The steps beneath their feet were damp and slippery, saturated with moisture and age. Jack and Brian were descending deeper and deeper beneath the tower, where no light reached. The further down they went, the heavier the air became, as though it were thick and ominous. In every shadow, in every sound, an unspeakable ancient threat surrounded them.
"Did you know about these floors before?" Jack asked, glancing at Brian, who led the way with a determined look on his face.
"No," Brian lied, without turning around. He felt something drawing him forward. He'd already discovered this path once before but hadn't dared to descend all the way.
Walking down the corridor, they came across a wide archway leading into a vast underground chamber. The hall was dimly lit, illuminated by ancient symbols floating in the air. In the center of the room was a huge pentagram carved directly into the floor, marked with symbols that slowly rotated as if they were alive. They glowed with a mysterious light, reflecting something inhuman.
"What is this place?" Jack murmured, stunned by what he saw. He could feel a terrible energy emanating from the hall, knowing this was a place they should not have entered.
"We can't stay here," Jack tried to bring Brian back to reality. He felt they had come too close to something dreadful, but his voice sounded increasingly unsure. The air pressed on him, pulling him toward a dark abyss that they could not yet see.
Suddenly, something in the center of the pentagram began to stir. At first, it was just a dark smoke, slowly rising toward the ceiling. But then the smoke began to thicken, taking the form of a dark, flowing mass, like liquid. It was a creature, yet impossible to fully perceive—it was too alien for human senses, as if woven from darkness itself.
"What is that?" Jack's voice was tense as he took a few steps back. But Brian, on the contrary, stepped closer to the pentagram as if an unknown force was pulling him toward it.
The creature stirred again, and a quiet yet menacing whisper began to echo around them. The voices sounded ancient, as old as the world itself, and they reverberated in their minds. Jack felt the whisper seep into his mind, promising him power, strength, and freedom from all his fears.
"You can become the greatest warrior. No one will stand in your way..." the voice whispered in his head. Jack shook himself, trying to banish these thoughts, but they grew more persistent.
The creature, sensing Jack's hesitation, kept whispering: "Come closer… let me grant you power…"
Jack clenched his teeth, feeling the heavy pressure beginning to break his resolve. His body seemed to reach for the pentagram, but his mind resisted. He knew this was a trap, that the monster was deceiving them. Yet the whispers grew louder, making it harder to resist.
Brian, however, stepped closer to the pentagram with each step, his eyes burning with greed and desire.
"Do you feel it, Jack?" Brian whispered with an almost mad grin. "The power! It's here, waiting for us. We can become something great, more than just men!"
Jack tried to move closer to him, but his legs felt heavy, and each step was a struggle.
"Brian, no!" Jack shouted, feeling fear envelop him. "This isn't power! It's a curse!"
But Brian wasn't listening. His mind was already taken by the creature. The whispers from the monster grew more insistent, more tempting with each passing second.
"Come closer..." the creature whispered. "Release me, and I will grant you power beyond human imagining..."
Brian took a final step toward the pentagram and stopped at its edge. The symbols rotating around it began to shimmer faster, as if preparing for something great. Jack, with the last of his strength, tried to hold onto reality and not fall under the creature's spell, but he knew Brian was already lost.
"No…" Jack whispered, watching as Brian reached out to one of the seals.
The moment Brian touched the symbols, they flared with a bright light, and with a loud crack, the seals began to shatter. The air around them vibrated as if an invisible force was tearing its way out, and suddenly the pentagram collapsed.
The creature, until now contained by magical seals, broke free in an instant, like a vortex of liquid darkness. The dark substance enveloped Brian, swallowing him whole as if he had never existed. Brian didn't even have time to scream—his mind and body dissolved into that dark mass.
"Brian!" Jack shouted, but it was already too late.
The monster was no longer confined to the pentagram. Now it was free, moving like a living substance, filling every corner of the hall. The darkness reached out toward Jack, ready to consume him as well.
Jack felt the darkness envelop him, slowly seeping into his mind. It crushed his consciousness, trying to break him, but Jack resisted with every bit of strength he had left. The monster's voice echoed again in his head, promising him a power he had never known.
"Accept me," the creature whispered, its voice resonating directly in Jack's mind. "I will give you everything you ever dreamed of…"
The darkness surrounded him completely, and Jack realized that now everything depended on him. He was the last obstacle for the creature, but could he hold out?
The darkness surrounded Jack, striving to penetrate his mind. Each second felt like an eternity as the monster, like a liquid substance, slowly seeped into his consciousness, blurring his thoughts, consuming his fears and memories. The pressure was almost unbearable, as if his mind was under crushing weight, but Jack held on despite the monstrous force of the creature.
"You cannot resist," the creature's voice hissed inside his head, growing like serpentine whispers. "I gave you the chance to become more than human. Accept your fate."
Jack tried to move, but his body no longer obeyed him. The darkness consumed him physically, filling every cell. He felt the liquid substance flowing through his veins, replacing his blood, as his mind began to submit to the creature's control. Visions flooded his mind: he saw himself cloaked in power, invulnerability. In this vision, there was no fear, pain, or doubt—only absolute power.
But these visions came from the monster, from the creature that had already broken Brian and used his body as an empty shell. Jack saw how Brian's hollow, lifeless form merged with the darkness, disappearing without a trace. A moment ago, there had been a person—now there was nothing.
"I won't become like him," Jack thought desperately, trying to cling to his last thread of humanity. But the monster continued pressing on him, twisting his fears into visions of defeat.
"Power, strength... All you have to do is accept me, and all your enemies will fall. You will control this world."
The darkness tried to penetrate even deeper, pushing Jack to believe that resistance was pointless. His consciousness sank further into the abyss, his mind drowning in the quicksand of distorted reality.
But Jack suddenly felt something within himself that the monster could not understand—a core of inner strength, a human resolve. Images of Lina, Kyle, his sister Melissa, flashed before his eyes, reminding him of the promise he had made to return home. Jack gritted his teeth, his thoughts becoming sharper, clearer.
"You won't have me," he whispered, his voice weak but full of determination. He found the strength to fight. Jack began resisting the darkness, reclaiming control over his thoughts.
The monster intensified its assault; its whispers grew louder, the visions more invasive. But Jack already knew he could withstand them. Each second of struggle felt like an explosion inside his mind, but he held his will steady.
The monster tried to penetrate the very depths of his soul, but Jack managed to build a wall within his mind. He realized that if he gave in now, he'd become an empty shell like Brian. But if he stood firm, he could overcome it.
"I won't become you!" Jack shouted, focusing on his thoughts and memories.
The darkness churned as though the monster felt pain from his resistance. With each passing moment, it began to weaken, and Jack sensed himself regaining control over his body.
Despite all its efforts, the monster could not completely subdue Jack. Yet it did not retreat—instead, the creature chose to merge with him. The darkness enveloping Jack did not vanish; it became a part of him. Now this ancient force was sealed within him, and Jack could feel its presence every second.
He lay on the cold stone floor of the hall, breathing heavily. His body was saturated with darkness, but his mind was still his own. Jack rose to his feet, feeling something had changed within him. The darkness no longer tried to consume him entirely—it had become a part of his essence.
The monster no longer whispered promises in his mind, but Jack knew this battle wasn't over. He felt the power, yet also the danger that the monster might one day try to take control again. There was now a shadow in his every move, something foreign, but Jack knew how to live with it.
He looked around the hall—the pentagram no longer glowed, the symbols had vanished, and the place where the monster had been bound was now empty. Brian, who had sought power, was completely destroyed by the darkness. His body no longer existed.