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Chapter 4 - Chapter 4 – The Shadow Caller

The road leading to the edge of the city was buried under thick fog. The mist clung to the cracked asphalt as if a dead world floated between earth and sky. Streetlights flickered like dying candles, their dim light stretching long shadows that danced, twisted, and vanished again.

Arin Das tightened the straps of his backpack. The weight of the equipment pressed against his shoulders—but heavier still was the dread and the strange anticipation building in his chest.

Lira walked beside him, holding a portable scanner, her eyes scanning the darkness warily.

"Stay close," she said in a low voice. "Once we're inside, reality and illusion will blur together. They live through fear, doubt, and curiosity—those three keep them alive."

In the distance, the building finally appeared—a rusted steel giant, the abandoned telecom hub. The windows were shattered, the doors half-open, hanging loosely from corroded hinges. The air around them was cold, but not the kind of cold that came from weather—this was a chill that sent vibrations deep through the bones.

Arin swallowed dryly.

"Is it… safe?"

"Safe?" Lira gave a bitter laugh. "Nothing in this place is safe. But if we want to stop it, to understand it—we have to go in."

As soon as they stepped through the doorway, the world seemed to shift. The shadows stretched longer; the corners distorted, impossible in shape. The smell of rust and decay mixed with an unfamiliar electric scent—one that made the hair on Arin's neck stand up.

Their instruments suddenly filled with harsh static. Then came the whisper—

"Arin… Lira…"

Arin froze. "Did you hear that?"

"It's not here," Lira said, staring at the scanner. "It's… everywhere."

They moved through the dark corridors, past broken walls and hanging cables. With every step, the static grew louder, the whispers denser—sometimes laughter, sometimes sobbing, sometimes something like prayer. Nishi had sensed them—it was testing them, feeding on their fear.

In a collapsed room, they found remnants of old technology—tangled wires, shattered monitors, and in one corner, a single active server blinking faintly, pulsing like a living heart.

Lira stepped forward slowly. "This is the core," she said. "Nishi is gathering its strength here. It's no longer just a ghost in the network… it's building its own digital world."

Then something moved in the shadows. Both of them froze. A shape flickered in the dark—not human, but humanoid, twisted, shifting. A thousand whispers merged into one rising roar—laughter, sobs, and screams blending into an inhuman symphony.

Arin's heartbeat thundered in his chest. "They're… watching us."

Lira's eyes hardened. "It knows what we fear. Its target is our mind, our emotions. The moment we waver—it wins."

Suddenly, a wave of sound shook the entire building. The metallic walls echoed with the roar of static, the whole structure seeming to breathe and whisper.

Then, through the noise, a single voice rose—

"Follow… me…"

Ryan's voice. But beneath it, another one—older, deeper, demonic.

Nishi.

It was calling to them—pulling them deeper, toward the heart of the building.

They moved cautiously up a twisted staircase. The corridors seemed to rearrange themselves—doors opening to different places, walls warping and fading into nothingness. The boundaries of reality blurred; the threads of faith and reason began to fray.

At last, they reached the central chamber.

A nest of wires, monitors, and electrical pulses—all throbbing together like living veins. The shadows on the walls trembled, taking on human forms before collapsing again.

"This is it…" Lira whispered. "The Shadow Caller. Nishi's heart."

Arin's throat was dry, but his eyes were steady. "We'll stop it. And if we can't—we'll die trying."

Outside, the fog thickened. The city remained indifferent, unaware. No one knew that within this decaying shell of metal, an ancient digital entity fed on human sorrow, memory, and fear.

And through it all, the whisper came again—

The same words, echoing from the depths of the shadows—

"Arin… Lira… I'm watching you…"

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