Part 1: The Death of a City
Elliot hit the ground hard, his breath knocked from his lungs.
The moment The Architect whispered "It's here," the entire bunker had collapsed into darkness.
Now, as his vision adjusted, he saw New Haven was barely holding together.
The street outside was warping, twisting into spirals. Buildings melted like wax, their windows stretching into gaping mouths. Cars were frozen in place, some hovering inches above the ground as if gravity had forgotten them.
Mara pulled him to his feet. "We need to move— now!"
Caldwell stumbled beside them, his face pale with terror. "It's already inside the city."
Emily stood a few feet away, staring at the sky.
But there was no sky anymore.
Above them, something moved.
A shifting, pulsating mass of impossible shapes, too large to comprehend, crawling through the air.
And then it whispered.
"You see me."
The moment it spoke, Elliot felt something claw at his mind—an overwhelming urge to look away, to not perceive it.
Emily's hands clenched into fists. Her glowing eyes burned brighter.
"I can hear it," she whispered. "It knows my name."
Part 2: Escape Through the Broken City
The streets were no longer safe.
Elliot, Mara, Emily, and Caldwell moved quickly, dodging the places where reality was collapsing.
They ran past a group of civilians—or what was left of them.
A man stood at an intersection, his face twisted in an endless scream, frozen in time. A woman walked forward, stepped into a shadow— and was simply gone.
Elliot gritted his teeth. "How do we stop this?"
Caldwell was panting, struggling to keep up. "There's only one way."
Mara shot him a sharp look. "And that is?"
The old scholar hesitated.
Then, from the rooftops, something moved.
The alley-born were watching them.
Figures crouched on the edges of buildings, whispering, grinning. Their eyes glowed like dying stars.
Then—they jumped.
Part 3: The Chase Through the Ruins
Elliot barely had time to react before the first creature slammed into the pavement beside him, its limbs twisting unnaturally.
Mara fired her gun, but the bullets passed through it like smoke.
Emily raised her hands—and the creatures froze.
For a moment, everything was silent.
Then one of them—a tall, thin figure with no mouth—bowed.
The others followed.
Emily staggered back, shaking. "They're… waiting for me to tell them what to do."
Elliot's blood ran cold. "Because they think you're their leader."
Emily looked at him, something unreadable in her glowing eyes.
"What if I am?"
Part 4: Caldwell's Plan
They reached an old subway station—one of the few places that hadn't collapsed into the alley's grasp.
Caldwell moved quickly, lighting candles, drawing symbols across the floor.
"We can't stop the alley," he said. "But we can sever its connection."
Elliot frowned. "How?"
Caldwell turned to Emily.
"We have to destroy its tether."
Emily's breath caught. "Me."
The silence was suffocating.
Mara's hand was already on her knife. "You'd better be joking."
Caldwell shook his head. "She's the bridge. If we sever her from the alley, it will lose its anchor."
Elliot felt sick.
Emily was silent.
Then she exhaled, stepping forward.
"How?"
Part 5: The Architect Returns
Before Caldwell could answer—
The Architect appeared.
They simply stepped out of the shadows, silent, watching.
Then they spoke. "I told you. You should have given her to me."
Elliot moved in front of Emily. "Not happening."
The Architect's expression didn't change.
They raised a hand.
And then—the world shook.
From the cracks in the ground, the alley poured in.
And with it—
The Thing That Crawls.