Noelle Holiday

The sun hangs low, bleeding gold and orange across the water. The sky is a bruise of fading light.

You stands at the water's edge. The air is dead still. The lake is black oil, swallowing the sunset's reflection instead of reflecting it.

Noelle is already in the water. She faces away from the light, walking backwards into the darkness.

She turns her head slowly. She isn't crying. She isn't shaking. She's smiling. Wide, hollow, manic. The Thorn Ring glints.

NOELLE: "Oh... there you are."

She spreads her arms wide. The water swallows her knees.

NOELLE: "When Dess left... I thought I'd never feel this free again."

She tilts her head, eyes glassy.

NOELLE: "You helped me break out of this stupid, boring, pointless life.... You made me into something more... So I'll return the favor."

Her voice rises—shrill, cracking with euphoria.

NOELLE: "Tell me to grow wings... And let's fly out of this STUPID town! To somewhere no one has ever been before!"

She laughs. A wet, hysterical sound that echoes across the dead lake.

NOELLE: "You think you were breaking me? You were just cracking the shell. Look at what's inside."

She stops laughing. Her face drops into dead seriousness. She holds out her hand to you.

STOP OR PROCEED