Story 970: The Hollow Man's Grin

The tunnels breathed.

Draven could hear it—a low, shuddering inhale that rattled the station walls. The girl in white stood motionless, her blackened eye sockets fixed on him. The last thing she had said still rang in his skull.

"Run."

A second breath, closer this time.

The air behind Draven thickened, curling with something unseen yet suffocating. His instincts screamed at him to turn around, to see what had crawled from the void.

He didn’t.

Instead, he bolted.

His boots slammed against the cracked stone platform as he sprinted for the rusted exit gate. His fingers brushed the cold metal—

A hand clamped onto his shoulder.

Not a normal hand. Too long. Too many fingers.

Draven whipped around—and found himself face to face with nothing.

The tunnel was empty. The girl in white was gone.

But the shadows rippled, stretching unnaturally toward him. A familiar voice slithered from the darkness, dripping with cruel amusement.

"You can’t run, Draven."