Chapter 54: A Soul Unknown

Victoria hovered, her form flickering, her ghostly body feeling weaker than ever before. The thing inside Ellie's body was smirking, watching her with cold amusement.

Ben stood frozen, his heart pounding. He could see Victoria struggling, something he'd never seen before. She had always been the most powerful presence in the room—terrifying, unstoppable, relentless.

But now?

She looked…defeated.

Victoria's voice came out ragged, shaken. "Who… no… what are you?"

Ellie's body moved with unnatural grace, slow and deliberate, as if the thing inside her was getting used to its new skin. The smile widened. "I am what was waiting. What was forgotten. What you awakened when you tried to take what wasn't yours."*

The air thickened, as if the very fabric of reality was pressing down on them. Victoria tried to lash out, her hands glowing with ghostly energy, but the moment she moved—

The thing inside Ellie tilted its head.

And Victoria was slammed against the ceiling.

A guttural, inhuman scream tore from her throat as unseen force crushed her, holding her in place. Her body flickered violently, pain unlike anything she had ever known ripping through her soul.

"You don't belong here," the thing whispered, eyes glowing with an eerie golden hue. "You were meant to fade, Victoria. And now, you will."*

Victoria choked, her form shrinking, her very essence being ripped apart.

Ben lunged forward. "STOP!"* he shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. "You're killing her!"*

Ellie's body turned toward him, slowly, unnervingly. "Killing?" it echoed. "You speak of death as if it is unfamiliar to you, Ben."*

Ben's breath hitched. A chill ran down his spine.

That voice.

It wasn't Ellie. It wasn't Victoria.

It was something else entirely.

"W-what do you mean?" Ben whispered.

The thing smiled. "You should know. You've sent people to their deaths before, haven't you?"

Ben stumbled backward, his face draining of color. "I—I didn't—"

"Didn't you?"

Victoria screamed again, her body trembling, her form fading faster.

"Please!" she gasped, struggling against the invisible force crushing her existence.

The thing in Ellie's body sighed, almost as if bored. "You wanted power, Victoria. But power has consequences."*

With a flick of its wrist, Victoria was thrown down, her ghostly body crashing into the floor. She lay there, trembling, weakened, exposed, vulnerable.

Ben dropped to his knees beside her. "Victoria…" he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open, pain and terror reflected in them. "B-Ben…" she choked out, for the first time looking less like a vengeful ghost and more like a scared girl who had lost everything.

The thing inside Ellie took a step forward, eyes gleaming. "Now," it purred, "let's talk about who really deserves to stay… and who deserves to disappear."*

Ben looked up at it, his heart hammering. He had lost Ellie, lost Victoria, and now—

He was face to face with something beyond his worst nightmares.

And it wasn't finished yet.