More shadows were coming.
The ominous weight of their presence hung in the air, thickening with every passing second. Jay could feel it—the chilling sensation crawling under his skin, spreading into his bones. The building seemed to pulse with dark energy, like a living entity, waiting to consume anyone foolish enough to stay too long.
Victor had split off with the others earlier, leading the charge on different floors. He was confident, too confident. Jay couldn't help but feel uneasy. The air was too still, and every creak of the floorboards made his heart race. Alina, who had stayed by his side after their confrontation with the child, was scanning the area with an intensity that Jay couldn't ignore. Her eyes darted from one shadowed corner to the next, but there was no telling what could be hiding in plain sight.
"You're shaking," Alina said, her voice sharp but not unkind.
Jay glanced at her, trying to steady himself. He hadn't realized his hands were trembling, but the fear was real. The events from earlier had rattled him more than he wanted to admit.
"It's just... this place," he muttered, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "How do you do this? Stay so calm?"
Alina's lips curled into a wry smile. "You'll learn. You don't have the luxury of hesitation when you're facing things like these."
Jay didn't have a response to that. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it must feel like for someone like Alina, who had clearly seen more than her fair share of violence. What had she been through to make her this way? And what about the others? Kahanna, the young girl with the gun, who was somehow the most terrifying despite her size. Leon, with his ridiculous super speed. And then there was Reign, her mind sharp enough to pick up on things Jay couldn't even begin to comprehend. They were all like pieces of a puzzle Jay couldn't quite put together.
"We'll clear this floor," Alina continued, breaking the silence. "Keep your head straight. We don't know how many are out there."
Before Jay could respond, a sudden screech of metal on metal echoed through the hallway. It was distant, but unmistakable. Something—or someone—was coming.
Alina immediately raised her gun, moving toward the noise with practiced ease. Jay followed, his heart hammering in his chest. He could feel the sweat on the back of his neck, his pulse racing in time with his footsteps. It felt like a game, a twisted game, but the stakes were deadly serious.
They rounded the corner, guns ready. The hallway stretched before them, dark and empty, the dim lighting casting long shadows that seemed to stretch endlessly into the gloom. But then, from behind one of the doors, a muffled thud echoed.
Alina raised her hand, signaling for Jay to stop. She gestured for him to cover her. Jay nodded and found his place against the wall, gripping his gun so tightly his fingers were beginning to ache. Alina approached the door cautiously, her movements silent. Jay watched her every move, waiting for the inevitable explosion of chaos that would follow.
She reached for the doorknob. The sound of soft footsteps behind the door grew louder. Someone—or something—was inside.
With a swift motion, Alina kicked the door open. Jay flinched at the sound, but Alina was already inside, her gun raised. Jay followed, stepping through the door just in time to see a figure—tall, gaunt, and eerily silent—lurch toward them. It had the same hollow, soulless eyes as the others they had encountered.
Before Jay could react, Alina fired. The shadow, if that's what it could even be called, fell to the ground with a sickening thud, its body collapsing into a heap of twisted limbs and broken features.
Alina stepped over the fallen body, her eyes scanning the room. Jay's breath caught in his throat as he noticed the faint smell of rot in the air, the scent that had become all too familiar. His stomach turned, but he forced himself to look away.
"That's one down," Alina muttered, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Let's keep moving."
Jay nodded, still trying to steady his breathing. But as they moved deeper into the apartment, Jay couldn't shake the feeling that they were walking into a trap.
More shadows were coming.
He could sense it now—the way the air felt heavier with each step, the way the hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention. There were more of them. He could feel their presence like a thick fog rolling in, suffocating him. And then, just as quickly as the thought entered his mind, the walls around them seemed to shake, a low rumble reverberating through the building.
"Get ready," Alina said under her breath. "This is it."
The sound of distant whispers echoed down the hallway, too soft to make out the words but enough to send chills down Jay's spine. And then, like a flood, they came.
From every direction, shadows poured into the hallway, their eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. They moved quickly, their forms shifting and contorting unnaturally as they stalked toward them. Jay barely had time to react before Alina was already firing, her gun blazing in the dark. The shadows screeched as they collided with the bullets, their bodies disintegrating in bursts of dark smoke.
Jay raised his gun and fired, but his hands were shaking too much. The shot went wide, missing the target by inches. Alina's voice cut through the chaos.
"Focus, Jay!" she shouted. "Aim for the center mass. Don't waste time!"
He nodded, taking a deep breath. He couldn't let his fear control him—not now. He raised the gun again, aiming for one of the approaching figures. His hand steadied. He fired. This time, the bullet struck its mark, and the shadow disintegrated into a puff of smoke.
But there were more—too many more.
The shadows swarmed, moving faster than Jay could track. One of them lunged toward him, its hollow eyes locked onto his. Jay raised his gun, but before he could pull the trigger, a blur of motion shot past him. Leon appeared in the doorway, his grin wide as he threw himself into the fray.
"Step aside, rookie," he laughed. "Let the speedster do his thing."
Jay watched in awe as Leon dashed through the hallway, moving faster than he could comprehend. He could barely see him as he weaved through the shadows, each strike landing with deadly precision. The shadows didn't stand a chance.
But even Leon's speed couldn't keep up with the sheer number of them. More kept coming, flooding the hallway in waves.
"We need to move!" Alina shouted, her voice grim. "They're not stopping. Get to the exit, now!"
Jay didn't need to be told twice. He turned and bolted down the hallway, Alina close behind him. His breath came in ragged gasps as they sprinted toward the stairs. Behind them, the sounds of battle raged on. The shadows were relentless.
They reached the stairs, but as Jay was about to take the first step, a loud crash echoed from above. The ceiling above them began to shake, and dust rained down in heavy clouds.
"Jay!" Alina shouted. "Go! I'll cover you!"
Without waiting for a response, Jay started running up the stairs, two steps at a time. He didn't look back. He couldn't. But as he reached the top, he heard a noise that made his blood run cold—a low, guttural growl from below. Something far bigger, far more dangerous, was coming.
Within an hour, all the shadows had been wiped out. It was as if everyone in the team was built specifically for it—except for Jay, who was still fumbling, unsure of how to handle the situation, while the others moved with lethal precision.
Reign called Alina on her phone. "I'm here at the rooftop. Are you all done?"
Alina answered, "Yes, what are you doing there?"
Reign responded, "I think you should look at the sky."
Alina quickly told everyone—Kahanna, Andrei, Victor, Jay, and Leon—to look outside. They turned their heads, and for a moment, everything seemed to still.
The sky had darkened ominously. Thick clouds rolled in, covering the moon in an almost unnatural way. But it wasn't just the clouds that caught their attention—it was the moon itself.
It was blood-red.
A chilling, unnatural crimson glow filled the sky. It felt as though something was coming, something dark and foreboding, and it seemed like the world was holding its breath.
Jay's heart skipped a beat as he stared at the moon, trying to process what was happening. But before he could speak, something inexplicable happened. His body swayed, his vision blurred, and suddenly, his legs gave way beneath him. He collapsed, his consciousness slipping away.
At the same moment, the necklace Leno had given him, the one with the scarlet pendant, began to glow. The glow intensified, a deep, burning red that pulsed rhythmically with Jay's weakening heartbeat. The necklace seemed to come alive, humming with power as it floated upward, pulling Jay's body along with it.
The entire team rushed to the rooftop, their eyes wide with shock. Jay was levitating, his unconscious body suspended in the air by the glowing pendant, as though caught in the pull of an unseen force.
"What the hell is happening?" Leon muttered, his voice tight with disbelief.
Victor, usually calm, couldn't tear his gaze away from Jay's floating form. "This... this isn't normal. I've never seen anything like this before."
The pendant continued to glow brighter, and then the sound of a sharp thug resonated through the air. It was a deep, guttural noise, like a forceful exhale, and it echoed from the core of the necklace. The air around Jay crackled with energy as if the pendant was pulling something in.
And it was. Slowly, black dust began to swirl around the apartment complex, seeping from the cracks in the doors and windows, from every room, every corner of the building. The dust gathered in the air, swirling like a storm before being pulled into the red glow of the pendant.
"What the hell is that?" Andrei shouted, his voice rising in panic as he watched the black particles being sucked in, vanishing into the necklace. "Is this... is this some kind of ritual?"
Reign's voice echoed in Alina's earpiece. "I don't know what this is, but it feels wrong. Something's drawing power from this building, something big."
Jay's body trembled as the dust was pulled into the pendant, his limbs twitching with the unnatural force. The ground beneath them seemed to tremble as well, and a low rumble reverberated through the complex, as though the very foundation of the building was shaking.
The team stood there, stunned, trying to make sense of the surreal scene. They'd dealt with shadows, monsters, and strange entities, but this—this was unlike anything they had ever encountered before.
"Is Jay...?" Kahanna's voice trailed off, her eyes wide with worry. "What's happening to him?"
"I don't know," Alina said, her voice tight with uncertainty. "But whatever it is, we need to stop it. Now."
But the necklace continued to pull, its red light intensifying, and the black dust was being sucked into it faster. With each passing moment, the power seemed to grow stronger, more concentrated. The air felt thick, as though the very atmosphere was being sucked into the pendant, devoured by its insatiable hunger.
Suddenly, the pendant emitted a violent pulse, a shockwave of red energy that rippled through the air, knocking everyone back. The team staggered, trying to keep their balance as the force of the energy swept over them. Jay's body jerked in the air, suspended by the pendant's overwhelming power.
"What... what is this?" Victor gasped, his voice barely audible over the hum of the pendant.
As they struggled to regain their footing, something else happened.
The building itself seemed to groan, as if the walls were alive, twisting and contorting under the weight of whatever power was being drawn into the pendant. The floor beneath them cracked, and the air was filled with the sound of something tearing—something breaking.
And then, the red light from the pendant began to flicker.
For a brief moment, everything fell silent.
But then the true horror began.
A voice, deep and echoing, reverberated in the air around them, though no one knew where it came from. It wasn't human, and it wasn't anything they had heard before.
"I... am... here."
The words hung in the air, a chilling whisper that sent a wave of dread through the group.
Jay's body convulsed, and the pendant pulsed again, sending a wave of energy through the rooftop.
The black dust from the building's rooms began to gather at the base of the pendant, swirling around it in a frenzy, as though something was emerging.
The team stood frozen, staring at the sight unfolding before them. What had they unleashed? And what was waiting for them in the wake of this terrifying force?
Jay's body hovered in the air, trembling, but he was still alive, still conscious, though his body seemed to be under the control of the pendant. The red light from the pendant flickered one last time, and in that moment, the air grew deathly still.
And then, just as suddenly as it had started, the pendant exploded with a blinding flash of light, sending out a shockwave so powerful it shattered the windows of the building.
The team shielded their eyes from the blast, and when the light finally faded, Jay was still there, unconscious but unscathed, though the pendant's red glow had vanished.
The team stood in silence, still processing the events that had unfolded. The moon was still blood-red, but the dust had settled, and the oppressive energy seemed to dissipate, leaving an eerie calm in its wake.
"What the hell just happened?" Andrei said, his voice barely a whisper.
Alina shook her head, looking at the pendant in Jay's hand, now lifeless. "I don't know. But whatever it was... it's not over yet."
The questions still lingered in the air, unanswered, as they stood there on the rooftop, the mysteries of the night far from resolved.