Drew didn't get the chance to scream.
Something yanked her so hard her spine snapped tight. She hit the ground, her breath knocked out of her, palms scraping across the cold concrete as whatever had her ankle dragged her deeper into the black.
"DREW!"
Jax's voice tore through the darkness, raw and frantic.
She clawed at the floor—metal, dust, nothing she could grip. Her nails caught briefly on a crack, but the thing pulling her didn't even slow. It tugged again, harder, and her fingers slipped free.
"Let her go!" Jax roared.
A crash. A chair tipping. A grunt of pain.
He was fighting his restraints.
Drew twisted, reaching toward the faint glow of the broken lantern's dying embers.
"Jax—!"
Her voice was shredded with fear.
There was no answer now—just the scrabble of metal on floor, Jax trying to break free.
And something else.
A sound she couldn't place.
Low.
Wet.
Close.
The darkness thickened around her as she was dragged backward through some narrow passage she hadn't seen before. Her back slammed against a wall, bounced, and she was pulled again.
Her pulse hammered so violently her vision blurred even in the dark.
"Stop—stop—stop!" she rasped, kicking wildly at whatever had her. Her heel connected with something solid—bone? Stone? Flesh?
A hiss sounded. A rush of breath that was not human.
Cold shot up her leg like ice water.
She kicked again. Harder.
It didn't let go.
A whisper fluttered behind her ear. Not words—just breath.
Hot. Cold. Both at once.
Like someone exhaling against her skin from inside the wall.
Drew choked on her own fear. "GET OFF OF ME!"
Suddenly—
Hands grabbed her arms.
Warm hands.
Human hands.
Jax.
"I've got you," he gasped into the dark. "Drew—I've got you."
She didn't even remember hearing him break out. She didn't care how he got here. She only felt his grip lock around her wrists as he planted his body, anchoring himself against the floor.
"Pull!" Drew cried.
"I am!"
But the thing wouldn't release her.
Her shoulder burned as Jax fought to drag her back. She felt him shake with effort. Felt the tremor in his grip. Felt the weight of something pulling her away from him inch by inch.
"Come on," he gritted out. "Come on—come ON!"
The air vibrated around them.
A deep thud—like a heartbeat hitting the walls.
Then another.
And another.
The ground trembled.
"Jax—" Drew whispered, her voice breathless with terror.
"I know," he said. "I feel it too."
And then—
The pull on her ankle vanished.
Just gone.
As if whatever had her… let go.
Drew collapsed forward into Jax's chest, shaking uncontrollably. He wrapped his arms around her, breathing hard.
For a moment there was nothing—no sound, no dragging, no whispering. Just their breaths blending in the dark.
Then—
A soft voice behind them.
Aria.
"Why didn't you listen?" she whispered.
Drew jerked back, scrambling to face her.
Aria stood only a few feet away, staring at Drew's ankle the way someone might stare at a burn spreading across skin.
"You stayed too long," Aria murmured. "Now it's awake."
Jax rose slightly, pulling Drew behind him. "If you know what that thing was—say something."
Aria didn't blink. "I said more would hurt you."
"We don't need explanations," Jax snapped. "We need a way out."
Aria shook her head. "There is no out."
Drew's breath hitched. "There has to be."
Aria stepped closer, her features barely visible in the suffocating darkness. The overhead lantern was dead now, leaving only the faintest ambient glow seeping from somewhere far down the passage.
"You think this place is a room," Aria whispered.
"It isn't."
Jax's jaw clenched. "What is it then?"
Aria's eyes flicked toward Drew. "She'll learn soon enough."
That icy dread crawled back into Drew's spine.
"Why me?" Drew whispered. "Why do you keep saying that?"
Aria's expression shifted into something unreadable.
Something almost—sad.
But then the floor shuddered.
A deep rumble rolled through the passage, dust shaking loose from the ceiling. Jax's arm curled around Drew instinctively as he scanned the dark.
"What was that?" he muttered.
Aria answered without hesitation.
"It's moving."
Drew froze. "What is?"
Aria lifted a hand and pointed at the wall beside them.
The concrete surface began to ripple.
Like skin.
Drew stumbled back, slamming into Jax. His arm tightened reflexively.
"Okay," he whispered, voice shaking for the first time, "we're not staying here."
Aria tilted her head. "If you leave the passage, it will follow you."
"Then we fight," Jax said.
Aria's voice softened. "You can't fight what you can't see."
Drew swallowed. "Then what do we do?"
Aria looked at her ankle.
Something dark stained the skin. Not a bruise. Not a cut.
Something like… finger marks.
But elongated—too long.
Too thin.
Too deep.
Drew's pulse spiked. "What… what is that?"
"You've been touched," Aria said quietly.
Drew's breath broke. "By what?"
Aria's gaze flicked upward, toward the ceiling.
Then the floor.
Then the walls.
"All of it," she whispered.
A violent slam shook the passage.
Jax grabbed Drew's wrist. "We're leaving. Now."
He pulled her toward the faint glow at the far end of the corridor. Drew didn't look back—but she felt Aria's gaze burning into her spine.
"Jax…" Drew whispered. "What about Aria?"
Aria remained perfectly still. "Don't worry about me. I'm already where I'm supposed to be."
Something about the way she said that made Drew's stomach twist painfully.
"Aria—come with us," Drew said, voice cracking.
Aria lowered her chin. "I can't."
"But—"
"Go," Aria whispered.
"You two don't have much time."
The wall beside her bulged suddenly—like something beneath it pushed outward.
Jax didn't hesitate. He dragged Drew down the narrowing corridor. The light grew slightly brighter as they moved, though its source was still hidden behind a turn in the passage.
Their footsteps echoed.
Their breaths amplified.
Every sound was too loud, too sharp, as though the darkness was listening.
Behind them—
A soft scraping.
Jax slowed, turning his head slightly. "Drew… did you hear that?"
She nodded shakily.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Scrape.
Closer.
Drew's legs went weak. "Jax—run."
He pulled her forward.
They sprinted.
The corridor twisted sharply left, then right, then split into two directions.
Left—dark.
Right—slightly less dark.
"Which way?" Drew gasped.
Jax tightened his grip on her hand. "Stay close."
He dragged her right.
But the moment they turned, Drew felt it.
Something was already there.
Not in front of them.
Not behind them.
Above them.
A faint vibration hummed through the ceiling.
Drew trembled. "Jax—stop."
He did.
The hum grew louder.
A slow, soft scrape—directly overhead.
Jax whispered, "It's following us."
The ceiling shifted—just slightly, but enough to send dust drifting down.
"We need to move," he said.
But when he stepped forward, Drew didn't move with him.
Her foot felt… heavy.
Too heavy.
She looked down.
Her heart almost stopped.
The mark around her ankle was spreading—darkening, branching upward like black vines beneath her skin.
"Jax," she whispered, voice breaking. "It's—doing something to me."
He looked down—and froze.
"Drew…"
She stumbled back, panic squeezing her chest. "What is happening?"
Jax didn't answer—because he didn't know. Drew saw the fear flicker in his eyes, sharp and real.
Another scrape sounded—this one right beside them.
The wall rippled again, faster this time.
Jax cursed and grabbed her shoulders. "Okay—listen to me. You're not stopping here. I'm getting you out."
"How?" she gasped. "I can barely—"
The wall to their left bulged violently—and split.
Something long and shadowed shot out toward Drew.
Jax shoved her sideways, taking the hit himself.
He slammed into the opposite wall with a choked sound, his breath knocked out.
"JAX!"
He pushed himself upright, staggered but alive. "Keep—moving—!"
But Drew couldn't.
The mark on her leg pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then again—like a second heartbeat awakening beneath her skin.
Her vision blurred.
Her hearing dulled.
For a moment she felt suspended—like her body wasn't entirely hers.
"Drew!"
Jax cupped her face. "Look at me. Stay with me."
She tried.
She really did.
But something in the dark whispered her name again.
Soft.
Close.
Against her ear.
"Drew…"
Her eyes snapped toward the sound—but there was nothing.
Nothing she could see.
Jax grabbed her hand and pulled. "Move!"
She stumbled forward as the corridor widened suddenly into a tall chamber—bare, circular, with a single exit on the far end.
Light glowed faintly from that doorway.
Real light.
Soft, warm.
Hope.
Jax squeezed her hand. "There—go!"
They ran.
Drew's ankle burned with each step, the dark mark seeming to pulse in time with the rumbling of the walls.
They were halfway across the chamber when something slammed into the ground behind them.
Hard.
Heavy.
Close.
Drew didn't look. Jax didn't either.
He yanked her toward the doorway.
They were maybe ten steps away.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven—
A voice echoed through the chamber—cold enough to freeze the air.
Not the whisper from before.
Not Aria's.
Not human.
"Running will not save you."
Jax pushed Drew in front of him. "Don't listen—just go!"
Six steps.
Five.
Four—
The ceiling split above them.
A thick crack tore across the chamber, pieces of concrete raining down. Jax shoved Drew ahead, shielding her with his body as debris crashed around them.
Three steps.
Two—
Drew reached the doorway.
Light spilled across her hands.
One—
Jax grabbed her arm to pull her through—
Something snapped around his waist.
Drew screamed as Jax was yanked backward so violently his feet left the ground.
"JAX!"
He clawed at the floor—at air—at anything—eyes wide, breath tearing out of him—
"DREW—RUN!"
The light from the doorway flickered.
The walls trembled.
A cold wind surged through the chamber, swallowing his voice—
And Jax was ripped away from her and dragged into the dark so fast she didn't even see where he went.
The doorway slammed shut between them.
Drew's scream echoed into the silence.
And behind the sealed door—
Something breathed his name.