“Maya…”Lena’s voice barely held together.
But her eyes—
They weren’t the same anymore.
Fear was still there, yes.
But now it was sharpened.
Focused.
Directed.
Maya felt it instantly.
That shift.
That terrible, quiet calculation.
“No,” Maya said, shaking her head slowly. “Don’t do this.”
Behind her, the creature stood perfectly still.
Watching.
Waiting.
“I don’t want to die,” Lena whispered again.
Maya took a step toward her. “We’re not going to. We figure this out—together.”
Lena let out a weak, broken laugh. “Together? Look around!”
She gestured wildly.
“The others are gone, Maya! Tyler, Chris, Jordan, Evan—gone! And you think we’re just going to… what? Outthink this thing?”
Chris moved again.
Closer now.
Slow.
Patient.
Like he knew how this would end.
“We don’t have to play its game,” Maya insisted.
But even as she said it—
She wasn’t sure she believed it anymore.
“You heard it,” Lena said. “One falls. One feeds.”
Her gaze dropped—just for a second.
To the broken wood still in Maya’s hand.
Then back up.
Maya saw it.
That flicker.
That thought.
And her stomach turned.
“Lena…” she said softly. “You’re thinking about it.”
“I’m thinking about surviving!” Lena snapped.
The creature’s voice slipped into the room like a breath.
“Yes…”
“Shut up!” Maya shouted, spinning toward it.
The creature didn’t move.
Didn’t need to.
“You don’t get to decide this!” Maya yelled.
But the truth hung in the air.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Because it already had.
Chris lunged.
Maya reacted on instinct, diving to the side as he crashed into the wall where she’d been standing.
The impact shook the room.
Plaster cracked.
Dust filled the air.
“RUN!” Maya shouted.
But Lena didn’t move.
Maya’s heart skipped.
“Lena?!”
Lena stood frozen.
Eyes locked—not on Chris.
Not on the creature.
On Maya.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
And then she shoved her.
Hard.
Maya stumbled backward—
Straight into Chris.
His hands clamped onto her arms.
Cold.
Unnaturally strong.
“LEN—!” Maya screamed.
But Lena was already running.
Out the door.
Into the hallway.
Gone.
Maya struggled, kicking, twisting—
Chris’s grip tightened.
His face inches from hers now.
His breath cold.
Rotten.
“Please…” Maya gasped. “Chris—fight it—”
For a split second—
Something flickered in his eyes.
Recognition.
Pain.
Then it was gone.
His mouth opened.
Too wide.
Too wrong.
Maya’s mind raced.
Think.
Think.
Think!
Her hand closed around something sharp.
A broken splinter of wood from the shelf.
Without hesitation—
She drove it into Chris’s side.
He screamed.
Not human.
Not anymore.
His grip loosened.
Just enough.
Maya tore free and stumbled back, clutching the jagged wood.
Chris staggered, hissing, clutching the wound.
Dark blood seeped through his fingers.
The creature watched.
Still.
Calm.
“Interesting,” it murmured.
Maya backed toward the door.
Toward the hallway.
Toward Lena.
“You don’t control me,” she said, voice shaking but fierce.
The creature tilted its head.
“Don’t I?”
Behind her—
A sound.
Footsteps.
Fast.
Maya turned—
Lena stood at the end of the hallway.
But she hadn’t left.
She was holding something.
A piece of broken metal.
Sharp.
Like a crude blade.
“Maya…” Lena said, breathless. “I can’t—”
Maya’s chest tightened.
“You can,” she said. “We can still—”
“I can’t die,” Lena interrupted.
Silence.
The words landed like a blade.
Maya nodded slowly.
Pain flickering across her face.
“Neither can I.”
They stood there.
Facing each other.
Not friends anymore.
Not really.
Behind Maya, Chris began to move again.
Recovering.
Reforming.
The creature stepped aside.
Giving them space.
Like a spectator.
“Choose,” it whispered.
Lena tightened her grip on the metal.
Tears streamed down her face.
“I’m sorry…”
Maya raised the broken wood.
Her hands steady now.
Resolved.
“Yeah,” she said quietly.
“Me too.”
And then—
They moved.
Source: Some or all of the content was generated using an AI language model
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