Everything rushed him at once.
Ethan didn't even have time to scream.
The creatures collided into him—cold hands, too many hands, gripping, pulling, tearing at something deeper than flesh.
Not his body.
His mind.
"No—GET OFF—!"
Their fingers pressed into his head, his chest, his eyes—yet left no marks.
But inside—
Something was ripping.
"Take it—"
"Take what's left—"
"He's still holding it—"
Lina.
The name flickered weakly in his mind.
Ethan clung to it desperately.
"No… you can't have that…!"
The door pulsed.
Hard.
A deep vibration shot through Ethan's arm—the one trapped inside it. The wood tightened suddenly, not to pull him in—
But to hold him in place.
Protect him.
The creatures froze mid-motion.
Just for a second.
That was enough.
The voice returned.
Low.
Ancient.
Right beside his ear.
"Enough."
The hallway trembled violently.
The walls cracked—not outward, but inward, like something inside them was trying to escape.
The creatures recoiled, hissing softly.
"That is not yours," the voice continued.
Ethan's breathing came in ragged gasps.
"What… what is happening…?" he whispered.
No one answered him.
But the house did.
The door around his arm shifted.
Not consuming.
Not pulling.
Opening.
Ethan felt his arm loosen slightly.
Pain shot through him as sensation returned in a violent rush.
"Move…" he told himself. "MOVE!"
He yanked back—
And this time—
The door let him go.
Ethan collapsed to the floor, clutching his arm, gasping.
It was still there.
Still his.
But the skin—
It wasn't right.
Faint lines ran across it.
Like wood grain.
Growing.
Slowly.
The creatures watched him now.
No longer rushing.
No longer desperate.
Studying.
The first one stepped forward again.
"You felt it, didn't you?" it said softly.
Ethan didn't answer.
He couldn't.
His heart was pounding too hard.
His thoughts—
Fragmented.
"You're changing," it continued.
"Just like her."
Lina.
The name hit him like a distant echo.
Faint.
Fading.
But still there.
"What did you do to her…?" Ethan whispered.
The creature smiled.
"We didn't do anything."
It leaned closer.
"The house did."
The hallway pulsed again.
This time—
Stronger.
The walls began to shift.
The perfect, clean surfaces cracking, bending, warping into something less… controlled.
Something more alive.
Ethan forced himself to stand.
His legs shook violently.
"I need to get out…" he muttered.
But even as he said it—
He knew.
There was no "out."
Only deeper.
The creature tilted its head.
"You still think this is a place."
Ethan froze.
"It's not," it said.
"It's a process."
A loud crack split through the hallway.
One of the doors behind him—
Burst open.
Not slowly.
Not creeping.
Exploding outward.
Darkness poured out of it like liquid.
Thick.
Heavy.
Hungry.
Ethan stumbled back.
"What is that…?"
The creatures didn't answer.
For the first time—
They stepped away.
Afraid.
The darkness spread across the floor rapidly, swallowing everything it touched.
The walls.
The doors.
Even the creatures.
They didn't fight it.
They let it take them.
One by one.
"Wait—!" Ethan shouted.
But they were already gone.
Consumed.
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Absolute.
Ethan stood alone.
Breathing hard.
Watching the darkness crawl closer.
It stopped just inches from his feet.
Then—
It moved.
Not toward him.
Around him.
Circling.
Like it was studying him.
Judging him.
Ethan's chest tightened.
"W-what do you want…?" he whispered.
The darkness didn't answer.
It didn't need to.
Because something rose from within it.
Slowly.
A shape.
Familiar.
Too familiar.
Ethan's breath caught.
"No… no, that's not—"
It stepped forward.
Out of the darkness.
Fully formed.
Perfect.
It was him.
The second Ethan stood there, staring back with calm, unreadable eyes.
Uninjured.
Unshaken.
Whole.
"You're still holding on," the other Ethan said quietly.
Ethan shook his head, backing away. "You're not real…"
The second Ethan tilted his head slightly.
"That doesn't matter anymore."
It stepped closer.
"And you're running out of time."
Ethan's heart slammed violently.
"Time for what?"
A pause.
Then—
The second Ethan smiled faintly.
"To remember."
The hallway disappeared.
Just like that.
Gone.
Ethan's body dropped suddenly—
Falling—
Through nothing.
Through everything.
And the last thing he heard before the darkness swallowed him completely—
Was Lina's voice.
Soft.
Broken.
"…Ethan… it hurts…"
Then silence.