I pull. Damon pulls with me. I feel him through the bond. His strength. His love. His absolute refusal to let her go. Kieran pulls too. Bringing light. Joy. Life. Caius pulls. Steady. Strong. Anchoring. The flicker gets brighter. Stronger. Closer. "Come on, baby," I whisper. "Come back. Come back to us."

I could not move. The pull was still there, faint but insistent, tugging at the corners of my mind. It was a weight I could not shake, a voice that whispered in a language I almost recognized, urging me to step forward, to embrace it, to accept it. I tried to fight it, tried to tell myself that I was safe now, that the battle had ended, but the sensation only grew stronger, resonating in my chest and limbs.

Panic surged, pushing me harder. I stumbled, nearly falling, but caught myself on the side of a car, biting down on a cry. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. The gate was right there. I was so close to my freedom. I could almost taste it. Just a little more— Something yanked me back. Hard. My body jerked violently as my shirt was grabbed from behind. My breath hitched, a sharp gasp tearing from my throat as I was pulled backward. No. No, no—

“You don’t have to thank me. Just… don’t lock me out again.” “I won’t.” Behind us, Lena clears her throat. “As touching as this is, can someone explain where exactly we’re going?” I smile a little. “I don’t know yet. But I’ll know when I feel it. I just… have to follow the pull.” “The pull?” she repeats with a raised brow. “It’s hard to explain,” I say. “It’s like something is calling me. Like a thread binding me to a place… or someone.” Xander’s jaw tightens slightly, but he says nothing.