The Tunnels Beneath
The stone corridor swallowed them whole—damp, narrow, and cold. The walls brushed Cuco's shoulders at every turn, rough like bone beneath skin. Nox led the way, torch in hand, her silhouette flickering like a phantom in the dark. Behind him, Tariq stayed close, glancing over his shoulder every few steps. The others followed in tense silence, their breathing shallow, hurried.
Cuco's mind spun.
The Hollow Ones. The Key. The Beast.
None of it made sense—and yet all of it felt real. Like a truth he'd always carried, buried just beneath memory.
"How far do these tunnels go?" he asked.
"Far enough," Nox replied without turning.
"They were built during the first breach—long before any of us were born. Supposed to reach beyond the town's edge. But some paths are sealed. Collapsed. We'll have to move fast."
"Wait," the girl in the hoodie said suddenly, freezing mid-step.
"Do you hear that?"
Everyone stopped.
Only the steady drip of water echoed through the tunnel.
Then—
A sound.
Faint. Wet.
Dragging.
Like something pulling itself across stone.
Tariq muttered under his breath, "They're in the tunnels."
"No," the boy with glasses whispered.
"That sound… it's older."
The torchlight flickered violently, shrinking to a pale, shivering flame.
Darkness closed in.
Then—
A breath.
Not theirs.
Low. Close. Wrong.
And from the black:
"Give us the Key."
Something moved just beyond the edge of the light. Not footsteps—slithering.
A shape that bent sense and space, crawling over walls, across the ceiling, ignoring gravity… ignoring logic.
Nox stepped forward, her voice like steel.
"You don't belong here. The pact still holds."
A laugh answered—dry, brittle, like burning paper.
"The pact is broken, daughter of ash.
The Key remembers.
That is enough."
Cuco's heart slammed against his ribs.
"Why me? What do you want from me?!"
But the thing didn't answer.
Instead, it began to hum—a broken, dissonant tune that made Cuco's vision blur, his thoughts unravel.
Then—
The wall beside him split open.
Not like stone cracking—but like a thought unraveling.
A mirror appeared—rimmed in silver flame, hovering in the dark.
"Don't look at it!" Nox shouted.
Too late.
Cuco turned.
And in the mirror, he saw himself.
But not as he was.
He was burning.
Eyes hollow.
Mouth open in a silent scream.
And behind him—
Towering. Shrouded in mist—
The Beast.
Watching.
Waiting.
Awake.
And then—
everything went black.