She's in the DARK!

The mark on the ground faded, but its presence lingered in the chilled night air like an unwelcome guest that refused to leave. Ethan and Anna stood in the town square long after the glow had disappeared, their eyes fixed on the spot where the symbol had burned itself into the stone. The silence around them wasn't just absence of sound—it was thick, pressing against their skin, seeping into their bones.

Anna was the first to break the stillness. "It's not just calling us," she whispered, her voice tight with unease. "It's spreading."

Ethan nodded, though his mind was still racing to catch up with what he was feeling. The city was gone—he had seen it collapse with his own eyes, felt it disintegrate beneath his feet. But the pulse, that low, persistent thrum he thought he'd left behind, was still there. And it wasn't fading.

If anything, it was growing stronger.

They moved through the town, their footsteps cautious against the cracked pavement. The buildings around them loomed like silent sentinels, their windows dark, their doors slightly ajar, as if the whole town had exhaled and never inhaled again.

Anna kept her hand close to her sidearm, her sharp eyes scanning every shadow. "This place is wrong," she muttered under her breath.

Ethan didn't argue. Every instinct in his body screamed that they shouldn't be here, that whatever had touched this town was still watching them. But they had no choice. The mark had been left for a reason, and ignoring it wouldn't make the problem disappear.

As they turned a corner, Ethan stopped abruptly, causing Anna to nearly collide with him. She followed his gaze, and her breath caught in her throat.

At the far end of the street, illuminated by the flickering glow of a faulty streetlamp, was another mark. But this one was different—larger, more intricate. The symbol pulsed faintly, as if breathing, and the closer they got, the more the air around them seemed to vibrate with a low, unsettling hum.

"It's multiplying," Ethan whispered, his voice barely audible over the sound of his own heartbeat.

Anna swallowed hard. "What the hell is it doing?"

Ethan didn't answer immediately. He crouched down beside the mark, his fingers hovering just above the surface. He could feel it—not just the energy, but the intention behind it. The city wasn't just leaving breadcrumbs. It was rewritingthe world around them, one mark at a time.

And it was using Victoria to do it.

"This isn't just a message," Ethan finally said, standing slowly. "It's a blueprint."

Anna's eyes narrowed. "A blueprint for what?"

Ethan met her gaze, his expression grim. "For bringing the city back."

Miles away, in the liminal space where reality blurred and twisted, Victoria stood at the edge of a world she was no longer a part of—and yet, she was its architect.

The power coursing through her veins was intoxicating, a symphony of light and shadow that hummed in perfect harmony with her heartbeat. She could feel the city's pulse echoing in every fiber of her being, its rhythms now her own. The marks she had left in the town weren't just symbols—they were anchors, tethering the city's essence to the physical world, allowing it to seep back in through the cracks.

And soon, the city wouldn't just exist in the shadows.

It would be everywhere.

Victoria closed her eyes, reaching out with senses that extended far beyond the human realm. She could feel Ethan and Anna moving through the town, their confusion and fear like flickers of light in the dark. They thought they had won. They thought they had escaped.

But they didn't understand the game.

Not like she did.

With a flick of her wrist, Victoria sent another ripple through the fabric of reality, her influence spreading further, faster. The city wasn't just returning—it was evolving.

And so was she.

Ethan and Anna moved deeper into the town, the marks growing more frequent, more elaborate. Each one seemed to pulse with a life of its own, the symbols shifting subtly when they weren't looking, as if they were watching, waiting.

"This isn't sustainable," Anna muttered, her voice low. "We can't keep following these signs without knowing where they lead."

Ethan nodded, but his mind was already working through the possibilities. They needed to find the source, the epicenter of this spreading corruption. If they could cut it off, maybe—just maybe—they could stop the city from reconstituting itself.

They reached what appeared to be the town's old municipal building, its facade crumbling, windows shattered. But it wasn't the building that caught Ethan's attention.

It was the silence.

Inside, the air was thick, heavy with a presence that made the hair on the back of Ethan's neck stand on end. The marks were everywhere, covering the walls, the floors, even the ceiling, all pulsing in unison like a single, beating heart.

At the center of the room stood a figure.

Not Victoria.

Something else.

It was human in shape but wrong in every other way. Its skin was too smooth, its eyes glowing with that same unnatural light Ethan had seen in Victoria's. But this thing was different.

It was a construct.

A piece of the city itself, manifested in the physical world.

Anna's hand flew to her weapon, but Ethan stopped her with a shake of his head. "Wait," he whispered.

The figure tilted its head, as if studying them, and then it spoke. Its voice was a distorted echo, layered with countless others, all speaking in unison.

"You cannot stop what has already begun."

Ethan stepped forward, his pulse quickening. "Where's Victoria?"

The figure's smile was cold, mechanical. "She is everywhere. She is the city now."

Anna's breath hitched. "What do you want from us?"

The figure's eyes glowed brighter, and the room seemed to pulse with its words.

"To choose."

Ethan frowned. "Choose what?"

The figure's smile widened, and for the first time, Ethan felt true fear settle in his chest.

"To become part of the city… or be consumed by it."

The marks on the walls pulsed faster, the room vibrating with an energy that made Ethan's teeth ache.

They didn't have much time.

Ethan grabbed Anna's hand, pulling her back toward the entrance. "We're not playing your game," he spat over his shoulder.

But as they reached the door, the figure's final words echoed after them, chilling Ethan to his core.

"You're already in the game, Ethan. You never left."