As we ran, the tunnels blurred around us, it was as if it staggered, deeper into the hearts of the city. Pipes rattled overhead like nervous bones, and the floor dipped, buckled, and then leveled again as if the whole underground was breathing beneath us. My heart hammered, and it was for two separate reasons:
1. Terror
2. Eliana's hand was locked around my wrist, as she pulled like she weighed nothing and I weighed even far less.
She was strong, and I don't mean gym-strong, or some kind of athlete-strong, no, it was a "physics only applies when she feels like it" strong. Every time she yanked me forward, I nearly got face-planted into the back of her coat. And yes, of course, I noticed every time it swayed just enough to hint at the shape of her waist, and the way her hips cut shadows in the dim emergency lights. It was not my fault, I was stressed, and yeah, stress makes people stupid.
"Don't slow down!" she barked.
"I'm not slowing down, that's just gravity having a laugh at me!"
The ceiling cracked again somewhere behind us, and dust rained down. It was gritty, warm, and full of the "you're-about-to-die" energy.
Eliana didn't look back, instead, her grip tightened. "It's following you."
"Me? Why me again?!"
"Because you answered it."
"Haha. I didn't pick up the phone! It just—"
"Milano, you responded. That's all it needs." She interrupted.
"Fantastic. I'm being hunted because I have good customer service instincts."
We dashed around a corner and came into a wider maintenance corridor that was tall enough to echo, and dark enough that the shadows looked like they had shadows. A network of pipes lined the upper walls, dripping occasionally. And the air, the air carried that sharp metallic smell that older buildings get—the scent of rust, mixed with water, and things that should have been replaced over fifty years ago.
My breath fogged in front of me.
Wait. Fogged?
"Eliana… is it cold in here or is this—"
"Yes," she said immediately. "It's here."
"WHICH 'here'? Our 'here'? Or veil 'here'? Or physically here? Metaphysically here? Emotionally here, or wh—"
She rushed to cover my mouth without stopping, and I ran the next three steps blind because her palm smelled like night air and old magic and something floral that I absolutely wasn't supposed to be noticing right now.
"Quiet," she whispered.
I nodded, but she didn't let go. Not helpful.
We then slid into a narrower side passage. It was too narrow, and she pressed me back against the wall with one hand on my chest, as her face hovered just inches away from mine, breath steadier than it had any right to be given the current situation.
"Listen," she whispered.
I listened. At first, nothing. Then the tunnel behind us exhaled.
No. That wasn't air. It was… more like pressure. Like a massive presence pushing the space itself, trying to squeeze reality until it creaks. The floor vibrated, not from footsteps but from existence. And then—
SCRAAAAAAAPE.
A sound, like claws against stone. It was slow. Deliberate. Curious.
Eliana's eyes flicked upward. It wasn't that of someone who's afraid. It was more like calculating.
"Whatever you do," she whispered, "don't let it mark you again."
"Of course. Wasn't planning to!"
Then, she leaned closer, and said, "we're going to move on my count. Do not hesitate."
"When have I ever h—"
She raised an eyebrow.
"…okay, fair."
She let go of my chest, slowly, like she was afraid that any sudden shift would make noise. And yes, my brain absolutely noted that the warmth of her hand lingered. Of course, it would.
"One," she whispered.
The scraping grew louder.
"Two."
Cold swept the corridor. It was sharp and invasive; the kind of temperature drop that you'd feel in your bones and in your teeth.
"Three—"
The lights blew out, before she finished saying it. And the world became a throat of perfect, suffocating darkness.
"GO!"
We sprinted.
Behind us, something surged; like a mass of moving shadow. It was faster than thought, and was brushing against the Veil so hard that the air rippled.
The darkness wasn't blind-dark. It was more like intelligent-dark. And something inside it moved with purpose.
"Eliana what the FUCK is that thing?!" I asked, so scared.
"DON'T LOOK AT IT!"
"I'M NOT, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHICH WAY TO LOOK!"
Then something slammed into the wall beside us, and stone buckled inward, like it had been punched by a truck with a grudge. Dust exploded outward, and a tendril of darkness lashed across the corridor shattering a pipe. Water burst forth, spraying us with freezing mist.
"Eliana!"
"I SEE IT!"
She skidded to a stop, grabbed me by the collar, and shoved me behind her so hard I nearly ate concrete. Her hands snapped upward and silver light erupted around her fingers, forming a sigil in midair, which was spinning like some celestial gear.
And the darkness hesitated.
Then it spoke. Not in words. In hunger.
Milano.
The voice crawled down my spine like cold fingers.
"I, I'm going to throw up," I whispered.
"Don't," she said. "It can smell fear."
"Oh fantastic, because I'm sure my entire bloodstream right now is filled with 95% fear."
The dark mass pulled itself higher. It was expanding, condensing, rearranging like something trying to decide what shape would terrify us the most. A suggestion of limbs. A maw of nothingness. Eyes, maybe, or just holes cut into reality. Then it lunged, and Eliana moved. Its speed wasn't human. It wasn't even supernatural speed.
It was inevitability.
Her sigil flared, with a burst of silver radiance that flooded the corridor as if she'd pulled a piece of starlight into the mortal world. She thrust it forward like a shield, and when the creature hit it, space buckled. And a shockwave spiraled outward.
I flew backward, hit the ground, rolled, swore, rolled again, swore louder.
"Eliana!" I yelled, trying to stand. But the floor disagreed, and I collapsed sideways. I caught myself on one elbow, and forced my eyes forward.
Eliana held the line. Barely.
The creature slammed against her barrier again. This time, harder, and her boots skidded back along the ground, leaving scorched trails in the dust. She gritted her teeth, as her hair whipped violently in the energy surge.
"Milano!" she shouted. "Get up!"
"Trying!"
"NOW!"
I staggered to my feet, nearly face-planting into the ground again. My chest buzzed; it wasn't pain, or heat, it was just raw power waking up like an annoyed animal.
The creature kept pressing, and Eliana's shield flickered. Cracks spidered across the sigil's surface.
"Eliana, it's breaking—"
"I am aware!"
"What do I do?!"
"Use it!"
"USE WHAT?!"
She stared at me; furious, frantic, glowing.
"Your resonance! Draw it forward!"
"I don't know how!"
"It knows how!" she shouted.
And then… And then the creature shifted. Turned. Looked at me fully. And the world slowed. The sound cut out. And the resonance inside my chest; that hot, unstable hum Eliana kept warning me about, ignited. Not gently, not controllably, but explosively. A surge that felt like every nerve in my body got plugged into a power station.
My vision washed gold. The air vibrated, and something answered from inside me; deeper than breath, older than thought.
Then the creature hissed.
Eliana screamed, "MILANO, DO NOT LET IT IN—"
Too late. The resonance burst outward from me in a shockwave that hit the creature like a truck. Causing it to stagger, its limbs unraveling, and shadow peeling away. The whole corridor warped as if it was a snow globe that had been shaken.
Eliana threw up her arm to shield herself.
The creature collapsed backward into the darkness, roaring in a voice that belonged nowhere on Earth.
Then—
Silence. Real silence.
My body sagged. The light in my vision dimmed. And Eliana caught me before I hit the ground.
She held me, her arms around my shoulders, breath hot against my temple, chest pressed against my side in a way that made my fried neurons forget terror for a half-second.
"Milano… what did you just do?" Her voice trembled.
"I don't know," I croaked.
She stared at the black corridor where the creature had vanished.
"It wasn't attacking you," she whispered. "It was… answering you."
My stomach dropped.
"That thing…" she continued, "that ancient… thing… wasn't hunting you." She swallowed.
"It was welcoming you."
My heart stopped. Literally. For about one second. I swear it stopped.
"Eliana," I whispered, with my voice cracking, "what does that mean?"
She looked at me, truly looked, and placed one hand on my chest. And for the first time since I met her, I saw fear that she wasn't hiding.
"It means… you're not just a Conduit." She said softly, as her grip tightened on my shoulders.
"You're what it's been waiting for."
The floor trembled, far in the dark. Answering. Calling.
And somewhere deep inside the Veil… something roared with joy.