One second, Declan was standing there being his obnoxiously charming self, and the next he was gone. The gray doorway swallowed him whole, like some kind of lightning sand from a nightmare fairytale. No ripples. No flashes of light. Just… gone. The air where he’d stood was empty, eerily still, as if the void itself had taken a breath. For a horrifying moment, I thought he’d fallen into the abyss -lost forever in the endless blackness that surrounded the Path.

“Declan!” I called out, my voice cracking. The sound barely echoed, swallowed almost immediately by the oppressive silence around me.

I rushed forward, my hands outstretched, but froze inches from the stone door. Fear gripped me, icy and cold. What if it takes me too? What if I’m next? My fingers trembled as I hovered just shy of the surface. The thought of vanishing like Declan made my stomach churn, but I couldn’t just leave him there -wherever there was.

I shook my head, steeling myself. “Pull it together, Jinx,” I whispered, forcing my hand to press against the solid gray stone.

Nothing. No ripple. No pulling sensation. No ominous hum. Just the cool, rough texture of stone beneath my palm.

Shit.

My hand stayed there for a moment as I braced against the doorway, leaning forward to peer into the blackness. Nothing but endless void stared back at me. Of course, there was nothing to see. If Declan had fallen, he would be gone -swallowed whole, not drifting like an astronaut lost in the vastness of space. Still, the thought didn’t make the reality any easier to stomach.

Frustrated, I slapped the door, the sting reverberating up my arm. “Come on, you stupid thing!” I shouted, glaring at the inanimate stone. My voice echoed faintly, mocking me.

I stepped back to think, tracing the intricate circles and symbols carved into the surface with my fingers. I’d been taught that each doorway was a puzzle, meant to be unlocked with the right combination or offering. Sometimes blood. Sometimes fire or water. Sometimes it was as simple as tracing the correct sequence or tapping out a rhythm. But each puzzle was unique, and this one wasn’t giving me any obvious clues.

Declan’s words floated back to me: He’d said the middle was just blackness, framed by intricate, glowing knots of light. Celtic, he’d called it.

I frowned, letting my fingers follow the lines etched into the stone. What if he’d been right? What if what he saw wasn’t just decoration but the key itself? If he was seeing the Path as the creators once envisioned it, then maybe his perspective was essential to solving the puzzle.

Hours passed as I tried everything I could think of. Blood, tracing patterns, even tapping out random rhythms against the stone. Nothing worked. My frustration grew with each failed attempt, until finally, I sank to the ground in front of the barrier, my head in my hands.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it,” I muttered, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. I’d dragged him into this mess. If not for me, he wouldn’t have been turned into a vampire. He wouldn’t have been wandering the Path, gotten lost in the Way. And now he’s gone. This was my fault. All of it.

I was lucky that thing on the Path hadn’t caught up with me. I suspected I knew why though. It was likely that it was after Declan. Something about him drew it to him. I hope he’s okay. I thought.

The tears came unbidden, hot and angry. I sat there for what felt like an eternity, my sobs muffled by the oppressive silence. Eventually, the storm of emotions subsided, leaving me drained but resolute. I wiped my face and stood, pressing my hand to the center of the stone door as I prepared to try again.

And this time… there was nothing to touch.

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My hand slid through the doorway like it wasn’t even there, the solid stone replaced by an empty void. My stomach lurched as the pull I’d feared earlier became a reality, yanking me forward into the same abyss that had claimed Declan.

“Great,” I muttered bitterly as the world dissolved around me. “Of course that’s the answer. Declan had said he saw nothing in the middle. Because there’s nothing there to see.”

The storm hit me like a freight train.

One moment, I was falling through the void, the silence pressing down on me like a suffocating weight. The next, I was surrounded by chaos -a violent, deafening cacophony of wind, water, and searing heat. The air was alive with movement, each gust like a slap to the face, each drop of scalding rain a dagger against my skin.

I stumbled, my senses overwhelmed by the relentless fury of the storm. My clothes clung to me, soaked through and heavy, as the wind whipped at my hair and lashed against my exposed skin. The heat was unbearable, pressing down on me like an oppressive weight, and every breath felt like inhaling molten air.

My instincts took over, and I curled into a tight ball, my arms wrapped protectively around my head as I tried to shield myself from the onslaught. The storm battered me from all sides, the elements biting and clawing at me with unrelenting ferocity. My skin stung, my muscles screamed, and my mind was a whirlwind of panic and desperation.

I couldn’t survive this. Not for long. I needed help.

Reaching deep into myself, I cast out my senses, calling upon the gift that had always been my lifeline. My mind stretched outward, searching desperately for anything nearby that could offer guidance or shelter. The storm roared louder as I reached out, my mental plea raw and frantic.

Please… someone… anyone.

The response was immediate. My mind brushed against several presences, scattered at varying distances. Most were small, skittish -creatures overwhelmed by the storm. But two stood out: strong, steady, and close. I latched onto them, my thoughts pouring out in a wordless command.

Come to me. Help me. Take me to shelter.

They answered.

The creatures arrived in a flurry of movement, their forms indistinct in the storm’s chaos. I felt them before I saw them, their solid bodies pressing against my sides as they grabbed my outstretched arms. Their touch was firm, their strength undeniable, and I clung to them like a lifeline as they began to tug and pull me forward.

Blinded by the biting winds and scalding rain, I could do nothing but trust their guidance. Step by step, we stumbled through the storm, the ground shifting beneath our feet as the wind screamed around us. Time lost all meaning as we pushed forward, each moment stretching into an eternity.

Eventually, the storm’s roar began to fade, replaced by the echoing stillness of enclosed space. The air cooled, the biting wind replaced by a gentle draft, and the ground beneath me grew firm and unyielding. I stumbled, nearly collapsing as my unseen saviors guided me into what felt like a sheltered crevice.

Finally safe from the storm’s fury, I sank to my knees, gasping for breath. My hair clung to my face, plastered with rain and sweat, and my skin burned where the elements had lashed at me. I wiped at my eyes, clearing the water away as I tried to focus on my surroundings.

The cavern was dark, the walls rough and uneven. Water dripped from above, the sound echoing faintly in the stillness. I turned to my saviors, eager to see who -or what- had answered my call.

But the sight of them stopped me cold.

Their forms were shadowy, indistinct, as if they existed on the edge of perception. I could make out their general shapes -bird like and serpentine- but their features were blurred, shifting like smoke in a breeze. They radiated a faint, otherworldly energy that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Thank you,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. They didn’t respond, simply standing silently at my sides, their presence both comforting and unnerving.

Then I heard it.

A faint sound, barely louder than a whisper, coming from the darkness at the back of the cavern. A low, scraping noise, like claws on stone.

My blood turned to ice.

Again, the sound came, this time accompanied by a subtle shift in the shadows. Something was back there, lurking in the blackness. Watching.

I was pretty sure they would not have lead me into anything dangerous, or maybe they didn’t know better, maybe they had different ideas as to what constituted danger.

Then again, I only commanded them to deliver me from the storm. I didn’t specify what sort of shelter, and whether or not it was already occupied.

Bad genie.

“What did you two get me into?” I whispered, my heart pounding as I glanced at my shadowy saviors. They remained still, silent.

Slowly, I knelt and felt along the ground, my fingers closing around a hefty branch -or what felt like one. The jagged edges bit into my palm as I gripped it tightly, raising it in front of me like a makeshift club.

The darkness seemed to breathe, the shadows shifting with a life of their own. My grip tightened, my knuckles white as I braced myself.

Come and get it, I thought, the words a defiant mantra as I clutched the club in both hands and stood ready, prepared to face whatever waited in the blackness.