Chapter 59: Swallowed by the Abyss

Ellie fell.

The sensation was endless—like she was plummeting through a bottomless void, her body weightless yet crushed by an unseen force. The air was thick, heavy, suffocating. The darkness around her wasn't just blackness—it was alive, curling around her like tendrils of shadow, whispering her name in a language she couldn't understand.

Then—

Impact.

Ellie hit the ground hard, the force knocking the breath from her lungs. She gasped, coughing, her fingers clawing at what felt like wet stone beneath her. Where am I?

The whispers stopped.

The silence was worse.

Ellie pushed herself up, but something wasn't right. The air felt wrong, pressing against her skin with a weight that made her bones ache. The ground beneath her was too smooth, too cold, as if she was lying on something not meant for the living.

And then…

A heartbeat.

But not hers.

Deep. Slow. Heavy.

It echoed through the cavernous blackness, vibrating through her chest, rattling her ribs. The sound was everywhere, inside her, around her.

Something was here.

Watching. Waiting.

Ellie forced herself to stand, her legs shaking. "H-Hello?" Her voice was barely a whisper, but it felt devoured by the darkness before it even left her lips.

Then—

A low, guttural breath.

It came from behind her.

Ellie whipped around, her pulse hammering. The shadows shifted, forming something—a shape. A towering, shifting mass of blackness that pulsed like a living thing. It had no face, no eyes, but she could feel it staring.

And then it spoke.

A voice that wasn't a voice, a sound that crawled into her mind rather than her ears.

"You do not belong here."

Ellie's throat closed.

The shadows lurched forward.

A sharp, icy pain shot through her chest.

And then—

Everything went black.