Chapter 6: Whispers in the Dark

Chapter 6: Whispers in the Dark

Jack remained frozen, staring at the glowing sigil on the floor of the abandoned train car. His breath came in short, sharp bursts, his body still reeling from the visions that had just flooded his mind. Shadow stood by his side, growling low, his golden eyes locked onto the pulsating energy in the metal beneath them.

Jack clenched his fists. He had come here searching for answers, but all he had found was more mystery. The sigil was unlike anything he had seen before—intricate, ancient, and humming with an unsettling energy. The symbols twisted and shifted, almost alive, and though Jack couldn't read them, they felt eerily familiar, like something lurking at the edge of his memory.

A deep, guttural whisper filled the air.

Jack jerked back, spinning around. The shadows in the train car stretched unnaturally, twisting into shapes that shouldn't exist. His pulse pounded. The voice wasn't coming from any one direction—it was everywhere, threading through the walls, seeping into his very bones.

**"You do not belong here."**

Jack gritted his teeth, raising the **Emberfang Crowbar**. "Yeah, well, neither do you."

The air grew colder, thick with an unnatural chill. Shadow let out a warning bark, and Jack shifted his stance, preparing for an attack. The blue energy from the sigil suddenly surged upward, forming a thin mist that swirled in the air like living smoke.

Then, the whispers intensified.

Images flashed in Jack's mind—figures cloaked in darkness, standing in a circle around a burning sigil, their voices raised in an incantation. A pulse of energy shot through them, and one by one, they collapsed. Then, silence. 

Jack gasped, stumbling back. **What the hell was that?**

Shadow barked again, snapping Jack back to the present. The mist was moving, slithering toward him like reaching fingers. Jack's instincts screamed at him to run, but he forced himself to stand his ground. If he ran from every terrifying thing that appeared, he'd never get the answers he needed.

He took a deep breath, forcing his mind to focus. If this place had been used for something dark, something supernatural, then there had to be a reason he had been drawn here. The sigil—whatever it was—was a key. He just had to figure out what it unlocked.

Jack knelt beside the sigil, reaching for his **Spectral Vision Goggles**. He slid them over his eyes and activated them. The world shifted, taking on a strange, otherworldly hue. The mist that surrounded him now pulsed with lines of energy, leading outward from the sigil in a network of glowing veins.

Jack followed the glowing trails with his eyes. They stretched beyond the train car, weaving through the wreckage of the yard. Whatever had been summoned here had left its mark far beyond this one place.

Then he saw it.

A figure stood just outside the train car, barely visible through the glowing mist. It was humanoid but blurred, like it was caught between worlds. Jack's breath caught in his throat as the figure turned its head toward him. **It had no face.**

Shadow's growl deepened, his fur bristling. Jack rose to his feet, gripping his weapon tighter. The figure didn't move, didn't speak. It simply watched.

Jack swallowed hard. "What do you want?"

The whispers returned, but this time, they didn't feel like an attack. They wove through his mind like threads, tugging at something deep within.

**"You seek knowledge."**

Jack stiffened. **It was responding to me.**

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. I do."

The mist thickened, and the figure's form began to shift, as if it was struggling to remain solid. Then, without warning, it raised a hand and pointed toward the sigil.

Jack hesitated, then turned back to the symbols. The mist was now swirling faster around them, like a storm gathering power. His gut told him that he was on the verge of something huge—something dangerous. But there was no turning back now.

He knelt and pressed his palm flat against the center of the sigil.

Pain exploded through his skull.

A rush of voices crashed into his mind, speaking in a language he didn't understand. The train yard vanished, replaced by flashes of people he had never met, places he had never seen. A temple carved into a mountain, a burning city, a door made of obsidian and bone. A name echoed through his thoughts, foreign yet familiar.

**"Eldrin."**

Jack's eyes snapped open, his entire body shaking. He was back in the train yard, on his hands and knees, gasping for breath. Shadow whined, pressing against him.

The sigil's glow had dimmed, but the energy still pulsed faintly beneath his hand. Jack lifted his gaze. The faceless figure was gone.

Jack clenched his fists. He didn't understand everything he had seen, but he had a direction now. A name. 

**Eldrin.**

Whatever it was, whoever it was—it was the next piece of the puzzle.

Jack wiped the sweat from his brow and rose to his feet. His body still ached from the vision, but he ignored it. He had come looking for answers, and now, he had the first real clue.

He glanced at Shadow, who wagged his tail once, as if ready to follow wherever this path led next.

Jack took one last look at the sigil before turning toward the exit of the train yard. There was no stopping now.

The hunt for the truth had begun.

**To be continued...**