The shadows swallowed Marcus whole. Sophie's scream tore through the collapsing house, echoing into the pit, but he was already gone. Black tendrils snapped shut around his body like jaws, dragging him into their depths.
Sophie crawled toward the chasm, ignoring the blood pouring from her leg. "Marcus!" Her voice cracked, ragged with terror. "Don't you dare leave me!"
For a moment, only silence answered. The pit churned, bubbling like tar. Then came the voice—Ethan's—but threaded with something new.
He offered himself. I accepted. Now, you'll see what devotion looks like when it rots.
The shadows surged upward, and Marcus emerged. But he was no longer the same.
His body was coated in streaks of ink that pulsed like veins, crawling up his throat, his jaw, into his eyes. His skin was pale, almost translucent, the veins beneath darkened with Ethan's poison. His lips parted, and when he spoke, the words were Marcus's voice—layered with Ethan's.
"Sophie…"
Her heart leapt, hope flaring. "Marcus! Fight him—please, fight him!"
But when his gaze met hers, she flinched. His eyes glowed with ink, pupils drowned in blackness. For an instant, recognition flickered there. But then Ethan's grin split his face, twisting it into something Sophie barely recognized.
Do you see, Sophie? He's stronger than you ever imagined. He gave me a door. Now I'll make him my throne.
Marcus staggered forward, his movements jerky, like a puppet half in control of its own strings. He clutched his head, groaning, his voice a fractured war between two forces.
"Get… away… Sophie… run—" His hand snapped out suddenly, seizing the air as if to choke her from across the room. Sophie gasped as an invisible grip tightened around her throat, lifting her to her knees.
"Marcus, stop!" she croaked, clawing at her neck.
His eyes flickered again—Ethan's blackness against the faint glimmer of Marcus's humanity. His arm trembled violently, fingers twitching. "I—I can't—"
Ethan's voice roared through his chest. Yes, you can. Crush her. End the weight she's been. End her before she ends you.
Sophie's tears spilled freely. She could feel her body weakening, her breath cut short. But she saw him—the man inside the prison of his own flesh, drowning but not gone.
"Marcus, listen to me!" she choked out. "You are not him. You are mine. And I won't let you go!"
Her words pierced through the storm. His arm faltered, the invisible grip loosening. Sophie fell to the floor, gasping for air.
Marcus screamed, clutching his head, his body wracked by spasms as Ethan's shadows surged through him. Black veins pulsed brighter, glowing like fire under his skin.
Sophie crawled closer despite the danger, reaching for him. "Fight, Marcus! You fought for me—now let me fight for you!"
For a heartbeat, he looked at her—really looked at her—and something inside cracked. His lips trembled, his voice raw and broken.
"Sophie… I'm… sorry…"
Then the shadows erupted from his back like wings, slamming her across the room.
Sophie's body slammed into the far wall, the impact rattling her bones. Pain radiated down her spine, but she forced herself up, vision swimming. Across the room, Marcus stood hunched, his body a canvas of writhing black veins, his hands clawing at his own skin as if he could tear Ethan out with sheer will.
"Sophie…" His voice cracked, broken. "Stay back. I can't—control—"
Ethan's laugh burst through Marcus's mouth, deep and booming, shattering the fragile moment. Control? You forfeited that the moment you dove into me. You're mine, Marcus. And through you, she will kneel.
The shadows writhed around him, forming jagged tendrils that lashed across the room. Sophie ducked, rolling to the side as one splintered the floor where she had been. Her lungs burned, every breath ragged, but she refused to turn away.
"Marcus!" she screamed over the roar. "You gave yourself for me—I won't let that be the end of you!"
For a flicker of time, his steps faltered. His hand twitched as though resisting the pull of invisible strings. But Ethan yanked harder, twisting his body into motion. His arm shot out, and the shadows followed, hurling Sophie backward. She skidded across broken boards, the knife she'd dropped earlier sliding within reach.
Her gaze fixed on it, terror clawing through her chest. She knew what it meant. To fight Ethan now was to fight Marcus's body. To cut him would be to wound the man she loved.
But if she didn't… Ethan would hollow him out completely.
Marcus's figure loomed above her, eyes glowing ink-black. He lifted his arm, shadows coiling into a spear. His lips trembled, caught between a plea and a curse.
"Sophie—run—"
She shook her head fiercely, clutching the knife with trembling hands. "Not without you."
The spear shot downward. Sophie rolled aside, swinging the blade upward. It sliced across his arm—black liquid hissing where steel met flesh. Marcus screamed, a sound half-human, half-demonic.
Sophie's stomach lurched, bile rising in her throat. She had hurt him. The man she loved. But the shadows recoiled from the wound, shrieking. Ethan's voice roared, furious. Ungrateful girl. You'd maim him? You'd carve your lover apart? Then let me show you what mercy costs.
Marcus convulsed, falling to his knees. Shadows burst from his back like a crown of thorns, slamming into the floor, pinning Sophie in place. She thrashed against them, knife clutched tight, but the ink held fast, burning against her skin.
Marcus's head jerked up, his face a mask of torment. Black veins carved across his cheeks like scars, and his lips bled from where he bit through them. His voice came in fragments, fighting through Ethan's growl.
"Sophie… do it… please… before I'm gone—"
Her heart shattered. The knife trembled in her grip, tears streaming down her face. "I can't," she whispered. "I can't kill you."
His hand reached toward her, shaking, fighting invisible chains. For a moment, his eyes flickered—not black, but brown, warm, the eyes she knew.
"You won't kill me," he rasped. "You'll save me."
And then Ethan roared, seizing control again, forcing Marcus's body upright. The spear reformed in his hand, aimed directly at Sophie's chest.
She had no time to think. Only to act.
With a cry torn from the depths of her soul, Sophie drove the knife upward, straight into his side.
Marcus's scream split the house. The shadows exploded outward, walls cracking, the pit below convulsing as if in pain. Sophie clung to him as he convulsed, the knife buried to the hilt, sobbing into his chest.
"Come back to me," she begged. "Please—come back!"
For a heartbeat, the world went still.
Then Marcus collapsed against her, the shadows retreating, shrinking back into the pit. Ethan's roar echoed as if from far away, fading into silence.
Sophie cradled him in her lap, blood soaking her hands. His eyes fluttered open, brown again, his lips curling into the faintest of smiles.
"You… chose me," he whispered.
And then his body went limp.