No one moved.
The shadow lay stretched across the concrete floor, long and sharp, cutting through the faint yellow light spilling in from outside. It should have shifted with the breeze. It should have softened at the edges.
It did neither.
Evan's skin prickled. The pressure inside his chest swelled until breathing felt like work. Every instinct screamed at him to run, yet his feet stayed planted.
The shadow twitched.
Just slightly.
Emily sucked in a breath.
Luke whispered, "Tell me I'm not seeing that."
"You are seeing it," Noah said quietly.
Marcus stepped forward, positioning himself between the shadow and the rest of them. His stance was instinctive. Balanced. Ready.
"Who's there?" Marcus called again.
Silence answered him.
Then the temperature dropped.
It was not sudden. It seeped in, slow and deliberate, crawling along the floor, climbing their legs like invisible fog. Evan felt it first in his fingers. Numbness. A dull ache.
The shadow shifted again.
This time, it moved against the light.
Emily's hand found Evan's sleeve, gripping it tightly. The moment she touched him, pain flared behind his eyes. The pressure spiked, violent and disorienting.
"Emily," Evan gasped. "Don't."
She froze instantly, pulling her hand back. The pressure eased, though it did not disappear.
Her face went pale. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's not you," Evan said, though his voice shook. "It's… something else."
The shadow peeled itself off the floor.
Not rising.
Unfolding.
Darkness gathered inward, bending and twisting until it formed a rough silhouette. Too tall. Too thin. Its edges wavered, like smoke trapped in the shape of a body.
Luke took a step back. "Okay. Nope. That's enough. I officially vote we leave."
The thing tilted its head.
Evan felt the hum surge inside his skull, louder than ever before. It was the same sensation from the nightmare. The same wrongness.
This is not from here.
The thought surfaced uninvited, clear and sharp.
The shadow moved.
It did not walk.
It slid forward, gliding across the concrete without sound.
Marcus lunged.
He did not hesitate. His fist cut through the air, aimed straight at where the shadow's chest should have been.
His punch passed through it.
Marcus stumbled forward, thrown off balance. The shadow reacted instantly.
It struck.
There was no visible impact. No flash. No force Evan could see.
Marcus flew backwards.
His body slammed into the far wall with a sickening crack. Dust rained down as he collapsed to the floor, gasping.
"Marcus!" Emily shouted.
Luke rushed toward him, but Noah grabbed his arm. "Don't."
"Are you insane?" Luke snapped.
"That thing reacts to movement," Noah said. "Patterns. Watch."
The shadow turned its head slowly, as if listening.
Evan's heart pounded.
This was his fault.
He stepped forward.
The pressure intensified immediately, pressing against him like a wall of water. His vision blurred at the edges, but he pushed through it.
"Hey," Evan said, his voice hoarse. "You want something? Then look at me."
The shadow stopped.
It faced him fully now.
Up close, it was worse. Its surface rippled, as though something underneath was constantly trying to break free. There were no eyes. No mouth.
Yet Evan knew it was watching him.
The hum reached a piercing pitch.
The air between them distorted.
Images flooded Evan's mind.
Flashes of places he did not recognize. Skies torn open. Cities layered over other cities, out of sync. People walking through each other, unaware.
Then something colder.
A sense of evaluation.
The shadow leaned closer.
Evan's knees buckled. Pain tore through his head, sharp and blinding. He dropped to one knee, hands clutching the floor.
"Evan," Emily cried.
The shadow raised what might have been an arm.
"No," Evan whispered.
He did not know what he was doing.
He only knew he could not hesitate.
Something inside him snapped.
The pressure inverted.
Instead of crushing inward, it exploded outward.
The ground cracked beneath Evan's hand. A shockwave rippled through the air, visible as a sudden distortion that slammed into the shadow.
The thing recoiled.
It did not scream.
But the hum fractured, breaking into uneven pulses.
Luke stared. "You did that."
"I didn't mean to," Evan said through clenched teeth. "I just… pushed."
The shadow retreated a step.
Then another.
It tilted its head again, slower this time.
Curious.
Noah's voice was tight. "It's not attacking anymore."
"Because it's thinking," Marcus groaned from the floor.
Emily rushed to Marcus's side. He was conscious, though his face was pale and his breathing shallow.
"I'm fine," Marcus said, though his voice betrayed him. "Nothing broken."
The shadow shifted its attention back to Evan.
The pressure returned, but weaker now. Testing.
Evan forced himself to stand.
"You're not supposed to be here," he said. "Are you?"
The shadow's surface rippled violently.
For a moment, the shape blurred.
Then it stepped backwards.
The air grew warmer. The pressure eased further.
The shadow folded in on itself, collapsing into a thin line that stretched across the floor.
And then it was gone.
No sound.
No residue.
Just space.
Silence crashed down on them.
Luke let out a shaky laugh that bordered on hysteria. "Tell me that was a group hallucination."
No one answered.
Evan's legs finally gave out. He sank onto the floor, breathing hard, sweat dripping down his spine.
Emily knelt beside him, careful to keep her distance. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," Evan said honestly.
Noah stared at the spot where the shadow had vanished. His expression was unreadable. "That was not a spirit."
Marcus pushed himself upright, wincing. "Then what was it?"
Noah shook his head slowly. "Something that does not follow local rules."
Luke swallowed. "Local rules of what?"
"Reality," Noah replied.
They left the plot in silence.
No one suggested staying longer.
The walk back to campus felt unreal. The familiar paths seemed thinner somehow, like they could peel away at any moment.
At the hostel gates, they stopped.
"We need rules," Marcus said. "From now on."
"Agreed," Luke said quickly. "Rule one. No more mysterious shadows."
Evan did not smile.
"I think it will come back," he said.
Emily looked at him sharply. "Why would you say that?"
"Because it didn't fight me," Evan replied. "It looked at me."
Noah nodded. "And left."
Luke exhaled slowly. "That is somehow worse."
That night, Evan did not bother lying down.
He sat on his bed, lights on, staring at the door.
The nightmare did not wait for sleep.
It came anyway.
This time, he stood in the same broken city.
But he was not alone.
Something watched him from beyond the collapsing sky.
And this time, it knew his name.