3:30 AM
Reine gazes out the car window as the bright moon begins to fall.
For almost two days, she and her dad have been taking turns driving to Wyoming.
Reine has finally decided to take her captain's advice and start a new chapter in Wyoming. Although her family is not entirely on board, her dad believes it might be for the best. He understands that Reine needs some time away from the chaos, a chance to meet new people and explore new places.
Reine was taken aback when her dad agreed, but she's relieved that everything worked out smoothly.
"Hahaha, that's right," her dad chuckles as he chats with his siblings on a group call.
"I can't believe you're moving all the way to Wyoming, Reine. We're really going to miss you," her aunt says.
Reine smiles at the FaceTime call.
"Exactly, who's going to babysit Kelly and Kane now that you're leaving?" her other aunt chimes in with a playful complaint.
"I'll make sure to call," Reine assures her with a smile.
Her dad adds, "Reine's going to be calling us every day now that she's tens of hours away from home, or else her mom will complain. Who knows, I might even crash at her place if we get into an argument!" he jokes.
Reine chuckles.
Before long, they arrive at a gas station in the middle of nowhere.
There's a restaurant or two nearby, maybe a few fast-food places and a grocery store, but apart from that, it's just an empty gas station.
It seems they are the only car there.
"I'm going to use the restroom. Are you coming?" her dad asks.
Reine nods and gets out of the car after him.
Soon, her dad is at the counter paying for the gas.
"Here, take some cash in case you want anything. I'm going to head out first," he says, handing her some money.
Reine nods in response.
As he exits, she starts looking around for drinks and snacks.
Reine scanned the shelves for snacks, but the longer she stayed, the more uneasy she became. The hum of the refrigerator in the back seemed unusually loud, and the air carried a faint, unpleasant metallic smell.
She picked up a drink and turned toward the counter—
—and froze.
Every single person in the gas station had vanished.
The cashier. Her dad. Even the distant sounds of the highway outside.
Only silence enveloped her.
Reine slowly set the bottle down, her eyes darting around the empty space. The overhead lights flickered once, twice, and then went out completely.
Darkness enveloped her.
Her breath echoed too loudly in the stillness.
When the lights returned, the gas station had transformed.
She now stood on a dirt trail stretching endlessly through a desolate, gray landscape. The air was thick and cold, carrying a faint scent of decay.
And she wasn't alone.
Figures moved along the trail—hundreds of them.
Some appeared human-shaped, while others twisted into grotesque forms. Translucent ghosts in tattered clothing trudged alongside hulking beasts covered in scales and bone. Towering demons with wings like torn banners loomed over the smaller creatures, shaking the ground with their steps. Their eyes glowed faintly, yet none of them acknowledged her presence.
It was as if she didn't exist.
Reine felt her breath catch in her throat. Her sneakers barely crunched on the dirt, as if the ground itself wasn't entirely solid.
"Where… am I?" she whispered.
The creatures continued walking, all heading in the same direction—down the trail, toward a horizon shrouded in black mist. The further they ventured, the more the mist pulsed, like a massive, beating heart.
One of the spirits passed close by her, its face pale and stretched, mouth sewn shut with black thread. It dragged chains behind it, scraping across the dirt.
She wanted to move, but something held her in place, compelling her to watch.
Above her, the sky twisted, clouds spiraling in unnatural patterns. Shapes swam through them—colossal shadows, like creatures too large for the earth. Their roars echoed across the heavens, but the beings on the trail remained unfazed.
Then she noticed something different.
Far ahead, at the front of the procession, a tall figure stood still. Unlike the others, it didn't walk—it waited. Its head slowly turned, and though it had no face, Reine felt its gaze pierce straight through her.
She stepped back, and the world responded. The trail quivered beneath her feet, the air bending as if reality itself were trying to pull her closer to the horde.
The figure tilted its head. The mass of creatures continued walking past it, vanishing into the mist—but the figure remained still.
It was watching her.
The trail narrowed as the mist thickened, curling like smoke with a will of its own. The creatures ahead disappeared into it, their forms swallowed whole until only the clanking of chains and the thud of heavy steps remained.
Reine followed.
The air grew heavier with each step she took. Each breath felt laden with ashes, as if the mist had been forged from something burned into existence. Shapes moved within it—faces pressing against the fog, mouths opening wide in silent screams before fading again.
A glow emerged ahead.
It wasn't fire. It wasn't light. It was something older, more primal, burning without heat, pulsing with the same rhythm that shook the trail.
As Reine drew closer, the mist peeled back.
The procession had gathered in a vast clearing of stone, a circle carved deep into the ground. Symbols burned faintly across the cracked surface, stretching out like veins. The creatures stood around the edge, silent and motionless, their heads bowed.
At the center stood the faceless figure.
Behind it, a gate rose from the stone. Towering and jagged, made of something resembling bone fused with obsidian. Countless hands reached through its cracks, clawing and writhing but never fully breaking free. The gate pulsed with each heartbeat, releasing faint streams of black smoke into the air.
The faceless figure turned, fixing its gaze on her despite having no eyes. Slowly, it raised its arm.
The horde lifted their heads in unison.
One by one, they began to whisper. Not in any single tongue, but in hundreds at once. The sound churned in the air, thick and suffocating, like the breath of a thousand graves being exhaled simultaneously.
The stone beneath Reine's feet vibrated. The gate shuddered. The claws pushing through it strained harder, the cracks widening.
The faceless figure lowered its hand.
The whispers ceased.
Silence pressed down like a tangible weight.
Then, in a voice that wasn't a voice, the faceless figure whispered.
"YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE."
The procession continued into the mist. The faceless figure did not follow. It remained at the circle's edge until the last of the creatures vanished, then it turned and slipped through a seam of fog that closed behind it like a mouth.
Reine stood alone on the ash trail, the sigil warm now, pulsing faintly with an echo she couldn't name. The sky above still thrummed with colossal shadow-giants; the horizon still breathed like a living wound.
Just then a sharp tug jolted her chest.
Her eyes snapped open.
"Reine! Hey—Reine!"
She gasped, lurching forward in her seat. The gas station lights above buzzed softly, fluorescent and ordinary. The rattling hum of a refrigerator replaced the chanting whispers of the horde. Her dad stood over her, his hand firm on her shoulder.
"You okay? You were out cold," he said, frowning with concern.
Reine blinked, her heart racing. Her breath fogged against the cold can of soda still in her hand—she hadn't even opened it. She looked around. The shelves were still, no mist curling through the aisles, no symbols burning across the tile floor. Just snacks and bottled water, candy wrappers, and the hum of an old cooler.
"You've been in here for a while. I thought maybe you'd fallen asleep," her dad added, forcing a chuckle.
Reine managed a nod, brushing her hair back. "Yeah… must've dozed off," she murmured, though her body still felt the quake of the valley, the weight of hundreds of eyes staring into her soul.
Her dad squeezed her shoulder lightly. "Come on. Let's hit the road before traffic starts."
He turned and walked toward the door.
Reine shook her head slightly, realizing that this must be one of the gates for the crossover or something. She stood up and followed behind.
They drove for an additional ten hours before finally arriving at Reine's new place.