Adrian didn't breathe.
He wasn't even sure if he needed to anymore.
All he knew was that something was there. At the far end of the hallway. Not just standing in the shadows—but part of them.
For a moment, nothing moved.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
And the darkness at the end of the corridor shifted like it had weight.
Adrian felt it immediately. That same pressure from before, only stronger now. It pressed against his chest, crawled up his spine, wrapped around his thoughts.
"That's…" he swallowed, his voice tight, "…that's what killed me?"
No one answered right away.
They didn't need to.
He could see it in the way the three women had gone still.
Even they were taking this seriously.
"That shouldn't be here already," the shadowed woman said quietly. Her voice was calm, but there was tension beneath it now.
"It followed the mark," the one with crimson eyes replied.
Adrian let out a short, shaky breath. "Okay, I'm going to need less cryptic answers and more 'how do I not die again' right now."
The third woman—usually the most relaxed—was no longer smiling. Her eyes were fixed on the darkness ahead.
"You don't run," she said.
"That's your plan?" Adrian shot back. "Because I'm open to better ones."
"It doesn't matter if you run," the shadowed one added. "It will find you."
"Great. Fantastic. Love that."
The thing in the darkness moved again.
This time, Adrian saw it.
Not clearly. Not fully. But enough.
Something tall. Too tall.
Its shape didn't stay the same for more than a second. One moment it looked almost human, the next it stretched, twisted, like its form couldn't decide what it was supposed to be.
And its eyes—
There weren't any.
Just a deeper darkness where its face should have been.
Adrian felt his stomach twist. "Yeah… that's definitely not normal."
"It's not meant for you to understand," the red-eyed woman said.
"That doesn't make it better."
The thing took a step forward.
The lights above it burst.
Glass shattered across the floor.
Adrian flinched, instinctively stepping back.
"Okay, new plan," he said quickly. "We leave. Right now."
"No," she said.
Adrian turned to her. "No?"
"If you run now," she said calmly, "you'll spend the rest of your life running."
"I'm okay with that."
"You won't be."
Something in her tone made him pause.
Not force. Not threat.
Certainty.
The thing moved again. Faster this time.
The distance between them shortened.
Adrian's pulse spiked. "It's getting closer."
"We know," the shadowed woman said.
"Good, just making sure we're all aware of the obvious."
The third woman stepped forward slightly, her gaze narrowing. "It's testing."
"Testing what?" Adrian asked.
"You."
Adrian blinked. "Why me?"
"Because you survived."
That answer didn't help.
The thing stopped moving.
For a moment, everything went still.
Then—
It disappeared.
Adrian's eyes widened. "Where did it—"
"Behind you," the shadowed woman said instantly.
Adrian didn't think.
He moved.
Or at least, he tried to.
Something yanked him sideways before he could react properly.
The world blurred for a second, and then he was no longer where he had been standing.
A loud crash echoed behind him.
Adrian turned just in time to see the wall where he had been explode inward like something had slammed into it with impossible force.
Dust filled the air.
His heart pounded.
"…Okay," he breathed. "That would've killed me."
"Yes," the red-eyed woman said simply.
Adrian looked at her. "I'm starting to notice a pattern."
The shadowed woman stepped forward, her form blending slightly with the darkness around her.
"Stay still," she said.
"That's a terrible idea."
"Do it."
Something in her voice made him listen.
Adrian froze, his body tense.
The air shifted.
The shadows along the walls stretched unnaturally, pulling toward her like they were being drawn in.
For the first time, Adrian saw it clearly.
She wasn't just standing in the shadows.
They were part of her.
They moved when she moved.
Breathed when she breathed.
The thing in the hallway reacted.
Its form twisted sharply, like it had noticed her properly now.
"Good," the third woman said softly. "Look at something else for a change."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Adrian muttered.
The red-eyed woman stepped closer to him.
"Listen carefully," she said.
Adrian glanced at her. "I'm listening."
"When it moves," she continued, "you move."
"That's your strategy?"
"You won't survive on your own."
"…Noted."
The thing lunged.
Adrian felt it before he saw it.
That pressure slammed into him again, stronger than before, like something was trying to crush him from the inside.
"Now," she said.
Adrian moved.
This time, it felt different.
His body reacted faster than his thoughts.
He stepped back just as the thing passed through where he had been standing, its form distorting as it moved.
It didn't look like motion.
It looked like space bending around it.
Adrian stumbled but didn't fall.
"…I did that," he said, almost surprised.
"You did," she replied.
The shadowed woman moved next.
She didn't run.
She vanished.
One moment she was there, the next she was behind the thing.
The shadows snapped around it like chains.
For a brief second, it stopped moving.
Then it screamed.
The sound wasn't loud.
It was wrong.
Like something scraping against his mind instead of his ears.
Adrian flinched, grabbing his head. "What is that—"
"Don't listen to it," the third woman said sharply.
"Hard not to!"
The thing broke free.
The shadows shattered like glass, snapping back toward her.
She didn't react, but Adrian saw the slight shift in her stance.
That had taken effort.
"Alright," he said, forcing himself to focus. "So we can't kill it easily. That's great."
"It's not fully here," the red-eyed woman said.
Adrian blinked. "What does that mean?"
"It means this is only a fragment."
He stared at her.
"…You're telling me that's not the full thing?"
"Yes."
Adrian let out a slow breath. "I hate everything about that."
The thing turned toward him again.
It was focused on him.
Not them.
Him.
"Why is it still coming for me?" he asked.
"Because you belong to it," the third woman said.
Adrian's expression hardened. "Yeah, I'm going to reject that idea completely."
"You don't get to," she replied.
"Watch me."
The thing moved again.
Faster.
Closer.
Adrian's instincts kicked in.
He stepped to the side—
Too slow.
Something brushed against his arm.
Pain exploded instantly.
He gasped, stumbling back as a sharp, burning sensation spread through him.
"Damn it—"
He looked down.
His sleeve was torn.
And beneath it—
Dark marks spread slowly across his skin.
Like something was trying to sink deeper.
"It touched you," the shadowed woman said.
"I noticed!"
"Don't let it spread."
"Also noticed!"
The burning intensified.
Adrian clenched his teeth, trying to stay focused.
"Do something," he said through gritted teeth.
"We are," the red-eyed woman replied.
She stepped forward, placing a hand against his chest.
The moment she did—
Everything stopped.
The pain.
The pressure.
Even the sound.
For a split second, the world went completely still.
Then—
Something inside him answered.
A pulse.
Deep.
Heavy.
Not human.
Adrian's eyes widened slightly.
"…What was that?"
The red-eyed woman didn't remove her hand.
"Your side of the bond," she said quietly.
The thing in front of them hesitated.
For the first time—
It didn't move forward.
Adrian felt it.
That same presence from before.
But now—
It wasn't just around him.
It was inside him.
And it was pushing back.
The third woman smiled faintly. "There it is."
Adrian looked at his hand, flexing his fingers slightly.
The burning mark had stopped spreading.
"…I did that?"
"No," she said softly. "We did."
The thing let out another distorted sound.
Then, slowly—
It began to retreat.
Not quickly.
Not in panic.
But like something choosing to leave… for now.
The hallway grew quieter.
The pressure faded.
The lights steadied.
And just like that—
It was gone.
Adrian stood there, breathing hard, staring at the empty space where it had been.
"…Tell me that's over."
No one answered immediately.
Then the shadowed woman spoke.
"It's not."
Adrian closed his eyes briefly. "…Of course it's not."
He looked at the three of them.
At what his life had just become.
"…Alright," he said slowly. "Then we're going to have a problem."
The red-eyed woman raised an eyebrow slightly. "A problem?"
Adrian met her gaze.
"If that thing thinks I belong to it," he said, his voice steady now, "it's going to learn the hard way that it's wrong."
For a moment, the room was silent.
Then—
The third woman smiled.
The shadowed woman said nothing.
And the one with crimson eyes looked at him differently than before.
"Good," she said quietly.
"Because it won't stop coming back."
Adrian exhaled.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "I figured."
Somewhere deep inside him, that new presence stirred again.
Not afraid.
Not uncertain.
Waiting.
And for the first time since all of this started—
Adrian didn't feel like running.