Evelyn ran through the twisting flesh tunnels, lantern shaking in her hand.The Heart's pulse beat faster, vibrating through the walls, through the floor, through her chest—through her mind.
Then the world shifted.
The tunnels stretched impossibly, walls bending and folding in on themselves.Faces of the consumed appeared in the walls, pressed flat, mouths opening silently, eyes pleading.Each face shifted to mimic someone Evelyn knew—passengers, friends, strangers.Every face whispered her name.
"Evelyn…""Run…""Remember…"
Her lantern flickered violently, and in the shadows, she saw herself.
A perfect copy.Walking toward her.Smiling.Eyes empty.Hands outstretched.
The mirror-Evelyn hovered behind it, fog swirling, watching, silent.The shadow-Evelyn slithered above, jaw cracking, clicking, stretching impossibly wide.
The illusion stepped closer.Her own voice whispered inside her mind:"You cannot escape me… you are already mine."
Evelyn's breath quickened.Her pulse raced.Her lantern barely lit the tunnel.Every step she took forward, the illusion mirrored, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind.Sometimes right beside her—mocking every move.
The walls pulsed faster, tendrils of flesh brushing her shoulders and legs.She stumbled into a wall—only for it to melt beneath her hands.Squelching, soft, alive.
Then the illusion spoke.
Not with words.With memories.
It showed her:
All the times she had failed someone she loved
Every secret she tried to hide
Every fear she had buried
Every regret and doubt
Her chest tightened.Her mind screamed.
The shadow-Evelyn hissed:"You see the truth. It's all inside you."
The mirror-Evelyn's fog swirled, forming a circle around the illusion:"And I remember everything you deny."
Evelyn's lantern flickered out.
The Heart's pulse throbbed in the dark.The illusion reached for her.The walls closed in.
But Evelyn forced herself to focus.
This isn't real.This isn't me.These are my fears, not my life.
Her heartbeat slowed.The pulse of the Heart faltered slightly.The illusion wavered.
The shadow-Evelyn twitched violently, confused.The mirror-Evelyn floated closer, glowing brighter.
Evelyn gritted her teeth.She could feel the Heart reacting—learning, adapting, struggling to maintain control.
She raised the lantern again.Its light burned stronger than before.Not just cutting shadows, but slicing through the illusions, revealing the empty tunnels beneath.
The Heart shrieked silently in her mind—a deafening pressure that crushed her sanity.
Evelyn ran.She ran past illusions, past faces, past whispers of memory.She ran deeper into the Heart itself.
And for the first time, she realized:
The Heart could create nightmares.But it could not create her will.
Not yet.