I braced myself.For what I was about to do.A quick glance at Tobias and Talia—waiting, tense, ready—was all the reassurance I allowed myself before turning to Elias. His wide, questioning eyes locked onto mine, his confusion evident."What are you doing?" His voice wavered, suspicion creeping in.I steeled my resolve. In one swift motion, I lunged, my arms wrapping around him before he could react. His body jerked in resistance, but he was weaker than I remembered—thinner, frailer. I hated that. Hated what they had done to him. Hated that I had to do this at all.He thrashed, twisting, trying to shove me off, but I was prepared. I yanked a strip of cloth from my pocket—something I had stashed away for this exact moment—and forced it over his mouth, muffling the shouts I knew would draw attention."Sorry, bro," I whispered through clenched teeth, my heart hammering against my ribs. "You're coming with us, whether you like it or not."With every ounce of strength I had, I dragged him toward the door. He flailed, his feet kicking against the wooden floor, his fingers clawing at my arms, but he was malnourished—his body too weak to break free.As we stumbled out of the broken-down shack, my pulse pounded so violently in my chest that I feared it might betray me—might echo loud enough for The Watchers to hear. This was it. The moment of truth. Would we make it beyond the camp's suffocating grasp, or would we be dragged back into the darkness we were trying so desperately to escape?Doubt clawed at my thoughts, but I didn't slow down. We moved swiftly, pressing into the shadows, our steps hushed against the dirt. Elias no longer fought me; his struggling had ceased, his body slack in my grip. I didn't know if it was surrender or something else—something worse.Then, ahead of us, a Watcher appeared.The sight of him sent ice through my veins. That eerie stillness. That unnatural posture. The way the dim light cast his stretched features into something almost inhuman.We froze. Our ragged breathing the only sound in the suffocating silence.I tightened my hold on Elias, feeling the faint rise and fall of his chest beneath my grip. He had stopped resisting entirely, his limbs limp against my side. Was he giving up? Did he think this was inevitable?The Watcher lingered, unmoving. Watching.We held our breath, muscles tensed, hearts hammering against our ribs like the frantic wings of trapped birds. The Watcher lingered for what felt like an eternity, his presence a silent threat in the suffocating dark. Then, without a word, he turned and resumed his patrol, his figure melting into the shadows.We exhaled in unison, the air leaving our lungs like a silent prayer answered. There was no time to waste—we bolted forward, feet pounding against the dirt, the weight of Elias a heavy but necessary burden in my arms. The night stretched endlessly before us, each step carrying the question that haunted the back of my mind: Will we make it?The camp was eerily still, as if holding its breath along with us. The darkness around us felt unnatural, too thick, too unmoving. My mind conjured horrors lurking within it, unseen eyes watching, waiting. The further we ran, the deeper that fear sank into my bones.Then, finally, we saw it.The hole.A crude promise of freedom, a jagged maw in the earth that led beneath the camp's walls. Tobias skidded to a halt beside it, breathless, brushing away the wooden crate that concealed most of the opening. He peered into the darkness below, skepticism plain on his face. "This is it?""This is it," I confirmed, breathless, sweat dripping down my temple. "Jump."Tobias let out a sharp exhale before shaking his head. "Sure, boss." And with that, he vanished into the hole. A beat later, we heard the splash of his landing in the sewer water below.I crouched, gripping Elias tightly. He was stiff in my hold, silent and unreadable. For a brief second, I thought he might start fighting again, but he didn't. I handed him down to Tobias, who caught him with ease.Now it was my turn.I sucked in a deep breath, then dropped into the darkness, cold water rising up to my calves. The stench hit me instantly—rancid and suffocating—but I didn't care. I turned just in time to see Talia preparing to jump. She hesitated only for a moment before pushing off, and I caught her as best as I could, my grip firm against her arms.For a second, we just stood there, soaked and breathless, listening for any sign of pursuit.Nothing.I turned my gaze to the tunnel ahead, the path stretching into inky blackness. "Straight ahead," I whispered, keeping my voice low. "Until we reach the turn."No one spoke. We just moved, the silence pressing against us like a second skin, thick with the weight of the unknown. The only sound was the quiet splash of water as we trudged forward, each step sending ripples through the filth. The stench was suffocating, curling into my lungs, but I swallowed down the bile rising in my throat. This was the price of freedom, a necessary suffering for the chance to live beyond these walls.Time stretched, seconds warping into endless moments as the darkness swallowed us whole. The deeper we ventured, the more suffocating it became—like the walls themselves were closing in, trying to trap us in this labyrinth beneath the camp.Then, finally, we reached it.The turn. The first and last checkpoint of our escape.Without hesitation, we veered left, our movements quick, desperate. My breath came in sharp, ragged gasps, but I ignored the burn in my chest. We were close. So close. Just a little farther, and we would be free.And yet—A figure.A sliver of something unnatural in the dark, its silhouette lingering just beyond the bend. My heart seized, a cold dread seeping into my bones like ice. It was nothing, I told myself. A trick of the shadows. A twisted illusion cast by our flickering torchlight.But then the shadow moved.Every muscle in my body locked into place as my breath hitched in my throat. Tobias went rigid beside me. "Oh, bloody hell," he whispered, voice a strained rasp. "You see it too, don't you?"Before I could answer, the figure stepped forward, peeling away from the darkness like something born of it. My stomach lurched.Father Gideon.He stood before us, calm, composed, as if he had been expecting us all along. And he was not alone.Two Watchers flanked him, their presence more monstrous than ever in the flickering dimness, their inhuman stillness a silent promise of what was to come.We had been caught."Oh, children, how predictable." Father Gideon's voice drifted through the tunnels, smooth as silk yet laced with something sharp, something jagged. A blade wrapped in velvet. "You truly thought I wouldn't notice?"His words slithered around us, wrapping tight like a noose. My breath came shallow, barely audible over the distant trickling of water. We exchanged glances, our faces half-swallowed by the dim light. No one spoke. No one moved. The weight of our failure pressed down on us, heavy and suffocating.Think. Think. There had to be a way out. A way to fight. A way to run. But my mind was a barren wasteland, stripped of ideas, as empty as my stomach had been in the slums."What? You're just going to stand there?"Gideon's voice again, not targeted at us. But at Elias.My blood ran cold as I watched him twist out of Tobias's grip, his movements eerily calm, deliberate. He stepped forward, toward Gideon, toward them, and something inside me cracked, sharp and painful, like a splinter burrowing into flesh.Father Gideon smiled. Not wide, not indulgent—just a small, knowing smirk. "You did well, Elias," he murmured, placing a gentle hand on my brother's shoulder, his voice dripping with approval. "You are a brave soldier of God."The world tilted.No.No, this wasn't happening.I tried to move, to run, but my body refused. My legs were stone, lead, shackles bound by the sheer horror of realization. And then—"What are you waiting for?" Gideon's voice rang out, low and commanding. A final decree. A death sentence."Get them."The Watchers moved.Too fast. Too precise. A blur of motion in the suffocating dark.A flash—A struggle—And then—Nothing.Just darkness.