In the mansion's highest chamber, Mrs. Hodgins stood still.
The air around her shimmered.
The walls pulsed.
She could feel it—the gap between worlds widening like a wound.
She rubbed the lamp.
A smirk curled across her lips.
Zahir emerged in a swirl of crimson smoke, his eyes glowing red with gloom.
His voice was low, distorted. "You called."
Mrs. Hodgins scoffed. "It won't change anything. Anne still has to die."
Zahir didn't blink.
He simply nodded.
Anne, Brittany, and Lily stumbled through the fog, the fake lamp still clutched in Anne's trembling hands.
"We need to go back," Anne whispered. "This isn't the Eden Tree."
Brittany nodded. "Yeah, this place is giving me fungus vibes."
Suddenly—
A growl.
Low. Wet. Hungry.
A creature burst from the trees—its limbs twisted, its eyes hollow, its breath thick with decay.
They dove behind a gnarled tree.
Lily, too stunned to speak, whispered, "What is this place?"
Brittany peeked out, eyes wide. "It's like the Upside Down… but nothing like the Upside Down. It's worse. It's poetic horror."
The creature sniffed the air.
Its claws scraped the bark.
Anne clutched the lamp tighter, her breath shallow.
The air thickened.
It felt like breathing through syrup.
Then—
A whisper.
"Ohhhhhh…"
Brittany jumped. "Is someone moaning?"
They turned.
And there—standing atop the beast's hunched back, precisely balanced on its shoulders—was a boy.
He wore a damp black suit.
His lips were painted midnight.
A whip coiled at his side.
He smiled.
"Hello, Anne," he said, voice smooth as velvet rot. "Remember me?"
Anne's eyes widened.
"I gave the order," he continued. "The invite. The lamp. The path."
He bowed slightly.
"I am the Chancellor. Beast Tamer of Forevermore."
Lily gasped. "You control that thing?"
The Chancellor chuckled. "I do more than control. I curate."
He stepped down from the beast, boots sinking into the moss.
"I'm sorry," he said, not sorry at all. "But Anne cannot go on."
He raised the whip.
"She must die here."
To be continued…