Smoke still clung to the walls like ghosts.
Rian pressed his back against the cracked concrete, listening to the faint sound of burning somewhere below. The apartment smelled like melted plastic, blood, and dust—like a grave that never closed.
Nara sat near the corner, hugging her knees. Her face was pale, her breathing shallow. She hadn't said much since last night. Every time the floor creaked, she flinched.
They'd found the apartment on the fourth floor, half-collapsed but still standing. Rian had shoved a couch against the door and covered the window with a blanket. It wasn't safe, but nothing was anymore.
"Can you sleep?" he asked quietly.
Nara shook her head. "Every time I close my eyes, I see them."
Rian rubbed his temples. His body felt different now—stronger, sharper. He could hear things he shouldn't. Footsteps from the floor below, whispers in the pipes, maybe even heartbeats that weren't there.
But worst of all was the voice. The one that came after he killed the thing last night.
More… souls.
He kept telling himself it was trauma. Shock. Hallucination. But part of him knew that was a lie.
He looked out the window. The city was quiet, too quiet. The purple crack still glowed faintly in the sky, like a scar that wouldn't heal.
Nara's voice broke the silence. "Do you think there are others? People like us?"
"Maybe," Rian said. "Maybe not."
"What if everyone's gone?"
He didn't answer. Because the truth? He didn't know.
Around noon, they decided to look for food. The lower floors were partly burned, but some rooms were untouched. Rian told Nara to stay close, never open any door alone.
They moved through the hallway, flashlights trembling in their hands. The air was heavy, filled with soot and silence.
Then they found them.
Two people sitting against the wall—a man and a woman. Their clothes were clean. No wounds. No blood.
At first, Rian thought they were survivors. He almost called out. But then he saw their faces.
Their eyes were open, staring blankly ahead. Not blinking. Not moving.
Nara whispered, "They're alive, right?"
Rian crouched down, waved his hand in front of the man's face. Nothing. No reaction. No focus in the pupils.
He pressed his fingers to the man's neck. The skin was warm. There was a pulse.
But no soul behind those eyes.
"Rian…?"
He stood slowly. "They're breathing. But they're not there."
As if on cue, the woman's head turned—jerky, unnatural. She looked at him. Or through him.
Rian stepped back. "Stay behind me."
The woman blinked once, then smiled. It wasn't human. Her mouth stretched too wide. Her head twitched as if her neck didn't remember how to move.
Then she stood.
Nara gasped. "Rian!"
He grabbed a broken chair leg from the floor. "Don't move."
The woman started walking, slow but steady, her bare feet dragging across the tiles. Her eyes shimmered faintly with a dim purple light.
"Stop," Rian said. His voice shook. "I don't want to hurt you."
No response.
She reached for him—fingers trembling, mouth open in a silent scream.
Rian swung. The wood cracked against her skull. She fell but didn't stop. Crawled, still reaching.
He hit her again. And again. Until she stopped moving.
Silence.
Then the man beside her twitched. His head snapped toward them. The same hollow glow burned in his eyes.
"Run!" Rian shouted.
They ran down the hall, heartbeats pounding louder than their footsteps. The man's body slammed into the walls behind them, chasing without coordination but relentless.
They reached the stairwell. Smoke poured up from below.
"Shit!" Rian coughed. "We can't go down."
They ducked into another room, slamming the door shut. Nara pushed a drawer against it.
The banging started seconds later.
Nara's voice cracked. "He's not stopping!"
Rian's pulse raced. The pipe in his hand felt heavy. His mind flashed back to last night—to the glow, to that burning energy that made him alive.
He didn't want it. Didn't understand it. But maybe… he needed it.
When the door burst open, the man stumbled in, half his face burned. Rian swung with everything he had.
The impact echoed. Bone cracked.
The man fell, convulsing, limbs twitching.
And again, the light came.
A pale, floating glow lifted from the corpse. It pulsed softly, like it was breathing.
Nara froze. "What… what is that?"
Rian stared. His chest tightened. He remembered the last time—how it felt when the light entered him, the rush of strength and terror mixed together.
But this time, he didn't move away.
The light drifted closer on its own. Slow. Gentle. Like it knew where it belonged.
"Rian, don't—"
The glow touched his skin.
He gasped. The world went white for a second. His knees buckled, but his body didn't hurt—no, it thrived. The warmth flooded his veins. His wounds closed. His mind sharpened.
And then came the whisper again.
Feed… survive… devour.
Rian stumbled back, grabbing his head. "Shut up! Get out of my head!"
Nara backed away, terrified. "Rian… what's happening to you?"
He looked up. His reflection in the broken mirror beside the bed showed eyes darker than before—one of them faintly glowing violet.
He took a shaky breath. "I don't know."
The hallway outside had gone quiet again. But something told him that quiet wasn't safety. It was hunger waiting to find its next voice.
He turned to Nara. "We can't stay here."
"Where will we go?"
"Anywhere. Away from this building."
She hesitated. "You changed, Rian."
He froze.
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't even look scared when you killed them."
Her words cut deeper than any wound. He wanted to deny it. To tell her he was still her brother. But deep down, he felt it too—something inside him was changing.
The whispers in his head didn't fade. They multiplied, soft and endless.
More souls… more power…
He clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms. "I'm still me," he said, forcing the words through trembling lips.
Nara didn't answer. She just looked at him, uncertain.
Outside, the night grew darker. The purple crack above the city widened, and new shapes crawled across the sky—shadows with no bodies.
Rian watched them through the window, heart pounding, realizing the truth he didn't want to face.
The monsters weren't just out there anymore.
They were inside him.