Chapter 66: The Fight to Exist
Ellie screamed, but the void swallowed the sound.
The thing—the monstrous, shifting entity—dug deeper into her soul, piercing through whatever remained of her existence. It wasn't just trying to hurt her.
It was trying to erase her.
The blackness around her twisted, crackling with unseen forces. The air itself was poisoned with the scent of decay, of forgotten souls who had begged before her—and lost.
"No," Ellie thought, panic rising. "I can't let this happen."
Her limbs—if she still had them—wouldn't move.
Her voice—if she could still speak—was failing.
She was dissolving.
And no one was coming to save her.
She had meddled with the wrong world.
She had tried to help Victoria.
She had paid the price.
Terror gripped her. Was this it? Was she about to disappear?
"Please," she whispered, forcing the words from lips that no longer felt real. "Let me live."
The thing paused.
Its many eyes swirled, shifting, studying her.
The void whispered.
"Beg."
Ellie's breath hitched.
"Beg like the others did before you."
The shadows laughed, mocking her.
She swallowed her pride. She had no choice.
"Please." Her voice cracked. "Please, don't take me. I— I didn't know. I made a mistake."
The darkness shuddered.
The thing was listening.
But it wasn't moved.
It tightened its grip. Ellie's essence screamed in agony.
The abyss pulsed with voices.
"They all beg."
"They all fight."
"And yet… they all fade."
Her heart lurched.
No.
No. She couldn't disappear.
She had to fight.
With everything she had left, she thrashed against the thing's grasp. She kicked, clawed, screamed.
The shadows rippled with fury, but she didn't care.
"I will not be erased."
The thing shrieked in anger as Ellie pushed back.
A bright, searing force erupted from within her—raw, desperate, pure survival.
The void howled.
The thing reeled back.
Ellie felt herself torn from its grip.
And then—
She fell.
Fell fast, through the endless abyss—
Fell into the unknown.
But one thing was clear.
She had survived.
For now.