The roar shook the rusted frame of the truck chassis they were hiding behind.
"Move!" Rook screamed, diving to the right.
Lyric scrambled to the left, boots slipping on the loose pile of plastic casings.
The Fog-Eater slammed into the truck. The impact was terrifying—a crunch of metal tearing like paper. The massive creature plowed through the obstacle, its glowing blue eye-sockets leaving trails of light in the fog.
It didn't care about Rook. It turned its head, sniffing the air, tracking the void.
"Empty…" it gurgled, lurching toward Lyric. Its hands were massive, fingers ending in jagged shards of scrap metal wired into the flesh.
Lyric backed up, but the ground was uneven. A heel caught on a broken monitor, and Lyric went down hard.
The static in Lyric's head screamed.
Run! It's going to eat you!
I don't want to die!
Mommy!
The voices of a thousand strangers drowned out Lyric's own thoughts. The headache was a blinding white wall. Lyric couldn't focus. Couldn't stand.
The creature loomed over Lyric, raising a fist.
"Hey! Ugly!"
Rook stood on top of a pile of cars, holding a heavy metal pipe. He hurled it.
The pipe spun through the air and cracked against the creature's shoulder.
The Fog-Eater didn't even flinch. It didn't look away from Lyric. It just let out a low hiss and dropped its fist.
Lyric rolled. The metal claws smashed into the ground inches from Lyric's face, sending up a spray of glass shards.
Touch it, the instinct whispered. Just touch it.
But the fear was paralyzing. The creature was hideous, a nightmare of flesh and blue light.
The Fog-Eater grabbed Lyric's ankle.
The grip was crushing. Cold damp skin against denim.
Lyric kicked out, thrashing, but the creature dragged them closer. The glowing vials in its eyes were blindingly bright now. It opened its mouth, revealing rows of black, rotting teeth.
"Give me…" it hissed. "Give me the silence."
It was going to bite.
Lyric didn't think. There was no room for strategy. Lyric lunged forward, sitting up, and slammed both hands onto the creature's chest.
Skin on skin.
Erase.
The sensation was violent this time—a massive, sudden vacuum, like being sucked out of an airlock.
The screaming in Lyric's head spiked to an unbearable pitch, and then—
Snap.
Lyric blinked.
They were sitting on the ground in the middle of a pile of trash. The fog was swirling around them.
Lyric looked left. Rook was standing on a car, looking horrified, his mouth hanging open.
Lyric looked down. Their hands were outstretched, hovering in empty air.
"What…" Lyric lowered their hands, heart hammering against their ribs. "What am I doing?"
"You…" Rook stuttered. He scrambled down from the car, sliding on the debris. "You dusted him. The whole thing. He's just… gone."
Lyric frowned. "Who is gone?"
"The Fog-Eater!" Rook shouted, grabbing Lyric's arm and hauling them up. "The giant mutant that was about to eat your face! You don't remember?"
Lyric searched the mind. Nothing. Just a vague sense of panic and the lingering pain in their ankle.
"I remember… a noise," Lyric whispered. "And the smell of ozone."
"You erased a seven-foot monster," Rook said, his voice shaking. "One second it was choking you, the next—pop. Air."
Rook looked at the empty space where the creature had been, then back at the dark, looming shape of the Lighthouse in the distance.
"We have to go," Rook urged. "If there was one, there's a pack. And if you keep erasing them, you're gonna forget why we're running, and then we're dead."
Lyric nodded, stumbling as they put weight on the injured ankle. "Right. The Lighthouse. The jammer."
The last half-mile was a blur of pain.
The static in Lyric's head was getting worse. Without the pendant, every step through the Graveyard was an assault. The discarded memories here were volatile—suicides, murders, deep betrayals. They clawed at Lyric's mind, trying to find purchase in the empty spaces.
Let me in, a voice whispered. I can be your mother.
I can be your lover, said another.
"Get out," Lyric muttered, gritting teeth. "You're not real."
"Almost there," Rook panted.
The Lighthouse rose out of the fog like a tombstone. It was an ancient structure, concrete and rebar, stripped of paint. The light at the top had been smashed out decades ago.
They reached the heavy iron door at the base. It was welded shut.
"Damn it," Rook hissed. He dropped his bag and started rummaging for tools. "They sealed it."
"Can you open it?" Lyric asked, leaning against the cold concrete, clutching their head. The voices were shouting now.
"I need time," Rook said, pulling out a laser cutter. "Maybe ten minutes."
"We don't have ten minutes," Lyric groaned.
From the fog behind them, a sound echoed.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
More footsteps. Many of them.
Lyric turned. Blue lights bobbed in the mist. Three pairs. Then five. Then ten.
"Rook," Lyric said, voice tight. "They're here."
Rook looked back, his eyes widening behind the goggles. "Oh, crap."
"Open the door," Lyric said, pushing off the wall. "I'll hold them back."
"You can't fight ten of them!" Rook argued, sparks flying as he cut into the hinges. "You'll erase your own brain!"
"Just open the door!"
Lyric stepped away from the tower, facing the fog.
The first Fog-Eater emerged. It was smaller than the first one, skittering on all fours like a spider.
Lyric took a breath. The static was so loud it was hard to tell where the voices ended and the real world began.
Focus, Lyric told themselves. Shoulders squared. Weight on the balls of feet.
The muscle memory Silas had talked about kicked in. The body knew what to do, even if the mind was screaming.
The creature leaped.
Lyric didn't erase it. Erasing meant forgetting. Forgetting meant confusion.
Instead, Lyric pivoted, grabbing a rusted metal bar from the ground and swinging it.
Clang.
The bar connected with the creature's head. It shrieked and skittered back.
"Physical damage," Lyric muttered. "I can do physical damage."
Two more emerged. They charged together.
Lyric swung the bar again, keeping them at bay, but they were fast. One swiped at Lyric's leg, tearing the canvas coat.
"Rook!" Lyric yelled.
"Almost!"
A massive Fog-Eater stepped forward—the alpha. It roared, and the sound shattered Lyric's concentration. The static flooded in.
Lyric fell to one knee, dropping the bar.
It's over, the voices whispered. Just give up.
The alpha raised a jagged club.
Click. Hiss.
Behind Lyric, the iron door groaned.
"In! Get in!" Rook screamed.
Lyric scrambled backward, crawling through the small opening Rook had cut. Rook grabbed Lyric's collar and dragged them into the darkness, kicking the cut piece of metal back into place.
SLAM.
The creatures hammered against the door outside. The metal dented, but it held.
Inside, it was pitch black.
"The jammer," Rook panted. "Up top."
They ran up the spiral stairs, boots clanging on the metal. Lyric's head felt like it was splitting open.
They burst into the control room at the top. It was a circular room filled with dust and old consoles. In the center was a machine that looked like a giant copper coil.
"How do you turn it on?" Lyric gasped, collapsing against a console.
"I don't know!" Rook was frantically flipping switches. "It's pre-war tech! It should just be a breaker!"
The hammering downstairs stopped.
Then, the sound of tearing metal.
"They're coming in," Lyric whispered.
Rook slammed his fist against a panel. "Work, you piece of junk!"
He hit a large red lever. He pulled it down with both hands.
HUMMMMM.
The copper coil flared to life. A pulse of white light rippled through the room, then expanded outward, passing through the walls.
Instantly, the world changed.
The screaming in Lyric's head cut out.
It didn't fade. It vanished.
Silence.
Beautiful, absolute silence.
Lyric gasped, the relief so intense it felt physical. The voices were gone. The emotions were gone. The headache evaporated.
Outside, the shrieks of the Fog-Eaters turned into confused whimpers. Without the memory radiation to feed on, they were blind. They scattered, retreating into the fog.
Lyric lay on the floor, staring up at the rusted ceiling, listening to the sound of their own breathing.
"We did it," Rook whispered, sliding down the wall. "Zone of Silence. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out."
Lyric sat up slowly. The mind felt clear. Cleaner than it had been since waking up in the alley.
"Thank you," Lyric said.
"Don't mention it," Rook said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Literally. Don't mention it to anyone, or we're dead."
A green light blinked on the console next to Rook.
Beep.
Rook froze. "Uh, Veyne?"
"What?"
"This console. It's receiving a signal."
"I thought you said the jammer blocked everything."
"It blocks memories," Rook said, leaning in. "But this… this is a hardline. An encoded frequency. Someone is broadcasting to this tower."
Lyric stood up and walked over.
A screen flickered to life. It was just text, green scrolling against black.
> SIGNAL DETECTED.
> SOURCE: DAMPER DISCONNECT CONFIRMED.
> UNIT 7 LOCATION TRIANGULATED.
> MESSAGE INBOUND.
"They found us," Lyric said cold dread settling in the stomach. "Even without the pendant."
"Read the message," Rook whispered.
The text scrolled again.
> HELLO, LYRIC.
> YOU DROPPED YOUR ANCHOR. VERY CLEVER.
> BUT YOU FORGOT ONE THING.
> YOU DIDN'T ESCAPE THE GUILD ALONE.
> ASK THE BOY WHO HE REALLY IS.
Lyric froze. The silence in the room suddenly felt very heavy.
Lyric turned slowly to look at Rook.
Rook was staring at the screen, his face pale. He backed away, his hands raising slowly.
"Veyne," Rook stammered. "I… I can explain."