Sarah's fingers tightened around the dagger.
The polished blade caught the afternoon sunlight, a silver glimmer dancing across its edge.
Her heartbeat slowed.
Then quickened again.
This was real.
Not a nightmare.
Not stress.
Not grief.
The Scarecrow...
It was real.
Every whisper, every nightmare, every death...
It had all been real.
Sarah lowered her head, staring silently at the blade.
"I have to stop him..."
A loud sob pulled her back to reality.
Rose had collapsed onto the floor.
Her hair covered half of her face, her shoulders shaking violently. She looked nothing like the confident girl Sarah had once known. If a stranger saw her now, they would have thought she had completely lost her mind.
"I don't want to die..." Rose whispered.
"I don't want to die..."
Sarah hurried over and knelt beside her.
"Rose..."
Rose grabbed Sarah's wrists with surprising strength.
"You have to believe me!"
"I've been seeing him!"
Sarah froze.
Rose's breathing became ragged.
"Outside my bedroom window..."
"In the backyard..."
"Standing beside the road whenever I came home..."
"He never moved."
"He just watched me."
A chill crept down Sarah's spine.
"I thought I was going crazy."
"I even tried talking to him once..."
Rose laughed bitterly through her tears.
"Kim thought I'd finally lost my mind."
Her voice broke.
"But after he was attacked..."
Rose covered her mouth.
"He changed."
"He wanted to tell me something."
"He kept pointing toward the hospital window..."
"He couldn't speak."
"It was like someone had ripped his throat apart."
"But his eyes..."
"They were terrified."
"He kept looking outside."
Sarah felt the blood drain from her face.
Rose slowly looked up.
"Everything started after we destroyed that farm."
"I know it."
"I know it!"
Her voice cracked into another scream.
"Sarah..."
"I know you hate me..."
"But please..."
"Please take that thing away from me."
"I don't want to die."
"I don't want to die..."
Sarah pulled Rose into a trembling embrace.
"You are not going to die."
"I won't let that happen."
Rose cried against Sarah's shoulder while Adrian stood nearby, unable to find the right words.
After several minutes, Rose's breathing finally calmed.
Sarah looked toward Adrian.
Then she made her decision.
She told Rose everything.
The tattoo.
The old woman.
The upside-down mark on Adrian's arm.
The enchanted dagger.
The ritual.
And finally...
The only way to kill the Scarecrow.
Silence filled the room.
Rose stared at Sarah.
"So..."
"You have to lure him into the old field?"
Sarah nodded.
"Yes."
"The ritual circle has to be completed first."
"Once he's trapped inside..."
Sarah looked down at the dagger.
"...I'll stab him."
"And while the blade is inside his heart..."
She whispered the strange words the old woman had taught her.
"Cantamodres"
The room seemed colder the moment the words left her lips.
Rose swallowed.
"And..."
"How exactly are we supposed to lure a monster?"
Sarah looked toward the window.
Her expression slowly hardened.
"I have an idea."
Both Adrian and Rose looked at her.
"It won't come for me anymore."
"It already has me."
Sarah slowly turned toward Rose.
"But it's hunting you now."
Rose's eyes widened.
"You'll be the bait."
The room fell into complete silence.