Ethan forced a smile, his fingers tightening around the glass of wine in front of him. The warm glow of the candle between them cast shadows on Lila's face, but her eyes glimmered, dark and unreadable. She was speaking again, her voice smooth, hypnotic, but Ethan's mind was elsewhere, spinning, trying to make sense of what she had just said.
A private online group. Forbidden rituals. Necromancy.
Ethan's breath caught in his throat as he tried to grasp whether she was serious or not. Surely, she couldn't be. This had to be some kind of dark humor, a strange joke he wasn't in on. But as he watched her, there was no trace of irony in her expression. She spoke with the same casual confidence she'd used earlier, discussing obscure history and mythology. Only now, the topic wasn't some distant curiosity—it was something disturbingly close to her.
"I—" he began, then stopped, unsure how to respond. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time with a forced laugh. "You're joking, right?"
Lila tilted her head slightly, her lips curving into a faint smile, but it wasn't the kind of smile that said she was kidding. If anything, it made her look more enigmatic, like she knew something he didn't.
"Why would I be joking?" she asked softly.
Ethan's heart pounded in his chest. He leaned back in his chair, trying to appear casual, though every muscle in his body was tensing. "I don't know. It just sounds… a little out there."
"Out there?" Lila repeated, her eyes narrowing slightly as if testing his reaction. "Maybe to someone who's never thought about it. But there's so much we don't know, Ethan. So much we've been conditioned to dismiss because it makes people uncomfortable."
Uncomfortable was an understatement. Ethan could feel his palms sweating, his mind scrambling for something—anything—to divert the conversation away from the unnerving path it had taken. He had been hoping for a normal evening, maybe even a connection. This was not it.
"Look, I get that history has some…dark sides," he said, trying to steer the topic back to something more neutral. "But necromancy? That's a bit extreme, don't you think?"
Lila's eyes remained fixed on him, unblinking. "Is it? Or is it just another aspect of life that we refuse to explore because it scares us?"
Ethan swallowed, forcing himself to maintain eye contact even though every instinct screamed at him to look away. There was something in the way she spoke that chilled him—a certainty that made his skin crawl. He glanced around the restaurant, searching for something to ground him, something normal to latch onto, but the soft murmur of voices and the clink of silverware felt distant now, like they were in a bubble, isolated from the rest of the world.
He needed to get out of this conversation. Fast.
"You really believe in that stuff?" he asked, trying to keep his tone light, though it came out strained.
Lila's gaze didn't waver. "I don't just believe in it. I've studied it."
A cold chill ran down Ethan's spine. The word "studied" echoed in his mind, its weight far heavier than he'd expected. This wasn't some quirky interest. Lila wasn't just fascinated by dark topics—she was immersed in them.
The flicker of doubt in his mind had turned into a roaring alarm. He tried to smile, to keep things from spiraling further. "I'm not sure that's my thing," he said, hoping to draw a line without offending her.
She didn't miss a beat. "That's fine. Not everyone can handle the truth about what lies beyond. Some people prefer to stay in the dark."
Her words hit him like a cold gust of wind. Ethan felt the air shift around him, and suddenly the intimacy of the dimly lit restaurant felt suffocating. Every instinct told him to get up, to leave, but he couldn't. Not yet. He had to handle this carefully, without making things worse.
"So," he said, his voice tight, "what exactly do you and your group talk about? I mean, I've heard of people who are into all sorts of weird stuff, but this seems…different."
Lila's smile widened, and for the first time, Ethan saw something predatory in her eyes, a glint that hadn't been there before. "We talk about many things. Life, death, the space in between. We explore rituals from ancient cultures, rituals that people used to connect with the dead."
Ethan's heart raced faster. He needed to keep her talking, but his mind screamed at him to run. "And what do you think happens after…you know, after we die?"
Lila leaned forward slightly, her eyes gleaming. "I think death is just another door. And some of us have figured out how to open it."
A cold sweat broke out across Ethan's brow. This was no longer an intellectual conversation. Lila believed in what she was saying. Deeply. And she wasn't afraid of it.
He forced another laugh, though it sounded weak, even to his own ears. "I think I'll stick to my side of the door."
Lila watched him for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then, with a graceful movement, she leaned back in her chair, her demeanor shifting once again to something almost playful. "That's fine, Ethan. Not everyone is ready for the deeper truths."
The tension between them lingered, thick and suffocating. Ethan searched for a way to end the night, to escape this conversation that had gone so far off course he didn't know how to pull it back. But the more he tried to compose himself, the more he felt the weight of her presence, the way her eyes never seemed to leave him.
"So, what about you?" Lila asked suddenly, her tone casual, but her eyes sharp. "What are you afraid of?"
The question caught him off guard. Ethan blinked, caught between the fear simmering beneath his skin and the urge to keep everything normal. He wanted to say something simple, something harmless, but the truth was he didn't know what to say. In that moment, he realized he wasn't just uncomfortable—he was terrified.
Lila smiled again, her lips curling into that same knowing expression she'd worn all evening. "Everyone's afraid of something," she murmured.
Ethan's throat tightened. He had to leave. He didn't care if it was abrupt, didn't care if she thought he was being rude—he just had to get out of there. But the moment he stood up, Lila's hand reached across the table and rested lightly on his wrist. Her touch was cold, sending a shiver through him.
"Leaving already?" she asked, her voice smooth as silk.
Ethan forced a smile. "Yeah, it's late."
Lila didn't move her hand. "I thought we were just getting started."
His pulse raced.