Far beneath the sleeping city where human footsteps never reached and forgotten subway lines rotted beneath layers of concrete and darkness, cold water dripped endlessly from cracked tunnel ceilings while ancient rusted train tracks disappeared deep into shadows carrying the smell of blood, damp stone, and death left undisturbed for decades.
The underground tunnels breathed strangely tonight.
Alive somehow.
Watching.
Waiting beneath the earth like an old starving beast finally sensing weakness above.
Marcus Kane walked slowly through the abandoned subway corridor afterward while heavy boots echoed sharply against wet stone now, and beneath the dim flickering emergency lamps his towering figure looked almost monstrous already with scars twisting across rough pale skin and dark eyes carrying enough brutality frightening even the ghouls following behind him silently.
Nobody spoke loudly around Marcus.
Fear prevented that.
Respect too.
