The scream of the mansion did not sound human.
It came from every wall, every stone, every inch of the earth above them.
Mira covered her ears and fell to her knees. Blood dripped from her nose. The chamber lights flickered wildly.
Arin stood motionless.
His eyes still burned red.
The creature wearing his face watched with satisfaction.
"Yes…" it whispered. "Now they hear you."
The walls cracked deeper.
Then something impossible happened.
Dark red liquid began seeping through the stone.
At first it looked like water.
Then it thickened.
Blood.
Lines of blood ran across the walls like veins, spreading through the chamber in every direction. The handprints inside the stone pushed harder, fingers stretching outward as if hundreds were trapped alive behind the walls.
Mira backed away, shaking. "We need to leave now!"
Arin didn't answer.
He was hearing voices.
Not around him.
Inside him.
Open the gate.
Break the seal.
Let us out.
He grabbed his head and screamed.
The creature stepped closer. "Stop resisting. Those voices belong to what your father buried."
Arin looked up. "My father… what did he do?"
The creature smiled.
"He saved the world."
It paused.
"By destroying you."
Before Arin could react, the floor beneath Mira split open.
A black hand shot upward and grabbed her ankle.
She screamed as more hands burst through the cracks, dragging her toward the darkness below.
"MIRA!"
Arin lunged forward, but the creature blocked him with one hand.
"You choose badly every time."
Arin punched it.
The impact shook the chamber.
The creature slid back, laughing.
"There it is. Rage."
Mira was waist-deep in the crack now, clawing at the floor as dead hands pulled her downward.
Arin's heartbeat thundered.
The voices inside him became louder.
Kill him.
Take it back.
Become whole.
He roared.
A shockwave blasted outward.
The chamber ceiling exploded. Chains ripped free. Pillars shattered. Every hand dragging Mira burned to ash instantly.
She collapsed to the floor, gasping.
But the price was immediate.
Arin's skin began to darken from his fingertips upward like burning coal.
Veins of red light spread across his arms.
Mira stared in horror. "Arin… what's happening to you?"
The creature's expression changed for the first time.
Not fear.
Excitement.
"The merge has started."
Thunder crashed above.
Then footsteps echoed from the broken staircase leading down into the chamber.
Slow.
Heavy.
Someone was coming.
A silhouette appeared through the dust.
Long coat.
Burned face.
Eyes full of hatred.
Arin froze.
It was the man he had seen on the road.
And in his hand—
Arin's father's watch.
The stranger looked directly at Arin and said:
"You should have stayed dead."
To Be Continued…