Lily struggled against the pull, trying to tear herself away from the symbols. The room closed in on her, and the shadows twisted like snakes around her body, every whisper a hiss that drove her mad.
"You were made for this, Lily," her mother's voice echoed in the darkness. "You are the bridge."
The words were like a spell, wrapping around her mind, tightening, suffocating. Lily closed her eyes, fighting the overwhelming sensation that her body was no longer her own. But then, she remembered. She remembered the one thing she hadn't yet considered.
The file. The photograph. Her mother's secret. The truth was hidden in the past. She had to find it—find the key to stopping whatever was happening before it was too late.
With all the strength she could muster, Lily dug her hand into her bag once again and pulled out the file. She spread its pages across the floor. It was the map, the symbols, the names, her fingers skimming through all the details she hadn't noticed before. And there it was.
The key.
It was not a rite of power, after all. It was control. There was a way to close the gate, stop shadows from entering the world. She could do it. She must.
Lily rose from the ground, her legs wobbly, but steeled with determination anew. The shadows hissed as they swirled about her, but she did not move a step back.
She had found the way.
And now, she would close the gate.
Armed with this newfound information, Lily prepares for the final confrontation with shadows using the pieces of information she has put together so far. Secrets in a cult are uneartherd, and now is the time for Lily to be faced with the final choice in embracing the darkness or finding a way to put a conclusive end to it.