Chapter Eleven: Shadows Don’t Sleep

silence.

Heavy. Suffocating. Absolute.

Ivy stirred first, her cheek pressed against something cold and moist. Her fingers twitched as she blinked, blinking into pitch blackness once again. A hum echoed beneath her - deep, ancient. Not sound exactly. More like… breath.

A pulse.

"Ethan?" His voice was a broken whisper.

No answer.

She pushed herself onto her elbow, pain spidering through her organs. The silver glow in her veins had faded for a dull heartbeat. Whatever power she'd channeled—it had drained her.

"Ethan?" She called loudly.

Still no answer.

Then movement. To her left.

She turned quickly, wide her eyes. A figure emerged from the shadows, slow and cautious

Thorne.

"Ivy." Relief flickers on her face. "You're alive."

"barely." She tried to stand, but stumbled. He caught her before she hit the ground.

"We are not where we were," he said. "This is not ruins."

The wind was cold. Thicker. And there were no signs of Ethan. Or Thalia.

Or the first alpha.

"Where are we?" Asked Ivy, throat dry.

Thorne looked up. There was no roof, there were no stars. Just an endless black void over them. The floor beneath their feet was stone, but not as before - this one shimmered faintly with symbols Ivy couldn't recognize.

"A different layer," Thorne said. "A fracture between realms. The Hollow is splitted."

Ivy's chest tightened. "And Ethan?"

He didn't answer.

"No," she snapped. " say it."

"I don't know. He could've fallen through another gate."

She gritted her teeth, shoving his hands off as she stood. "We have to find him."

"We will ." Thorne's gaze swept the void. "But if Thalia survived the collapse, she will be hunting for you now. This place - it's not bound by time. We could be walking in circles forever."

Ivy Squared her shoulders. "Then we won't go in circles. We're going to the bridge."

He blinked . "What pull?"

She put her hand on her chest. "The hollow. It still calls me. It wants me to move forward.

They paused.

Then Thorne nodded. "Then forward it is."

They moved in silence, directed by the quiet trum in Ivy's bones. As soon as they walked, shape began to form in dark trees without roots, staircases that led nowhere, windows hanging midair like broken memories.

Each step echoed like a heartbeat.

After an hour ,or so - they reached a clearing.

A mirror stood at the center.

Long, silver frame, untouched by dust. It hovered slightly above the ground.

Thorne drew his blade. "This isn't good."

But ivy was already nearby. The mirror flickers, the surface waves like water. Her reflection stared back - only it wasn't quite her. The eyes were wrong. Cold. And another figure was behind the picture.

Thalia.

Before ivy could react, the reflection reached out - and grabbed her wrist.

She screamed as the mirror yanked her forward. Thorne shouted, lunging-

But it was too late.

Ivy tumbled into the mirror.

Everything shattered.

And rebuilt.

She landed hard, this time on hot grass. A wind swept over her, scent with lavender and fire.

She pushed, disorientated.

It wasn't the void.

This was a memory.

The old garden behind her childhood house. The one that burned.

She had not seen it in many years.

Birdsong echoed nearby. Sunlight was filtered through blurry clouds. But something was wrong - too perfect, still.

"Ivy."

The voice made her freeze.

She turned.

Ethan stood on the edge of the trees.

But it wasn't for him.

His eyes shone faintly gold. His shirt was stained with soot. And his expression - so calm it unsettled her.

"Ethan?" She asked.

He smiled. "No way."

She took a step backwards. "What are you?"

"A piece," he said. "Of what remains here." He tapped his temple. "Of what Thalia hasn't destroyed yet."

"Where is the real you?"

"Fighting. Bleeding. Hiding. I don't know. But you'll find him."

She frowned. "Why am I here?"

He went closer. "Because you stand at a crossroads, ivy. And the Hollow doesn't just offer power. It requires a price."

His fist clenched. "I've already lost everything."

"Not everything. Not yet."

He reached his pocket and took out the leather-bound, the Hollow's Chronicle.

"It holds the last piece," he said. "But if you open it again, there's no turning back."

Ivy's breath caught. "What's in that?"

"The truth. About Thalia. About you. About what happened before your mother ran."

Ivy looked at the book. Her hands trembled. "And if I refuse?"

He smiled, sad this time. "Then Thalia wins."

The garden shimmered.

The trees began to fade.

Time was running out.

She reached out, hesitated with just one inch from the cover.

"I don't want to lose myself," she whispers.

Ethans Echoed, "You won't ." "Not if you remember who you are."

She opened the book.

The world ignited.

Ivy woke up- this time for real.

Back in the void. The mirror was gone.

Thorne kneels next to her and holds her shoulder. "You were out in minutes. What happened?"

She slowly sat up, the chronicle clutched in her hand.

"I know where Ethan is."

His eyes sharpened. "Where?"

"Thalia did not take him to kill. She took him to use. As bait"

Thorne cursed.

"She wants me to come to her," Ivy said. "She thinks that if she puts him in front of me, I will break."

"She's not wrong.

"No," Ivy said softly. "She is. Because I won't break."

She stood, again a flickering of power in the veins.

"Which way?" Thorne asked.

Ivy closed her eyes. Felt the pull.

She pointed to a flickering of blue flame in the distance.

"There."

They ran.

The landscape shifted around them, like highlighting a dream. The further they went, the more Ivy remembered, memories buried by Thalia, truths erased.

Her mother hadn't just hidden Ivy to protect her.

She hid it because Ivy was the key.

Not Thalia.

Not the first alpha.

Ivy was the true heir.

Not to the blood line.

Just for hollow itself.

They reached the flame.

A door stood there. Old. Carved with the symbol of the moon.

Ivy grabbed the handle.

And screamed.

A vision crashed into her mind.

Ethan.

Bound.

Bleeding.

And Thalia over him, smiling as she whispered—

"Now she comes. And when she does ... I take them both."