Jax’s Diner
Jax stood behind the counter, his hands pressed against the surface like he was holding himself together.
His hoodie was torn, stained with something dark. His eyes—wide, unblinking—weren't quite right.
Maya sucked in a breath. "Jax?"
He flinched. His fingers twitched.
Ethan stepped forward, his chest tight. "Jax, man… it's us."
Jax's head tilted slightly, like he was listening to something they couldn't hear.
Then he blinked—fast, too many times at once.
He didn't answer.
Maya shot Ethan a nervous glance.
Something was wrong.
Jax was here, but… not all the way.
Ethan's pulse pounded. "Jax, do you remember us?"
Jax's lips moved.
A dry, cracked whisper came out.
"…Ethan."
His voice sounded like it had been scraped raw.
Maya swallowed. "Yeah, Jax, it's us. We found you."
Jax shook his head, slow and jerky. "No. No, no, no, no, no—"
His breathing hitched. His chest rose and fell too fast.
Ethan took another step closer. "Hey, calm down, man—"
Jax's hand slammed against the counter.
The lights flickered.
Maya jumped.
Ethan froze.
The air in the diner shifted, like the walls had just breathed in.
Jax lifted his head slowly.
His eyes weren't normal.
The pupils were too wide, swallowing most of the color. His veins were dark, like ink spreading under his skin.
And when he opened his mouth, Ethan's stomach turned.
His teeth weren't right.
Some were too sharp, others too small—like they were still changing.
Maya's grip on Ethan's sleeve tightened.
"What the hell is wrong with him?" she whispered.
Jax's mouth twitched.
And then—
He laughed.
A low, hollow sound.
Like something else was laughing through him.
Maya took a step back. "Ethan, we have to go."
But Ethan couldn't move.
Because behind Jax, in the mirror lining the diner's back wall—
Jax wasn't alone.
The reflection showed something else standing behind him.
Something tall, its shape wrong, its eyes just two burning holes.
And it was watching them.
Ethan's breath hitched.
Jax's voice dropped to a whisper.
"You shouldn't have come here."
The lights cut out.
And everything went black.
The darkness swallowed everything.
No flickering lights. No neon glow. Just—pure black.
Maya gasped beside Ethan, her fingers digging into his sleeve.
"Ethan—where is he?"
Ethan's heart slammed against his ribs.
He couldn't see Jax. Couldn't see anything.
The diner was silent now.
Not normal silence—heavy silence. Like the kind in a room when someone is waiting for you to speak first.
A shape shifted ahead.
Not footsteps. Something… else.
Then—
A voice.
Jax's voice.
But it wasn't right.
"…Ethan."
It came from somewhere in front of them.
Then again—from behind.
Ethan's breath caught.
Two places at once.
Maya's grip on his arm tightened. "That's not him."
A light flashed.
For a split second, the diner flickered back into existence—and Ethan saw Jax.
Or… something wearing him.
Jax's hoodie was stained with black sludge, dripping from his sleeves. His skin looked stretched too tight over his bones. His veins pulsed, like something was crawling underneath.
And his eyes—
Wide, black, bottomless.
The light blinked out again.
Maya sucked in a breath. "Oh, hell no."
Jax's voice came again—closer.
"You shouldn't have come back."
Ethan forced his legs to move, yanking Maya with him.
Something scuttled across the floor.
Jax's voice shifted—lower, layered, like multiple voices talking at once.
"You're still in the game, Ethan."
Maya ripped Ethan toward the door. "RUN."
They bolted.
The ground beneath them twisted. The walls rippled, like the whole diner was breathing.
They slammed into the exit—
And stumbled out into something that wasn't New York anymore.
The street was warped.
The buildings twisted up into the sky, stretched too high, too thin. The air rippled, like heat over pavement—but the air was freezing.
And worse—
The signs had changed.
Maya pointed at one, her voice shaking. "That said Fulton Street before."
Ethan stared.
She was right.
Now, the rusted metal read:
WELCOME TO THE END.
Ethan's stomach dropped.
The nightmare had followed them out.