The Watcher didn't move like anything alive.
One second it was perched on the streetlight, the next it was there, a blur of jagged limbs and screaming static. The sound tore through Eli's skull, sharp enough to make his teeth ache.
Sara shoved him back, blade flashing. "Stay behind me!"
"Like hell!" Eli spat, even though his legs barely worked. His whole body wanted to collapse, to curl into the nearest gutter. Fear wasn't just fear—it was poison, sinking into his bones.
The Watcher lunged.
Sara met it mid-air, steel shrieking as it cut through the shadow flesh. The blade didn't slice like normal—it sparked, a flash of unnatural light bursting out. The thing screeched, recoiling, its skin splitting into black smoke.
"Holy shit…" Eli whispered.
Sara didn't look back. "Eyes on it! If it splits, we're screwed!"
The Watcher shrieked louder, static pouring out of its mouth in a thousand distorted voices. The sound warped reality—signs flickered, buildings bent at impossible angles. For a heartbeat, Eli thought he was back in that alley, bleeding out again.
Die. Die. Die.
"No!" Eli roared, gripping his head. "That's not real!"
He forced himself forward, throwing a broken bottle he snatched off the street. It sailed through smoke, useless. The Watcher laughed.
Sara cursed, swinging again, her blade slicing a glowing arc. This time the cut landed deep—half the Watcher's face peeled away, revealing something underneath. Not bone. Not flesh. Just a swirling void.
Eli gagged. "What the fuck is that?!"
"Don't stare at it!" Sara shouted. "That's how they pull you in!"
Too late. The void twitched, and Eli's knees buckled. He saw—himself. Dozens of him. Dead in alleys, drowned in rivers, burned in car wrecks. Every death he had already lived.
His chest tightened. He couldn't breathe. Maybe it's easier to just let it happen again—
"Eli!"
A hand slapped across his face, hard. Sara's eyes blazed into his. "Look at me! Not it. Me!"
The voices dulled, the void faded. He gasped, the world snapping back.
The Watcher screeched in rage. It lashed out, claws like serrated glass. Sara blocked, sparks flying, but the impact threw her back into a wall. She coughed blood, still gripping the blade.
Something snapped inside Eli. His fear boiled over into something else—anger. "You want me? Come take me, you ugly piece of shit!"
The Watcher tilted its head, as if amused. It lunged again.
Eli moved without thinking, grabbing a rusted iron rod from the ground. When the Watcher struck, he jammed the rod forward. It pierced through the smoke, striking the void inside its chest.
Light exploded.
The Watcher screamed, body convulsing, shattering into fragments of shadow before dissolving into the air like ash in the wind.
Silence.
Eli collapsed to his knees, chest heaving. The rod burned in his hand before crumbling into dust.
Sara limped over, wiping blood from her mouth. She gave him a long look. "Not bad for someone who swore he had nothing."
Eli stared at his empty hand, still trembling. "What the fuck is happening to me?"
Sara's eyes darkened. "…It's starting."