The Mask of One Soul

Anna's heart hammered in her chest as she stared at Ethan—or what remained of him.

He lay sprawled on the floor, his chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths. His skin was slick with sweat, his face pale and drawn. But his eyes...

His eyes were wrong.

The deep brown irises she knew so well were gone, replaced by a swirling shade of silver-black, like liquid mercury shifting with each flicker of light. It wasn't just a color change; it was the way they moved—like something alive was watching her from beneath the surface.

"Ethan?" she whispered, though her throat tightened around the name.

He blinked, slowly, as if processing the word. His lips parted, and a smile, faint but disturbingly familiar, tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Anna." His voice was soft—Ethan's voice—but the warmth she expected wasn't there. It was too smooth, too composed.

Anna's grip tightened around the knife she'd pulled from her boot. "Are you... in there?"

His head tilted slightly. The gesture was so familiar—Ethan had always done that when she asked a question that caught him off guard. But now, the movement was too precise, too calculated.

"I'm here." He tapped his temple with two fingers. "He's here." His hand shifted to rest over his abdomen. "We're all here."

Anna's pulse spiked. "Victoria."

The smile grew wider. "Always."

The room felt smaller now, the walls bending inward under the oppressive weight of the bond that now pulsed from Ethan like heat off asphalt. Anna shifted her stance, her legs tense, prepared to bolt if necessary.

"I'm going to help you," she said, forcing calm into her voice. "Whatever she's done to you... I can fix it."

Ethan's expression softened, and for an instant, Anna thought she saw a flicker of the man she knew. His lips parted to respond—but then he winced, doubling over as though someone had struck him from within.

His breath quickened. His nails dug into the floorboards. His eyes squeezed shut.

And when he looked up again, the silver-black swirl was gone.

"Anna—" His voice cracked, raw and panicked. His eyes—his real eyes—were wide with fear. "She's... she's everywhere. I can feel her in my bones." His hands clutched at his abdomen. "The baby... it's... I can't stop her."

Anna dropped to her knees beside him. "Listen to me. Focus on my voice. You're Ethan. She's not you."

He gasped, shaking his head violently. "No. You don't... understand." His face twisted with anguish. "The baby... isn't just her. It's—"

His eyes glazed over again.

The tremor of awareness that followed was instant. Anna could see it—the shift—as the tension in his body dissolved. His breathing steadied. His shoulders squared.

And when he looked at her again, the silver-black was back.

Victoria smiled through Ethan's mouth. "Such devotion," she murmured. "Such hope."

Anna's fingers tightened around the knife. "Let him go."

Victoria's eyes gleamed. "He doesn't want me gone, Anna. Not really." Her fingers brushed along Ethan's abdomen. "Not when we've come so far."

Anna swallowed the bile rising in her throat. "What... exactly... are you growing inside him?"

Victoria's expression shifted into something almost maternal. "The culmination of centuries of wasted effort." Her voice turned reflective. "Humans have always tried to break through the veil. To reach beyond death. They feared it, obsessed over it, fought it." She sighed softly. "But death isn't something to defeat. It's something to become."

Anna's skin crawled. "The child... isn't just a demon."

Victoria's smile deepened. "It's... transcendence. A being unbound by mortal laws. Neither ghost nor human. Neither demon nor god." She ran Ethan's hand across his abdomen, the touch reverent. "Our child will be the key that unlocks the thin walls between worlds."

Her eyes met Anna's, glinting with triumph. "And I'll stand at the door it opens."

Anna's heart slammed against her ribs. "You want to break the barrier between the living and the dead."

Victoria's laugh was soft. "I already have, darling. The city was just the beginning. The child will make it... permanent."

Anna lunged.

The knife arced toward Ethan's abdomen—not to harm him, but to sever the link she now realized was feeding Victoria's power. The symbols Elias had etched on the blade glinted in the dim light.

Victoria's eyes flicked to the weapon, and for the first time, her smile faltered.

The blade slashed downward—

Ethan's hand moved faster.

He caught Anna's wrist mid-swing, his grip unnaturally strong. The force of it sent a shock of pain up her arm, and she gasped, her knees buckling beneath her.

Ethan stood smoothly, dragging her upward by her wrist. His face was pale, his lips bloodless, but his strength was undeniable.

The voice that spoke wasn't Victoria's this time. It was Ethan's.

"Don't." His eyes burned with silver light.

Anna gritted her teeth, fighting against his iron grip. "You know what she's doing. You told me to help you."

His jaw tightened. His eyes flickered, uncertainty warring with something darker. "It's not... that simple."

Anna's chest constricted. "Then make it simple. She's using you. She's going to destroy everything you care about."

For a fleeting moment, Ethan's eyes softened. His grip loosened, just slightly. Anna saw it—the hesitation.

But then he flinched. His back arched as if something inside him had pulled his strings. His lips parted on a ragged breath.

And when he looked at her again, the mercy was gone.

Victoria's voice slipped from his mouth like silk. "He can't fight me anymore." She twisted Anna's wrist further, forcing her to drop the knife. It clattered to the floor.

Anna bit back a scream.

Victoria smiled. "The bond is stronger than his will. And soon... it'll be stronger than yours."

Anna spat blood onto the floor. "Go to hell."

Victoria's laughter was cold. "Hell came here, sweetheart."

Ethan's free hand rose. His fingers twitched in the air.

The shadows in the room coiled, writhing along the walls like serpents. They stretched toward Anna, slithering across the floor with unnatural speed.

Anna's pulse spiked.

The shadows lunged.

She dove for the knife.

The shadows struck her legs like living ropes, tightening around her ankles. Anna hit the floor hard, the impact rattling her teeth. The blade was inches from her fingertips. She stretched—

Victoria's voice was sharp and commanding. "Enough."

The shadows yanked Anna backward, dragging her across the wooden floor. Her nails scratched against the boards as she fought the pull.

Ethan moved toward her, his steps slow and deliberate. Victoria's power rolled off him in cold, suffocating waves.

Anna's breath caught in her throat as he knelt beside her. His silver-black eyes locked with hers. His hand pressed against her chest.

The weight of his power pressed down, squeezing the air from her lungs. Her vision blurred. Her heartbeat slowed.

Victoria's voice, gentle and terrifying, whispered through Ethan's lips:

"Sleep, Anna. You're not part of this story anymore."

Anna's eyelids grew heavy. The darkness surged.

The last thing she saw before consciousness slipped away was Ethan's face—

And for a single heartbeat, beneath the silver, she saw his eyes begging her for forgiveness.