That night wasn't just dark. It felt… full. As if the air itself was waiting for a small decision that could shift the world's direction. Ares and Adara walked along the city sidewalk, streetlights casting fragile golden halos that failed to compete with the tension clinging to their skin.
Ares's breathing was still heavy. Not from running
but because the foreign memory hadn't fully faded.
Beside him, Adara kept glancing his way, unblinking. "Ares… are you sure you're stable? You almost collapsed back there."
Ares forced a small smile steady in shape, exhausted in the eyes. "I've been through worse."
"That is not helping me feel better, you know."
Ares didn't respond. He was too focused on the street ahead. The System in his head buzzed with static, like a frequency searching for the right channel.
> [Memory Sync: 17%]
[Blue Door Fragment: active]
[Ares Status: unstable]
He ignored the last line.
Adara sighed. "Ares… I need to know. The place we're going… does it actually have something to do with that entity?"
Ares nodded slowly. "The memory fragment was too specific. That can't be coincidence."
"That blue door…" Adara echoed. "Why didn't you ever tell me about it?"
Ares stared at her. Long. Deep. As if searching for words he didn't know how to begin forming.
"I… don't remember everything. That foster home was strange. A lot of my childhood feels like it was… wiped clean."
Adara slowed her steps. "Wiped clean… you mean"
"Yes." Ares looked straight ahead. "Like someone deliberately erased certain pieces. And now that entity… is forcing them back."
They kept walking faster this time. The air behind them felt like it shifted, like two faint shadows still following from afar the entities that appeared at the end of Chapter 9.
Adara bit her lip. "So what do we take? Bus? Taxi? Or"
Ares stopped at an intersection. The red light painted his face in a strange glow.
"We walk one more block. After that… we take the express line."
Adara raised a brow. "The express train? Your foster home is that far?"
"Outside the city." Ares took a long breath. "At the edge of the old zone. People don't go there unless they have a reason."
Adara squinted. "And our reason… is strong enough to make two entities chase us off-campus?"
Ares merely nodded.
When they reached the small, empty station, Adara took a relieved breath then tensed instantly.
"Ares…" she whispered. "Why is there no one here?"
Ares scanned the area. The lights were on. The gates open. But no staff. No passengers. Not even the automated announcements.
"System?" he muttered internally.
> [Analyzing environment…]
[Anomaly: no signs of human activity]
[Entity movement: approaching within 240 meters]
Ares grabbed Adara's hand. "We need to hurry."
"They're that close?!" Her voice almost cracked.
Ares pulled her toward the underground platform. The station felt like a forgotten world. Yet the rails vibrated softly the express train was on its way.
"Ares… if the train is empty, if this whole place is empty… don't tell me"
"This isn't a trap," Ares said quickly. "This is a transit zone shut down six months ago. But it's still linked to the old lines. I passed through once."
"Why would you pass through here? You're a university kid. This isn't a normal route."
Ares opened his mouth… then closed it again.
Because he didn't know.
Or rather
he felt like he knew, but the memory was sealed by something.
The train arrived like a shadow summoned from a nightmare fast, silent, stopping with unnatural smoothness.
The doors opened.
Empty.
Adara felt her skin crawl. "Ares… this is too quiet. Too… prepared."
Ares stepped in first. "If we don't board, those entities will catch up. And if they corner us in an empty station like this… we're done."
Adara hesitated for a heartbeat, then followed.
The moment the doors closed, the train surged forward with a speed that turned the tunnel walls into streaks of light.
Adara sat, staring into the dark window with growing unease. "So… after this, we head straight to your foster home?"
Ares nodded. "If the first entity was telling the truth, the first answer is there."
Adara stared at the floor. "Ares… I need to know something."
Ares looked at her, waiting.
"If the 'origin point' turns out to be… not a normal place. Not just a childhood memory." Her voice dropped lower. "If it's something dangerous for both of us…"
Ares bowed his head briefly, then said quietly but firmly:
"I won't open anything… if it's going to hurt you."
Adara swallowed hard. "Ares… that's exactly what I'm afraid of."
Ares held her gaze longer than he ever had before.
But before he could answer.
The train shook.
Not from the tracks.
The vibration was subtle, but deliberate.
The System screamed:
> [ALERT: Interference on tunnel wall]
[Anomaly approaching from rear]
[Entities 1 & 2 entering underground route]
Ares shot to his feet. "They're on the tracks. They're chasing us through the tunnel."
Adara's eyes went wide. "WHAT?!"
The train trembled again harder.
The lights flickered.
And for the first time…
the entities' voices reached them, clear and sharp, like something tearing open the air:
"…SUBJECT… MUST NOT… APPROACH… THE ORIGIN POINT…"
Ares looked at Adara.
Adara looked at Ares.
And they both understood:
There was no turning back.
No safe place left.
And that blue door… wasn't just a childhood memory.
It was something the world was desperately trying to keep closed.
The train accelerated.
Behind them, something was drawing closer.
The real hunt had just begun.