Ray watched, frozen, as she ascended into the darkness above. "Esme… wait…"
But she didn't look back.
She reached the laboratory door—or what remained of it—and stepped through. The moment her figure disappeared from view, the screaming began.
Distant at first. Then louder. Closer.
Voices filled with terror, with pain, with desperate pleas that went unanswered. The sounds echoed through the destroyed lab, bouncing off broken walls and twisted metal, each scream driving deeper into Ray's chest like a knife.
He wanted to move. Wanted to follow her. Wanted to stop whatever horror she was unleashing.
But his body wouldn't obey.
He remained kneeling on that small circle of intact concrete, surrounded by the abyss she'd created, listening to the symphony of destruction above.
Minutes passed. Then more.
The screams eventually faded—not because they stopped, but because the voices ran out. The silence that followed was worse than the chaos. Heavy. Suffocating. Final.
