The call of Abyss

Ethan stood in the dimly lit hallway, his heart hammering in his chest. The weight of Anna's gaze burned into him, but he couldn't bring himself to look away. The shadows in Daniel's room still pulsed, shifting restlessly as if waiting for something—waiting for him.

Anna's breath was uneven, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "What the hell was that?" she whispered, her voice barely steady. "What's happening to you, Ethan?"

Ethan exhaled slowly, feeling the unseen tendrils of darkness curling around his thoughts. "I don't know yet."

"That's not good enough." Her voice sharpened, edged with something close to desperation. "That thing in his room… it responded to you."

Ethan hesitated, then nodded. "It did."

Anna swallowed hard. "And you weren't scared."

He wasn't. Not of the shadows. Not of what he had become. Not anymore. He could feel their whispers slipping deeper into his mind, weaving through his thoughts like vines claiming a ruin.

She took a step closer, her face pale. "I want to believe there's still a way out of this, Ethan. But if you don't fight it—"

"There is no fighting it," he interrupted, his voice quieter now. "It's part of me."

Anna stared at him, her lips parting as if to argue, but no words came. Silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken things, with growing distance.

A sound from behind them made both of them turn. Daniel had slipped from his bed and was now standing just outside the doorway. He clutched the hem of his pajama shirt, his small frame tense.

"They're still watching," he murmured.

Ethan turned back to the room, his jaw tightening. The shadows had not retreated. They remained, clinging to the corners, silent but expectant.

He could feel them waiting.

A Test of Power

Ethan took a slow step forward, crossing the threshold of Daniel's room. The moment he entered, the air grew thick, charged with something unseen yet undeniably real. His skin prickled, his breath felt heavier.

The shadows stirred in response.

Ethan extended a hand toward them, fingers curling slightly. The whispers grew louder, more distinct. Words formed in the dark, half-understood phrases slipping through his mind like ink spilling into water.

Feed.

Claim.

Become.

He wasn't sure how he did it, but instinct took over. He pulled—not with his body, but with something deeper, something within him. The darkness obeyed.

It shifted, unraveling from the walls and pooling toward his outstretched hand. The room grew darker, the very air humming with energy. Anna gasped behind him, but Ethan barely heard her.

The shadow coiled around his fingers like a living thing, slithering up his arm, sinking beneath his skin. A jolt of raw power surged through him, burning and freezing at once. His vision blurred at the edges, a strange sensation flooding his veins.

It felt good.

It felt right.

Daniel whimpered. "Daddy… stop."

The small voice hit Ethan like a physical blow. He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to loosen his grip, to let go. The darkness recoiled, slipping away, slinking back into the corners. The pressure in the air lessened, and the room returned to a fragile, uneasy stillness.

Ethan turned back to his son. Daniel's face was pale, his eyes wide with something far worse than just fear.

It was recognition.

He knows, Ethan realized. He sees what I am becoming.

Anna moved quickly, stepping between them and pulling Daniel back. Her expression was unreadable, but the tension in her body told him everything.

She didn't trust him.

Not anymore.

The Unseen Observer

Ethan clenched his fists and stepped back. His mind was still racing, his pulse still thrumming with the remnants of whatever he had just done.

But something else stirred at the edges of his awareness.

Something outside.

Without a word, he turned and walked past Anna and Daniel, making his way downstairs. He reached the front door and pulled it open, stepping out onto the porch.

The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and the distant smoke of burning wood from somewhere in the neighborhood. The street was empty, silent except for the faint rustling of trees swaying in the night breeze.

But he wasn't alone.

Ethan's gaze flickered toward the far end of the street, where the glow of a streetlamp barely reached. A figure stood there, shrouded in shadow, watching him.

Even from this distance, Ethan could feel the weight of their stare.

They knew what he had done.

And they were waiting.

A Challenge

Ethan stepped down from the porch, his movements slow, deliberate. The presence at the end of the street didn't move, didn't react. But the air around them shimmered—just slightly—like heat rising from the pavement.

Not human.

Ethan exhaled, the whispers in his head stirring once more. He could feel the thing in the distance, its presence pressing against the edges of his awareness. It wasn't just watching.

It was testing him.

Ethan's fingers twitched, the memory of the shadows curling around his arm still fresh. Power hummed beneath his skin, waiting, ready.

Anna's voice broke through the haze. "Ethan!"

He paused, glancing back toward the house. She stood in the doorway, Daniel behind her, both of them watching him with mirrored expressions of fear.

But Anna's fear was different now.

Not just fear of what he could do.

Fear of what he was about to do.

Ethan turned back to the street—but the figure was gone.

The night was still once more, but he knew better than to believe it was over.

Whatever had been watching him wasn't done.

And neither was he.

As he stepped back inside, the shadows followed, clinging to his heels like eager hounds.

The transformation was accelerating.