Kim and Roger lay motionless in the hollow's cold darkness.
Their bodies were pale, their breathing faint. The air was thick with static, and the ground pulsed with strange, low vibrations — like a heartbeat coming from the walls themselves.
For a while, everything was silent.
Then something began to move.
From the shadows, a white hand reached out — the same hand that had once held Roger's before everything went dark. It slid silently across the ground, glowing faintly like mist. The fingers touched Roger's hand again, wrapping around it gently. Then it reached toward Kim.
The white glow spread over both of them, lifting their unconscious bodies from the floor.
That's when the creature's voice rose again — deep, rough, like metal grinding against bone.
"Why are you saving them?" it demanded, its words twisting through the hollow.
The white figure didn't answer. Its form was vague — like a person made entirely of fog and light — but its grip was strong. It turned its faceless head toward the darkness and began to move away, carrying Kim and Roger in silence.
The creature roared, but the sound faded behind them.
In a flash of blinding white, the two vanished from the hollow.
Gone — to somewhere unknown.
Back in the library, the remaining four were gathered around the broken table, their faces pale under the candlelight.
Jet was pacing. "We need a plan," she muttered. "If we stay here, it'll come back."
"Come back?" Samy asked, her voice shaking. "What if it already is here?"
The air grew colder.
Tin looked around slowly. "She's right," he whispered. "Something's… wrong."
The candles began to flicker, one by one.
Then the room fell into darkness.
Tony's heartbeat quickened. "Everyone, stay close," he said. But before anyone could answer, a loud creak echoed through the aisles — like something walking between the bookshelves.
Jet turned toward the sound, her eyes wide.
Something moved in the shadows — tall, thin, with joints that bent the wrong way. Its head tilted slowly, watching them.
"Run!" Samy screamed.
They scattered just as the creature lunged forward, slamming into the table. Wood splintered and flew across the floor.
Tony grabbed Jet's hand, pulling her toward the stairway. Tin grabbed Samy, covering her as they ducked behind a row of shelves. The thing's claws scraped along the wood, dragging across the books like nails on glass.
Jet whispered, "We can't fight it."
Tony looked around frantically. "No… but maybe we can trap it."
Tin's eyes darted to the far side of the library — the old mirror near the corner. It was cracked but still stood tall. "That thing hates light," he said. "Maybe reflections can hold it!"
Samy nodded quickly. "Then we use the candles. Now!"
They split up fast. Jet lit a handful of candles and threw them near the mirror. Tony lifted a fallen chair and swung it, keeping the creature's attention. The moment it turned toward him, Samy shouted, "Now!"
Tin shoved the mirror forward. The reflection of the candles flared — white light bursting across the room like fire.
The creature screamed, twisting violently as its form began to fade. Its shadow burned away piece by piece until only smoke remained. The echo of its scream lingered for several seconds before silence returned.
The four of them stood there, panting.
Jet dropped to her knees. "That… was too close."
Tony looked around, still catching his breath. "We need to stay together," he said firmly. "No matter what happens."
Samy nodded weakly. "We almost lost everything once. Not again."
Tin stared at the burnt spot on the floor where the creature vanished. "This place isn't finished with us yet."
Far away — in a place beyond the hollow and beyond the library — Kim and Roger woke up.
At first, Kim couldn't breathe. The air felt different — light and cold, like standing underwater but without drowning. He blinked and looked around.
The ground wasn't stone anymore. It shimmered, shifting colors with every movement — blue, silver, gold. The sky above them wasn't a sky at all but a vast swirl of stars and floating shapes, like pieces of another world broken and hanging in midair.
Roger sat up slowly beside him. "Where… are we?"
Kim looked around, completely lost. "I don't know," he whispered. "This doesn't look like the hollow. Or the library."
In the distance, they saw structures — floating towers and bridges that seemed to grow and fade like light itself. The air buzzed with energy, and faint whispers echoed all around, speaking in a language neither of them understood.
Roger stood, brushing off dust from her clothes. "Who brought us here?"
Kim looked at his hand — faint traces of white light still clung to his skin. "The hand… it saved us."
Roger frowned. "But why?"
Kim stared into the glowing horizon. "Maybe to show us something… or maybe to test us."
They started walking, unsure of where to go, their steps echoing across the shimmering ground.
Every direction looked impossible — like they were walking through a dream they didn't belong in.
And yet, something inside both of them whispered that this was only the beginning.
Roger glanced at Kim. "You feel that?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah… like the world's watching us."
A strange hum rose in the air — and then, ahead of them, glowing symbols began to appear, floating in front of their path. The shapes rearranged themselves into something like a message, but neither could read it.
Roger's voice trembled. "A new riddle?"
Kim stared at the lights, confused and fascinated. "Looks like it."
He took a slow breath. "Then let's solve it."
They didn't know that far away, in the library, the others were fighting to survive — and that every step they took in this new place was somehow connected to the chaos the others faced.
Each heartbeat, each breath, felt like reading a new chapter in a book that was writing itself — and none of them knew how it would end.