The dust-born figure stood between Avery and the blinding white at the end of the alley, its form breathing in and out like lungs made of powdered stone.
Avery felt something impossible—
not fear,
not shock,
but recognition.
As if they had seen this thing before.
Not with their eyes, but with the part of the mind that wakes up during nightmares and never fully sleeps again.
Jordan tugged at Avery's arm.
"We need to move. Now."
But the street behind them… was gone.
Not physically—
the pavement still stretched back the way they came,
the lamppost still flickered,
the buildings still leaned inward like tired giants.
But the shadows—
the shadows had rearranged themselves.
They formed a wall.
A smooth, ink-dark sheet that rippled like a curtain made of liquid night.
It wasn't just the absence of light;
it was deliberate.
Engineered.
As if the city itself had shut the door behind them.
Jordan's breath faltered.
"This isn't real. This—this can't be real."
The figure stepped closer.
The dust around it shifted with each movement, spiraling upward, settling again, like it was being constantly erased and redrawn.
Avery forced their voice steady.
"What are you?"
The creature tilted its head, the strips of pale, parchment-like material fluttering against an invisible breeze.
For a fraction of a second—
just long enough to hurt—
Avery saw a shape under the dust:
a ribcage,
long and narrow,
wrapped in something that resembled linen.
Ancient.
Wrong.
Jordan whispered, "It's mummified…"
But the creature reacted at the word.
The dust trembled.
The white at the far end of the alley pulsed—once, twice—like a heartbeat.
Then something whispered.
Not from the creature.
From the walls.
A voice dragged through concrete, thin as thread:
"Not mummified."
Jordan froze.
"Avery—did you—"
"Not mummified."
The voice repeated, firmer.
Closer.
Avery's skin crawled.
"What are you, then?"
The creature raised an arm.
The parchment layers cracked like old paint.
Beneath them, darkness flexed, dense and silent.
The city whispered again:
"Preserved."
Avery stepped back so fast they nearly slipped.
Jordan caught them before they hit the pavement.
"Preserved?" Jordan breathed. "For what?"
The answer came not with words, but with movement.
The creature lunged.
Not fast—
but with purpose.
The dust expanded outward in a violent, silent burst, reaching for Avery like a thousand grasping fingers.
Jordan shoved Avery sideways.
The world tilted, pavement scraping along Avery's palms.
The dust struck where they had stood a second before—
and the ground cracked open.
Not shattered.
Not broken.
Split, the way earth splits after decades of drought.
Avery scrambled to their feet as dust swarmed above the crack, forming a spiraling column that pulsed with a faint reddish glow.
Jordan grabbed Avery's wrist.
"We run on three."
Avery nodded, though breath wouldn't come.
"One—"
The creature shifted toward them, its form warping in and out like a corrupted reflection.
"Two—"
The shadows behind them rippled, parting slightly—
a gap.
Not large enough for both.
"Three!"
They ran.
Avery dove for the narrow opening in the shadow-wall at the same moment the creature swung a limb of dust and bone toward Jordan.
"Avery!" Jordan shouted.
Avery reached back—
caught Jordan's sleeve—
pulled—
The shadows slammed shut behind them.
They fell onto real pavement.
Hard.
Solid.
The normal hum of the city flooded their ears like oxygen.
When Avery lifted their head, the street was exactly as it had been before.
Shadows normal.
Buildings quiet.
No dust.
No creature.
No alley.
Jordan lay beside them, chest heaving.
"You saw that, right?"
Avery didn't answer.
Not because they doubted it happened—
but because of what lay beside Jordan's leg.
A single strip of pale, crackled material.
Like a bandage
from the creature.
Avery picked it up with shaking fingers.
It crumbled into dust.
But not before they saw something inked on the surface:
A symbol.
A spiral.
The same one carved into the lockers at Lockridge High.
Avery felt the city exhale around them.
And for the first time since the curse awakened,
they realized:
Lockridge was only the beginning.