The Door to Nowhere

Chapter 7: The Door to Nowhere

A cold, skeletal hand shot from the darkness, reaching for me. My breath hitched as Sophie yanked me backward just in time. The shadowy fingers barely grazed my jacket, but the fabric froze instantly, turning brittle like glass.

I stumbled, my heart hammering. "That voice… it was my mother."

Sophie's grip tightened. "It wasn't your mother. That thing is lying to you."

The Gatekeeper remained motionless, his brass key still extended toward the gaping doorway. The whispers swirled like a hurricane, turning into a chaotic chorus of voices—pleading, calling, tricking.

Mark finally found the hatch behind the counter and wrenched it open. "Down here!"

The wounded stranger didn't hesitate. He half-limped, half-stumbled toward the opening and dropped down into the darkness. Sophie followed, her eyes flickering between me and the swirling shadows spilling from the mysterious door.

But I couldn't move.

The voice from beyond the door kept calling, growing softer, more desperate.

"Ethan… please… don't leave me."

I clenched my fists. It sounded so real. The way my mother had spoken to me when I was younger—gentle, comforting. Every part of me screamed that it was a lie, that it was just another trick of Ravengate.

But what if it wasn't?

What if she was really in there?

A shadow flickered at the threshold of the door—something shifting, twisting into shape. A woman's silhouette emerged from the darkness, her features obscured by the swirling void behind her.

My mother.

Or something wearing her face.

I took a shaky step forward.

Mark grabbed me. "No! Ethan, listen to me—you step through that door, you're gone. It's a trap!"

I hesitated.

The figure in the doorway extended a hand. "Ethan… come home."

My breathing turned shallow. I could feel the cold radiating from the door, sinking into my bones.

The Gatekeeper tilted his head ever so slightly.

Then, he whispered.

The sound was like wind through dead leaves, hollow and endless. The moment the whisper touched my ears, something in me snapped. The illusion wavered—the figure in the doorway shuddered, distorting like a reflection in a rippling lake.

It wasn't her.

It was something else.

Something that had been watching me.

A deep, guttural growl rumbled from the open door. The figure's outstretched hand shattered, dissolving into tendrils of black mist.

Then the entire doorway lurched forward as if the void itself was trying to consume me.

"ETHAN, MOVE!"

Sophie's scream snapped me out of my trance. I turned and dived for the hatch.

The moment my body cleared the opening, Mark slammed the hatch shut above us.

Darkness.

I hit the ground hard, gasping for breath. My limbs ached, my mind reeling from what I had just seen.

Sophie's flashlight flickered on, casting eerie shadows across the underground storage room. Dusty shelves lined the walls, stocked with rotting food and rusted cans. The air was thick with the scent of mildew and damp wood.

The stranger groaned from the corner, clutching his wound. "You almost didn't make it."

I ran a hand through my sweat-soaked hair. "What was that thing?"

"The city's trap," he murmured. "It knows what you want. What you long for." He exhaled shakily. "It uses that against you."

Sophie hugged her arms, shivering. "And that guy—the Gatekeeper. He didn't try to stop us?"

The stranger shook his head. "He only listens. He's not here to chase you. He's here to open doors."

Mark rubbed his face, still shaken. "Doors to where?"

The stranger's expression darkened. "Not all doors lead to places you want to go."

A chilling silence settled over us.

Then—

BOOM.

The hatch above us shuddered violently as something slammed into it from above.

My blood ran cold.

The whispers returned, but now they were angry. A distorted, garbled version of my name rasped from above.

Sophie's grip on the flashlight tightened. "It knows we're still here."

Mark's eyes darted around the basement. "There has to be another way out."

The stranger gestured weakly toward a rusted door on the far side of the room. "That leads to the tunnels beneath Ravengate. But they're worse than the streets."

I swallowed hard.

We were trapped.

And no matter which way we went… something was waiting for us.

To be continued…