"Don't look at it."
Elias's voice shattered through the darkness with a panic Ethan had never heard before.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for Ethan.
Inside the shared consciousness, the endless void around them trembled faintly as the two distant eyes remained open within the darkness ahead. Blue. Red. Unmoving.
Watching.
Ethan's breathing slowed instinctively.
Not from calm.
From pressure.
Something about the presence made his body react before thought could. His chest tightened. His pulse became uneven. Even the darkness itself felt heavier now, like the void had gained weight simply because the thing was awake.
Elias stepped further in front of him.
His fading blue frame flickered violently at the edges while pale fractures spread slowly across his shoulders and arms like damaged glass moments away from breaking apart completely.
"Elias…" Ethan whispered carefully. "What is that?"
"I said don't look at it."
The response came faster this time.
Sharper.
For the first time—
Elias sounded angry.
No.
Terrified enough to become angry.
Another breath echoed through the void.
Slow.
Steady.
The eyes did not blink.
Then—
something shifted beneath them.
Not movement.
A smile.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But Ethan saw it.
And instantly—
pain exploded through his skull.
He staggered backward violently, one hand flying against his head as something cold slammed through his thoughts like shattered ice. Fragments of memories flashed behind his eyes—
dark water
a broken child crying alone
blue hands covered in blood
a voice whispering:
> "You left me there."
Ethan gasped sharply.
The vision vanished immediately.
But the pain remained.
"ETHAN!"
Elias caught him before he collapsed fully, one glowing hand gripping his shoulder tightly as unstable light burst around them both.
"Don't listen to it!" Elias shouted.
Outside—
Ethan's real body suddenly staggered hard.
Sam grabbed him instantly before he hit the fractured ground.
"Ethan!"
The surrounding Watchmen immediately turned.
Several tightened their grip on their weapons as unstable blue-red light flickered violently beneath Ethan's skin again, brighter than before.
Eli pushed himself forward despite the pain tearing through his injured side.
"What's happening to him?"
Ethan's body shook once.
Then again.
Like something inside him was pulling in opposite directions.
Inside the shared darkness, Ethan's breathing came apart unevenly while Elias held him upright.
"That thing…" Ethan whispered weakly. "It showed me something—"
"Don't think about it."
Elias's voice lowered immediately.
Too quickly.
Too urgently.
His glowing fingers tightened harder around Ethan's shoulder before he slowly looked back toward the eyes still waiting in the darkness.
And for the first time—
Ethan noticed something horrifying.
Elias wasn't just afraid.
He recognized it.
"You know what it is," Ethan said quietly.
Elias said nothing.
Which answered everything.
Outside the consciousness—
the cracks across the sealed sky spread slightly wider.
Thin red light pulsed beneath the fractures like something breathing beneath skin.
The older Watchman's expression hardened immediately.
"All guards forward."
The surviving Watchmen moved instantly despite exhaustion and injuries. Blue chains ignited across the sanctuary walls while weakened barriers slowly reformed around the wounded.
But nobody looked confident anymore.
Not after seeing the cracks return.
Sam still held tightly onto Ethan's arm, his face pale from blood loss and exhaustion. Yet his eyes remained fixed on Ethan with visible fear growing behind them.
"…come back," he whispered quietly.
The words reached Ethan faintly through the shared darkness.
And somehow—
that hurt more than the visions.
Inside the void, the presence finally moved.
One slow step forward.
The darkness beneath it rippled softly.
Ethan couldn't fully see its shape.
Only pieces.
A shoulder.
A hand.
Something almost human hidden beneath endless shadow.
And with every step it took—
the void reacted.
Blue fragments around Elias dimmed.
The darkness deepened.
Even sound itself became quieter.
Elias slowly stepped backward, forcing Ethan behind him again.
His voice came low now.
Defeated.
"…no matter where we run…"
Another step echoed.
Closer.
"…it always finds us."
Ethan stared at him in disbelief.
"What do you mean 'always'?"
Elias closed his eyes briefly.
Pain crossed his face for only a second before disappearing beneath exhaustion.
Then quietly—
"…because this didn't start with you."
Silence.
Another step.
Closer.
Ethan's pulse hammered violently now.
"…then who did it start with?"
The presence stopped moving.
And for the first time—
it spoke.
Not loudly.
Not monstrously.
Softly.
Like someone remembering something painful.
"Elias."