The crawl space was suffocating, the narrow passageways tight and claustrophobic. Each breath felt like it was being pulled from my lungs, the stale air thick with dust and the faintest scent of oil. The shadows swallowed us whole, turning the world into a vast, empty void. There was no sound except the whisper of our movements, no light except the faint glow of the flashlight Elias had hidden in his jacket pocket.
He led the way, his body close to mine as we slithered forward, the sound of our breathing loud in the silence. My fingers scraped against the cold metal, the walls scraping my skin with every inch we moved. I wanted to scream, wanted to tear myself out of the tight confines, but the fear that coursed through my veins kept me silent. Every fiber of my being screamed that we weren't alone. That something was following us. Watching us.
I felt it—a coldness. A weight that pressed down on me, invisible yet undeniable. Like a presence that lingered just out of reach, its eyes trained on my every movement. Elias kept moving, but I noticed the flicker of tension in his shoulders, the way his muscles were coiled tight. He felt it, too.
We moved in silence for what felt like hours, the walls closing in around us. The air grew colder, sharper, and the faint, distant sounds of our pursuers faded, leaving an eerie quiet.
And then, I heard it. A soft, scraping noise, like fingers dragging across metal. I froze. The sound wasn't just behind us—it was within the walls, all around us.
Elias's head snapped around, his eyes wide, alert. He had heard it, too.
The scraping came again, followed by a low, guttural growl, a sound so unnatural that it sent a tremor through my entire body. It was like the very walls themselves were alive, like something was inside them, lurking and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
"Go," Elias whispered urgently, his voice barely audible over the sound of my heartbeat.
But there was no time to run.
The walls began to vibrate. A low hum, like a deep, resonating sound that seemed to come from the very core of the building, filled the space. The metal groaned in protest, and I could feel the shift in the atmosphere—the sudden heaviness, the ominous pressure that seemed to crush everything around us.
And then, as if in response to the hum, the flashlight flickered.
A dark shape emerged from the shadows ahead, moving with a fluidity that made my blood run cold. The light caught it for a split second—an elongated figure, its limbs twisted and unnatural, its head too large for its body, hanging at an odd angle. It moved silently, but with purpose, its glowing eyes fixed on us, burning with an unnatural light.
I gasped, my breath catching in my throat, my pulse pounding in my ears.
Elias didn't hesitate. He grabbed my arm and yanked me forward, dragging me deeper into the crawl space, but the creature followed. The scraping sound returned, now louder, more insistent, like claws scraping against stone.
"Faster," Elias hissed, his grip tightening. His voice was strained, full of panic, but his pace didn't falter.
The creature was right behind us now. I could feel its presence, the cold chill it exuded, like ice crawling under my skin. My mind raced, thoughts crashing together in a desperate scramble for an escape.
We rounded a corner in the crawl space, but the creature was faster. Its distorted shape slithered after us, impossibly quick. I could hear its breathing, wet and labored, echoing in the tight space.
Elias's breath came in sharp bursts. His hand, slick with sweat, gripped mine tightly, pulling me along as we crawled faster, heartbeats in sync. But I could hear it getting closer—closer with every second. Its breath was loud now, wet and gurgling, almost like it was laughing.
And then I felt it. A hand. Cold. Unyielding.
It gripped my ankle.
I screamed, my voice echoing through the cramped tunnel, but there was no one to hear. No one to help. Elias spun around, his eyes wild with fear, and I felt the weight of his panic flood me.
He pulled, yanked with everything he had, but the creature wouldn't let go. Its grip was iron, its fingers like claws digging into my flesh, pulling me toward the darkness.
I kicked out, my foot connecting with something soft and wet, but it didn't matter. The thing wasn't letting go.
I twisted, desperate, trying to break free, but I felt myself being dragged backward, inch by inch, toward the crushing dark.
"Elias!" I screamed, the terror in my voice so raw it nearly made me collapse. "Help me!"
With a violent, ferocious yank, Elias wrenched me free. My leg burned where the creature's grip had been, but I didn't have time to focus on the pain. Elias pulled me ahead, his breath ragged as he moved faster, faster than I thought possible, dragging me through the tight spaces, his eyes darting around frantically.
But the creature wasn't done. It was relentless. The scratching grew louder, the growls more pronounced, as if it was closing in on us from all sides.
Suddenly, the air shifted. I felt a weightlessness, a disorientation, as if the very tunnel was shifting. The walls buckled, groaning, twisting around us, bending and contorting into shapes that shouldn't have existed.
We were no longer in a crawl space. We were in something else—something alive.
The walls pulsed with a rhythmic, almost human beat. The light from the flashlight flickered erratically as the tunnel shifted, growing wider, longer, deeper.
Then, a voice. Not Caden's. Not anyone's. A voice that came from within the walls.
"You're too late."
It was a whisper, but it was everywhere, surrounding us, filling the very air. The walls vibrated with the words. My mind screamed for release, but my body was frozen in place, unable to move.
"It's already begun."
The words sent a wave of terror crashing through me. It wasn't just the creature that was after us. It was something bigger—something far more dangerous.
And it was waiting.
The walls closed in, narrowing, suffocating, and all I could hear was the sound of its breath—the slow, methodical thump-thump that seemed to echo from the very heart of the building.
I felt like we were no longer escaping.
We were being hunted.