The tunnel wasn't supposed to have a heartbeat.
But it did.
A slow, pulsing *thump-thump* echoed through the steel as Mira, Zayn, and Leena sprinted, the sound growing louder with every step—as if the underground itself breathed and bled.
Behind them, the machine thundered closer.
Ahead, the darkness thickened until it felt physical, like wet velvet swallowing the light.
Leena stumbled. Mira caught her, nearly collapsing with her.
"Go!" Leena gasped. "Just—go!"
Mira shook her head. "I'm not leaving you."
Zayn looked between them, panic bright in his eyes. "We need cover—now!"
A metallic shriek tore through the tunnel. Sparks burst behind them as the massive machine slammed into a column, tearing steel like wet paper.
"Move!" Mira shouted.
They dove through a narrow maintenance hatch. Zayn kicked it shut, grabbed a rusted latch, and jammed a pipe through the handles.
The machine slammed into it a second later.
The hatch bulged inward.
Dust rained down. A pipe overhead burst, spraying cold mist.
Leena whimpered. "We're going to die down here."
"No," Zayn said—too quickly.
Mira turned to him. "How do you know we won't?"
Zayn swallowed hard, then met her eyes.
"Because I'm not letting you die," he said.
For a moment, they just stared at each other through the flickering lights.
His breath uneven.
Her pulse too loud.
The world around them trembling.
Mira felt a tug in her chest—fear mixed with something warmer, sharper.
Before she could speak—
A voice whispered behind her.
Not human.
Not mechanical.
Something in between.
"Mira…"
Leena screamed. Zayn jerked forward, pulling Mira back.
Out of the mist stepped a figure—tall, skeletal, wrapped in tattered cloth darker than the tunnels. Its face was hidden under a cracked mask shaped like an elongated human skull.
The Carrier.
It moved without sound, its feet never fully touching the ground.
A cold pressure filled the room, pressing against Mira's skull.
"I found you," it whispered, its voice like two people speaking at once.
"Marked girl."
Zayn pulled out his folding blade—small, ridiculous, but trembling with determination.
"Stay back," he warned.
The Carrier tilted its head, as if amused. "Child… your knife is scared."
It raised a long, bone-pale hand. Zayn's blade vibrated, then tore itself from his grip, clattering across the floor.
Zayn stepped protectively in front of Mira anyway.
"Don't touch her."
Mira's breath hitched.
The Carrier stopped.
Slowly, its masked face turned to her.
It extended its hand—not in violence, but in invitation.
"You were chosen," it whispered. "You saw the symbol. You felt the pull."
Mira's spine went cold.
Because she *had* felt something—long before tonight.
That strange warmth in her chest.
The whisper in the alley.
The dreams she never admitted to.
Zayn grabbed her wrist. "Don't listen to it."
The Carrier's head snapped toward him. "You cannot protect her."
Then it lunged.
Zayn shoved Mira aside. The Carrier's arm sliced through empty air like a blur. Sparks burst from the wall where it struck—concrete melting into glowing slag.
Leena shrieked.
Mira rolled to her feet, pulling her switchblade.
The Carrier turned back toward her.
Its skull-mask cracked down the center.
Inside, blue fire flickered like a dying star.
It whispered her name again.
Not out of hate.
Out of longing.
Zayn threw himself at the monster, tackling it from behind.
"Run, Mira!"
"No!" Mira shouted, charging forward.
The Carrier flung Zayn across the room like a ragdoll—he hit the wall with a sickening thud, sliding to the floor.
"Zayn!"
Mira sprinted toward him, but the Carrier blocked her path, floating inches above the ground.
"You belong," it whispered.
"Below."
Mira slashed at its arm.
The blade passed through—but something like thick smoke tore away, writhing on the floor like living shadow. The Carrier screeched, a piercing mechanical howl.
It wasn't invincible.
"Mira…" Zayn coughed, blood on his lip. "You… you can fight it…"
She turned toward him—heart slamming in her chest.
Zayn's eyes softened despite the pain.
"Just don't let it take you," he whispered.
"I need you."
Her breath stopped.
The Carrier lunged again.
This time, Mira was ready.
She ducked, rolled, and slashed upward.
Her blade scraped the cracked mask—
and the Carrier reeled back, howling as a chunk of the mask shattered and fell.
Underneath—
A human eye flickered in and out of existence, glitching between reality and static.
A single tear—yes, a tear—ran down its ghostly cheek before evaporating into blue sparks.
"Mira…" it whispered, voice breaking.
"Please."
Something in her chest tightened painfully.
"What are you?" she asked.
The Carrier trembled, glitching harder now.
Its voice came out like a broken recording:
"I… was… one of you."
Before she could process that—
The machine outside smashed through the hatch.
Steel exploded inward.
Red emergency lights burst to life.
Dust filled the air.
The Carrier whirled toward the machine, letting out a monstrous, distorted roar.
The two things collided—shadow and metal tearing into each other.
Zayn grabbed Mira's hand.
"We have to move—now!"
Mira looked back once.
The Carrier turned its head toward her through the chaos.
Its one human eye locked with hers.
"Mira…" it whispered, fading.
"Remember."
Then the machine clamped its steel jaws into the Carrier's torso, sparks exploding like fireworks.
Mira tore her gaze away and ran with Zayn and Leena into the collapsing tunnels.
But she could still hear the Carrier's voice echoing behind her—
*You were chosen.*
*You belong below.*
*Remember.*