The second scream was louder than the first.
This time everyone heard it.
Students stopped in the middle of corridors, some froze, some started running without even knowing where they were going. The calm from the morning was completely gone now.
Kael looked at Zareth. "That's not far."
Zareth had already turned. "Move."
They ran.
The sound came from inside one of the main buildings. When they reached it, the hallway was already crowded. Panic had spread faster than anything else.
"Get back!"
"Don't go near it!"
"No one touch anything!"
Zareth pushed through without hesitation. Lyra and Kael followed right behind him.
When they reached the center of the hallway, everything became clear.
And worse.
A girl stood in the middle of the corridor.
Frozen.
She wasn't screaming anymore.
She couldn't.
Her arm was gone.
Not cut.
Not injured.
Just missing from the elbow down.
No blood.
No wound.
Just empty space where it should have been.
Kael stopped instantly. "What the hell…"
Lyra covered her mouth for a second, trying to stay calm. "It's happening to people now."
The girl's eyes were wide open, filled with shock. She looked at the empty space where her hand should be, like her mind couldn't understand what it was seeing.
"I… I can't feel it…" she whispered.
Zareth stepped closer slowly.
The air around her felt different.
That same presence again.
"It's still here," he said quietly.
Kael looked around. "Where?"
"I don't see anything!"
"You won't," Zareth replied.
Lyra focused, trying to sense it. "Wait… no… I feel something."
It wasn't visible, but it was there.
Right in front of the girl.
Something was touching reality itself.
Then it moved again.
The girl gasped.
Her other arm flickered.
For a second, it looked normal.
Then part of it vanished.
She screamed this time.
"STOP IT!" Kael shouted without thinking.
Zareth moved instantly.
He stepped in front of her and raised his hand, releasing controlled energy toward the space in front of him.
For a brief moment, something reacted.
The air twisted.
Like an invisible surface had been hit.
Zareth's eyes narrowed.
"So you can be touched," he said.
The presence pulled back slightly.
Not scared.
Just… adjusting.
Lyra stepped closer. "Can you stop it?"
Zareth didn't answer immediately.
He was focused.
Watching.
Learning.
Then the voice echoed again.
Not from the gate this time.
Right there.
"You interfere."
Kael froze. "It's here?!"
Zareth didn't move.
"Yes."
The voice felt closer than ever before.
Almost like it was standing right in front of them.
"This one is not complete," it continued.
Lyra frowned. "What do you mean not complete?"
No answer.
Instead, the presence moved again.
Faster this time.
Zareth reacted instantly, stepping forward and grabbing at the space itself.
For a second, his hand stopped mid-air.
Like he was holding something that didn't want to be held.
The pressure in the hallway increased.
Students further back collapsed or backed away in fear.
Kael stared. "He actually caught it…"
Zareth tightened his grip.
"Leave her," he said.
Silence.
Then the voice responded.
"Not yet."
The force pushed back.
Hard.
Zareth slid a step back, but didn't let go.
Lyra stepped in, gathering her energy. "Zareth, I'll support you."
"Don't," he said quickly.
She stopped.
"It's not attacking like normal energy," Zareth added. "You'll get caught in it."
That was enough to make her hesitate.
The girl behind him was shaking now, barely able to stand.
"I… I don't want to disappear…" she whispered.
Kael clenched his fists. "We're not letting that happen."
Zareth's grip tightened again.
This time, his energy changed.
More focused.
More precise.
The space in front of him distorted harder.
For a second, something almost became visible.
A shape.
Not clear.
But there.
The voice spoke again.
"You resist."
Zareth's answer was simple.
"Yes."
A sudden surge of pressure exploded outward.
Kael and Lyra were forced back a step.
Zareth stood his ground.
Then, all at once, the presence vanished.
Gone.
The pressure disappeared.
The hallway returned to normal.
The girl collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily.
Her arm didn't return.
But it stopped getting worse.
Lyra rushed to her side. "You're okay… you're okay…"
Kael looked around. "It just… left?"
Zareth slowly lowered his hand.
His expression had changed slightly.
More serious than before.
"No," he said.
"It made a decision."
Kael frowned. "What decision?"
Zareth looked at the girl.
Then at the empty space where her arm had been.
"It's not attacking randomly," he said.
A short pause.
"It's choosing."
Lyra looked up at him. "Choosing who?"
Zareth's answer came without hesitation.
"Targets."
Silence filled the hallway again.
Far away, deep under the academy, the cracked gate pulsed once more.
Stronger than before.
And this time
something inside it smiled