Chapter 5: The Abyss
Mikel fell, plunging into the abyss, the world around him twisting and warping as he descended. His breath caught in his throat, and for a moment, the sheer terror of the fall consumed him. He reached out, but there was nothing to grasp, nothing to slow his descent into the unknown depths.
Then, just as suddenly, the fall stopped.
Mikel landed hard, the impact rattling his bones, but he barely noticed the pain. His mind was focused on one thing—Sarah. He had to save her, he had to find a way to stop this darkness from swallowing everything.
The air around him was thick with a strange, damp humidity, and the stench of decay clung to his skin. He rose to his feet, disoriented but determined. His eyes struggled to adjust to the dim, flickering light. He was surrounded by towering stone walls, slick with moisture, their surface covered in ancient, twisted markings. The very ground beneath him seemed alive, pulsating with a rhythm that was almost... breathing.
In the distance, he could hear it—a low, guttural hum, like the heartbeat of the earth itself. The sound was both terrifying and mesmerizing, drawing him deeper into the cavernous space.
His mind raced as he stumbled forward, guided only by the faint glow that illuminated the walls. The further he went, the more oppressive the air became, as though the very weight of the darkness pressing down upon him was growing heavier. He had to find Sarah. He had to find a way to stop what had been unleashed.
Then, out of the shadows, he saw it.
A massive stone archway loomed before him, its entrance carved with symbols he couldn't begin to understand. The hum grew louder as he approached, the air vibrating with an intensity that made his skin crawl. He knew, without a doubt, that this was the source of the power—the heart of the darkness that had been awakened.
And standing before it, her figure framed by the ominous glow, was Sarah.
She was no longer the girl he had once known. Her eyes were completely consumed by a glowing green light, the same hue that had overtaken her when the darkness first began to rise. Her skin seemed translucent, her body almost ethereal, as though she were no longer fully bound to the mortal world. Her expression was vacant, lost in a trance.
"Sarah!" Mikel shouted, rushing toward her, his voice desperate. "You have to snap out of it! This isn't you! You have to fight it!"
But Sarah didn't respond. She stood motionless, her hands raised toward the archway, as though she were offering herself to the force that emanated from the darkness beyond.
Mikel's heart clenched. He couldn't lose her. Not like this.
He stepped closer, ignoring the overwhelming pressure that seemed to weigh down on him with every step. As he drew nearer, the darkness surrounding the archway seemed to pulse, almost as if it were alive—waiting, beckoning.
"Sarah, please!" Mikel's voice trembled with fear. "You're stronger than this. You can fight it. I know you can."
Sarah's eyes flickered for a brief moment, as if something deep inside her was struggling to break free. Mikel took another step forward, reaching out toward her, but just as his hand was about to touch her arm, the ground beneath them rumbled, and the air crackled with dark energy.
The archway's glow intensified, blindingly bright now, and a deep, guttural voice filled the air. "You cannot save her, Mikel. She belongs to the darkness now. And so do you."
Mikel froze. The voice wasn't Sarah's. It was something far older, far darker—something that seemed to echo through the very stones of the earth.
"Who are you?" Mikel demanded, his voice shaking with a mix of fear and defiance. "What is this place?"
The voice laughed—low, menacing,