The creature stood between them and the only way out.Still.
Silent.
Watching.
Maya’s pulse hammered in her ears, but she forced herself not to move. Not yet.
Beside her, Lena’s breathing had gone shallow, almost panicked.
“Don’t run,” Maya whispered.
Lena let out a weak, disbelieving laugh. “Are you serious?”
“Yes,” Maya said, eyes locked on the thing. “It wants that.”
The creature’s head tilted slightly.
As if it were listening.
Learning.
“You can understand us,” Maya said, louder now.
The creature didn’t respond.
But its smile widened—just enough to confirm it.
“Two remain…” Maya repeated quietly. “You said that.”
A pause.
Then—
“Yes.”
The voice didn’t come from its mouth this time.
It came from everywhere.
The walls.
The floor.
Inside their heads.
Lena clutched her temples. “Make it stop…”
Maya swallowed hard. “Why us?”
A flicker of movement.
The creature took a single step forward.
Not fast.
Not threatening.
Just… certain.
“Six threads,” it said. “Woven together.”
Maya frowned. “What does that mean?”
“You,” it continued, ignoring the question. “Bound. Close. Shared.”
“Friends,” Lena whispered.
The creature’s eyes shifted to her.
“Yes.”
Maya’s mind raced.
“It said ‘bound by blood or bond’,” she murmured, recalling the paper. “So it doesn’t just pick random people…”
“It picks groups,” Lena said, voice shaking. “People who are connected.”
“Easier to break,” the creature added softly.
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
Maya clenched her fists. “Why kill us one at a time?”
The creature’s smile stretched wider.
“Because you watch.”
Lena shook her head. “That’s sick…”
“You fear,” it continued. “You weaken. You fracture.”
Its gaze moved between them.
“Soon… you turn.”
Maya’s stomach dropped.
“Turn?” she echoed.
The creature’s eyes gleamed.
“As he did.”
A shape moved in the corner of the room.
Maya’s heart stopped.
“Don’t…” Lena whispered. “Don’t look…”
But Maya already had.
Chris stepped out of the shadows.
Or what used to be Chris.
His skin was pale—almost grey now.
His eyes… wrong.
Too bright.
Too empty.
And his mouth—
Still stained.
“Chris…” Lena choked.
He smiled.
That same unnatural smile.
“Not Chris,” the creature corrected.
“Then what is he?” Maya demanded.
“Hungry.”
Chris tilted his head, studying them like prey.
Maya stepped in front of Lena instinctively.
“Stay behind me,” she whispered.
The creature raised a hand.
Chris stopped.
Instantly.
Like a puppet.
“Not yet,” the creature said.
Then, to them—
“Rules must be followed.”
Maya seized on that. “Rules?”
The creature nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Lena’s voice trembled. “What rules?”
The creature stepped closer.
Too close.
Maya could see its face now—really see it.
Skin stretched thin over sharp bones.
Eyes like burning glass.
And something deeper inside them.
Something ancient.
“Six begin,” it said.
“Six must end.”
Maya’s throat tightened. “You already took four.”
The creature nodded.
“Two remain.”
Lena shook her head. “No. No, we’re not playing this—”
“One will fall,” the creature continued, ignoring her.
“One will feed.”
Silence.
Maya felt the meaning before she understood the words.
Then it hit.
Hard.
“No,” she said immediately.
Lena’s voice broke. “No—no, that’s not—”
The creature smiled.
“Balance.”
Maya stepped forward, anger cutting through the fear. “We’re not turning on each other.”
The creature didn’t react.
Didn’t need to.
Chris took a step toward them.
Slow.
Deliberate.
“You will,” the creature said.
“Or you will both die.”
Lena grabbed Maya’s arm. “We can fight it. There has to be a way—”
Maya’s mind raced.
The study.
The symbols.
The books.
“There might be something here,” she said. “Something it doesn’t like.”
The creature’s eyes flicked briefly to the shelves.
That was enough.
Maya lunged for the nearest bookcase.
“STALL THEM!” she shouted.
Lena didn’t hesitate.
She grabbed a candle from the desk and hurled it.
It shattered against Chris’s shoulder.
He flinched—
Just slightly.
But enough.
Maya tore books from the shelf, scanning frantically.
Old texts.
Handwritten notes.
Symbols—
“There!” Lena shouted.
On the wall—
A carving.
A symbol matching the one on the door.
Chris lunged.
Lena screamed and stumbled back.
“MAYA!”
Maya grabbed a broken piece of wood from the shelf and rushed to the wall.
She pressed it against the symbol—
Hard.
For a moment—
Nothing.
Then—
A sound.
Like something burning.
The creature hissed.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
But real.
Chris froze mid-step.
His body jerking slightly.
Like something pulling him back.
Maya’s eyes widened. “It works!”
The creature’s gaze snapped to her.
For the first time—
It looked angry.
“Clever,” it said.
The room darkened.
Not naturally.
The light itself seemed to shrink away.
The symbol under Maya’s hand began to crack.
Splinter.
Break.
“No—no—no—” she muttered, pressing harder.
The creature stepped forward.
Slow.
Unstoppable.
“Rules,” it said again.
“Must be kept.”
Chris moved again.
Faster this time.
Lena backed into the desk, knocking papers to the floor.
Her eyes darted wildly—
Then landed on the list.
The names.
Her name.
Maya’s name.
Only one would be crossed out next.
Lena’s breathing changed.
Something shifting.
Breaking.
“Maya…” she whispered.
Maya didn’t turn.
Couldn’t.
“I don’t want to die,” Lena said.
Maya froze.
The creature smiled.
“Yes,” it whispered.
“Now you understand.”
Maya turned slowly.
And what she saw in Lena’s eyes—
Was worse than the monster.
Doubt.
Fear.
And something else.
Something dangerous.
A decision forming.
Source: Some or all of the content was generated using an AI language model
No comments:
Post a Comment