The red scanning beam shone brightly a foot in front of me. This scan felt like it was dragging out for eternity and the light hadn't even hit my feet. A cold sensation came over me as a chill ran up my spine. Thoughts furiously slamming into mind of a way out or to stop the mech from revealing the truth, the scan was up to my knees now and at any moment something could go very wrong. An ear-splitting alarm rung out grabbing everyone's attention, thankfully even the mechs as he stopped his scan.

We were still about forty feet away from them as a voice muffled the alarms through some sort of intercom system. "Warning, this is not a drill. A prison break is in progress. All staff and faculty sweep your areas and close in on the holding zone." The voice was urgent and full of bass demanding what they said to be followed with utmost care.

The alarm’s deafening wail sent the room into chaos. The two guards snapped to attention, momentarily forgetting about us as they turned toward their earpieces, listening for further instructions. The mech, mid-scan, paused as its glowing red beam flickered and dimmed. A faint hum came from deep within its metal frame, processing, recalibrating.

Then the prison itself shifted.

A deep, guttural grinding noise vibrated through the floor, and the slow, rhythmic pulse I had felt earlier grew stronger, like the building itself was reacting. Heavy blast doors slammed shut in distant hallways, and the overhead lights flickered as the entire facility switched into full lockdown mode. A series of automated turrets hissed down from hidden compartments in the ceiling, scanning for movement.

And then came the screams.

Somewhere deeper in the prison, something had gone very wrong. A distorted voice crackled over the intercom again, this time less controlled: "Containment breach detected. Lethal force authorized. Repeat, lethal force authorized!"

A metallic clank echoed as the mech fully reactivated, its scanners shifting from us to the now-active security measures. Its heavy frame shifted into a defensive stance, prioritizing the greater threat. The guards hesitated, exchanging looks before one of them barked, “We need to secure the lower levels! Move!”

I didn’t need Jaffrah to tell me twice.

We backed away slowly, then turned and ran. The sheer scale of the prison became even more apparent as we sprinted down the impossibly high-ceilinged corridors, the echoes of distant combat following us. Gunfire, inhuman roars, and the unmistakable sound of something breaking free. Whatever had been locked away in this facility wasn’t just prisoners like us, it was something far worse.

Jaffrah led the way, weaving through the maze of hallways with precision. Either he had been here before, or he was reading the facility like a man who knew how prisons were built. Either way, I wasn’t about to question him.

Bram’s voice rang in my head, surprisingly calm despite the chaos. "See? Told you the mech wouldn’t be your biggest problem."

I bit back a retort and kept running.

The escape route was just ahead, a maintenance hatch near one of the ventilation shafts. Jaffrah threw out a quick burst of magic, the red bolt forcing the lock open, and we both scrambled inside. The second we shut it behind us, the noise outside became muffled, though the distant rumbles still shook the walls.

Breathless, I looked at Jaffrah. “What the hell was that back there?”

He just shook his head. “A distraction. One we needed.” But I could see it in his eyes. He had no idea what had been released either. That worried me. Jaffrah continued to move through the tight corridor. Metal pipes lining both walls with the odd flashing light here and there. I couldn't tell if we were moving deeper into the prison or on our way out, but we pressed on. The rumbles in the walls died down eventually Jaffrah took it as a good sign, but with how the guards reacted I had a really bad gut feeling.

Jaffrah pressed forward, his pace steady but tense. The corridor seemed endless, metal pipes hissing softly as they vented bursts of steam. The dim, flickering lights cast long, shifting shadows along the walls, and with every step, I felt like something was watching us.

The deeper we went, the more unnatural the silence became. The distant rumbles had faded, but in their place was something worse absence. No more alarms. No voices. No footsteps. Just the rhythmic clank of our boots against the grated floor.

My throat was dry. “Are we getting closer to an exit?” I whispered.

Jaffrah didn’t answer right away. His fingers grazed the wall, tracing something carved into the metal marks I hadn’t noticed before. Deep grooves, uneven, like something had scraped along the surface in a wild, erratic pattern. He pulled his hand away quickly, wiping his palm on his stolen armor as if touching it had made his skin crawl.

“We keep moving,” he muttered, his voice quieter than before.

I didn’t like that answer.

We turned a corner, and I felt it, instant wrongness. The air felt thicker here, heavy with something I couldn’t name. The lights above flickered more violently, and between each flicker, it almost felt like the space ahead of us shifted. I knew that was impossible. The walls weren’t moving. The pipes weren’t bending. But my brain insisted something was off, like reality itself had a slow, uneasy breath.

Then, the sound started.

Not a growl. Not a hiss. Something worse.

A slow, wet dragging noise, like something slick being pulled across metal. It was faint, just at the edge of hearing. Once I noticed it, I couldn’t unhear it.

Bram’s voice tickled at the back of my mind, uncharacteristically careful. "I don’t know what that is. And I don’t like not knowing."

Jaffrah must have heard it too. He froze mid-step, his posture sharp, listening. What disturbed me more was what I saw in his expression, uncertainty. For the first time since we’d escaped, Jaffrah didn’t look like a man with a plan.

I swallowed hard. “Jaffrah?”

His eyes flicked to me, then past me, down the corridor we had just come from. He leaned in close, voice barely above a breath. “Don’t stop moving. And don’t...”

The lights went out. Total darkness. Somewhere, in that black void, I heard the wet dragging sound change. It was closer.

Have you ever been so scared that you couldn't move? Frightened beyond belief, as if the whole world stops and the only thing you have to face is the fear that is causing you to become eerily still. You feel as if a slight incorrect move could be your last. If you do one thing instead of another your entire existence would be gone within a flash of your eye. This is exactly how I felt in this moment. The sound grew nearer with each passing breath I took. "Grab the prismark and throw it behind you, dolt!" Reaction took over and I did just that. Reaching into my satchel and releasing the orb with a fast pitch behind me.

It just reached the corner where it connected to a true monstrosity.

The impact was immediate. A sharp, crystalline crack echoed through the corridor, followed by a brief pulse of light from the prismark’s release. For a split second, the darkness peeled back just enough to show what had been lurking behind me.

I wished it hadn't.

It was wrong.

Not just in the way all monsters are wrong, claws, teeth, unnatural proportions. No, this thing felt like a mistake in reality itself, something that shouldn’t exist but did anyway, like a glitch in the world given flesh. Its shape wasn’t constant; it rippled and bent, as if my eyes couldn’t quite decide on what I was seeing. I caught glimpses of too many limbs, a mouth that moved without opening, and a set of milky, sightless eyes that locked onto me the instant the prismark shattered.

A sharp inhale, a sucking, gurgling sound that sent a fresh wave of terror through me. Then it moved. Not with a lurch or a step, but a shift, like it was skipping space itself. It went from lingering at the corner to being right there, not even a breath away. I stumbled backward, tripping over my own feet. My mind screamed at me to act, but my body was sluggish, fear still anchoring me in place.

"RUN, YOU IMBECILE!" Bram roared inside my head.

Jaffrah had already bolted ahead, but he turned sharply when he noticed I wasn’t right behind him. “Move, damn you!”

The creature’s form wavered again, its limbs contorting in ways that defied logic, its milky eyes reflecting the dim, flickering light. Then... It twitched. A single, minuscule movement, barely noticeable.

I ran.

My legs burned as I tore through the corridor, breath ragged, heartbeat hammering in my skull. Behind me, the air popped, a warping, unnatural distortion that told me it was moving again, closing the distance far too quickly.

Jaffrah led the way, yanking me toward an emergency panel. His fingers flew over the controls, muttering curses under his breath. The bulkhead door ahead started grinding open, painfully slow. Behind me, the wet dragging sound was gone. Nothing but silence. And that was worse. I turned my head just slightly, heart lodged in my throat. The thing wasn’t chasing. It had stopped in the middle of the corridor, twisted limbs hunched, head tilted, as if it were… watching. As if it were waiting.

The door behind us screeched open, and Jaffrah didn’t hesitate, he shoved me through first.

We barely made it inside before the door slammed shut behind us. Only then did I let myself breathe. But even as I sucked in shaky gulps of air, my gut churned with unease. Because that thing…

It could’ve caught us. I was sure of it, but it didn’t. It let us go, and that scared me more than anything else. "Oooh, that was... EXCITING!" Bram yelled out in my head.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I turned to look at Jaffrah but noticed he was looking off into the distance. Yes, we made it! A wide smile fell over my face. We still had to get on the outside of the ginormous walls, but I felt a lot better about our odds from out here.

Jaffrah still hadn't said anything which I thought was odd given the amount of time he must have sat down in that dungeon for. I walked up to him kicking up some sand as I did. We were in some sort of desert the heat and ugly sand reminded me of home.

"Are you doing alright?" my voice creaking and sounding a bit uneven. A long moment past before he looked in my direction while taking his helmet off.

"It's been quite some time since I've been outside is all." His voice faltering, I fully expected him to break down, but he continued "This place has... changed, from what I remember the-" distant sounds of laser rifle filled our ears as he looked around to assess where the noise was coming from. His head moving back and forth as his eyes went wide. He turned and sprinted away before yelling back "Ruuun!"

I turned to Jaffrah, but something about the way he stood, stiff and unmoving, made my stomach twist. He wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were fixed on the horizon.

We made it. The realization finally settled in, and despite everything, a grin spread across my face. We still had to get past the enormous outer walls, but compared to where we had just come from, that felt like a much easier task.

Jaffrah, however, didn’t share my relief.

I walked up beside him, kicking up sand with each step. The heat was already settling into my armor, the thick desert air clinging to my skin. Something about this place gnawed at me, the endless dunes stretching far and empty, yet feeling watched.

“You alright?” My voice cracked mid-sentence, the dryness in my throat making it uneven.

Jaffrah took his time answering. His hands trembled as he finally pulled off his helmet, letting the scorching wind hit his face. His eyes darted over the landscape, something unreadable flickering behind them.

“It’s been… a long time since I’ve seen the sky,” he murmured. His voice wavered, and for a brief moment, I thought he might break down right then and there. But instead, he swallowed hard and continued, his tone quieter. “This place has changed. From what I remember, the-”

Pzzzt!

The distant crack of a laser rifle split through the air. Jaffrah’s head snapped toward the noise, his eyes going wide. He spun in place, scanning the dunes, his breathing suddenly shallow. Another shot rang out, closer this time. Then, without warning, he bolted. “RUN!” he shouted over his shoulder.

Instinct took over before I could even think. My legs burned as I sprinted after him, the shifting sand making every step a battle. Behind us, more shots fired, closer, faster. Above the howling desert wind, just barely audible, came another sound. Not the rifles. Not the shouts of soldiers. Something else. A warbled, gurgling hum.

The monstrosity had made it out of the bulkhead somehow. I wasn’t sure if it was chasing us or turning on the guards firing their rifles. All I knew was that I had to keep running.

Jaffrah reached the wall ahead of me, moving with the kind of urgency that suggested he had a plan—at least, I hoped he did. He scanned the massive structure, fingers brushing over the surface before abruptly sprinting along its length.

He’s looking for something.

I forced my burning legs to move faster, lungs straining against the dry air. Jaffrah skidded to a stop and pressed his hand against the wall. A faint shimmer rippled outward, revealing a translucent keypad embedded in the metal. His fingers flew over the numbers, trying one code, then another, then another. Nothing.

I turned, scanning the dunes, my chest heaving. No movement. No flickering limbs. No twisted figure in the distance. Nothing. The creature was gone.

My pulse pounded in my ears. “What the hell happened to that thing? Where did it even come from? Do they have enough manpower to put it down?” The questions tumbled from my mouth, my brain barely keeping up with them. Jaffrah let out a sharp breath, his patience snapping. “Enough! I am trying to keep us alive. Questions later. Right now, shut up and watch my back.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, gripping my weapon tighter. Because whether it was the guards or that thing, something was coming. I wasn’t sure which one scared me more.

Jaffrah worked feverishly, his fingers flying over the keypad, inputting what seemed like random codes. Each failed attempt sent another ripple across the interface before it faded back to neutral.

A low tremor ran through the sand beneath my boots.

I froze.

Slowly, my eyes drifted to the right.

Another one.

It was massive, its grotesque form barely visible against the heat distortion rising from the dunes. It moved with an unsettling, lurching grace, limbs shifting unnaturally as it rounded the far side of the building.

Three hundred yards.

Too close.

My grip tightened around my weapon, my pulse hammering. “We’ve got company,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “Whatever you’re doing, do it faster.”

Jaffrah didn’t look up. “I’m aware.” His voice was tight, controlled—but I could hear the tension in it. The creature let out a deep, reverberating hum, low and unnatural. The sand vibrated beneath me again.

Two hundred yards.

My breath hitched. I swallowed hard and readied my weapon. We were running out of time.

One hundred yards.

A new noise appeared, a faint humming, that turned into an ear wrenching metal scraping against metal. I reopened my eyes to see the beast no more than fifty yards away start to shy away because of the fluctuating sound. Almost as if it was hurting causing harm. I get that the noise was insufferable, but not as bad as the commotion the beast went in. It flailed itself left to right against the sandy ground. I looked back to see that a small door was screeching open, the hole wide enough for us to get through so I jumped in. Expecting Jaffrah to follow, I was surprised when he hadn't. I hurriedly got to my feet to see what the hell he was doing.

He was frozen. Finger and hand still outstretched like it was ready to punch in more numbers. "Hurry the hell up man, we don't have the time for this." I shouted at him while grabbing his wrist. That did something at least. He snapped back to reality rushing into the narrow gap and turned around to start the closing sequence on another console inside this room. I could still see the monster outside thrashing around and decided to analyze it.

Test Subject X-21

A half-breed born from the worst of human science and the cold indifference of the system. A failed experiment? A cruel joke? No one knows for sure. What is known is this: if you encounter one, there is no escape. It does not lose. It does not stop. It does not forget. Reports describe its form as shifting, its movements erratic yet terrifyingly precise. It does not kill for sustenance. It kills because it was made to. If you see it, do not run. It won’t matter.

Nothing will save you.

Level: Unknown

Everything stopped. My heart. My breath. Even the creature’s violent thrashing.

The system message lingered in my vision, those ominous words burning into my mind:

"Test Subject X-21."

A cold wave of dread crashed over me. My hands trembled as I forced myself to look up. The hidden metal door, the only thing separating us from that thing, had stopped screeching, but it was still closing. Too slow. Way too slow. With the speed it had, it could make it through before the gap sealed completely.

Then it moved. A single step forward. My heartbeat slammed back into motion, a violent drum in my chest. The creature was gauging the distance. It knew it had time. It wasn’t panicking. It wasn’t desperate. It was just... waiting. A sharp nudge to my shoulder jolted me out of my frozen trance.

"Freedom is just beyond this door," Jaffrah said, his voice clipped, tinged with irritation. As if that thing wasn’t right there, considering whether we were worth the effort of chasing.

I swallowed, throat dry, and forced myself to move. The second control panel flickered as Jaffrah worked. Another hidden door groaned in protest, the metal screeching as it began to slide open.

Then two things happened at once. The creature lunged.

A twisted, gnarled limb shot through the first door just as it was about to close. The impact made the entire structure shudder. The metal buckled slightly, and for a terrifying moment, I couldn’t tell if it was from the sheer force of the thrashing or if it was actively forcing its way through.

The screeching intensified. The second door was still opening, too slow, every second dragging out like a nightmare.

I turned back just in time to see another limb press against the closing door, claws digging deep, holding it open. It wasn’t going to let us leave.

Jaffrah cursed under his breath. “Move!” My legs wouldn’t listen. Because I knew. This door wasn’t going to hold. If we didn’t make it through the second door now, we wouldn’t be getting through at all.

The door was tight against my rib cage, swearing under my breath as I pushed with my hands on the outside of the doorway. I heaved against it one final time and fell to the ground, making it through. I breathed deeply as I rolled over and saw Jaffrah throwing a dark ball of energy towards the monster, just before passing through the doorway. As he worked on closing the door I witnessed the spell wash over the test subject. It froze for a second and then....

It laughed.

Not a human laugh. Not even a creature's natural sound. It was a broken, warped distortion, like static from a dying radio, twisting and crackling in a way that sent ice through my veins.

Then it moved.

Not forward, not towards us, but backward. Just a step. Just enough to let the spell seep into its form, to let it settle, like it was absorbing it.

Jaffrah swore, his fingers flying across the control panel. The door groaned, gears grinding as it struggled to seal.

The monster twitched. Then again. Its gnarled limbs jerked in unnatural, stuttering motions, as if it was being rewired by something unseen. Then the spell, whatever it was meant to do, began to peel away. Not dissolve. Not dissipate. Just... unravel, like threads unwinding from a fabric, until the energy Jaffrah had thrown was returning to the air around it.

"That shouldn’t be possible," Jaffrah muttered under his breath.

"What did you hit it with?!" I demanded, scrambling backward on my hands.

"A paralysis spell!" he snapped, still hammering at the controls. "It should’ve frozen it in place for at least a minute!"

The creature let out a sound, not a roar, not a screech. A deep, rattling exhale. Like it had been holding its breath.

Then it took another step forward.

The door was only halfway shut.

"Move, move, move!" Jaffrah shoved me forward, his patience snapping. I scrambled to my feet as he threw another spell, this time, not at the monster, but at the door itself. Dark energy crackled along the edges, forcing it to slide faster.

The monster didn’t panic.

It didn’t rush.

It simply watched.

The gap was closing. Almost there. Almost safe.

Then, just before the door sealed completely, the creature tilted its head. The jagged, too-thin silhouette of its face pressed just close enough that I could see it through the narrowing slit of space.

And then...

It smiled. The door slammed shut.

Silence.

My breath came in ragged, uneven gasps. Jaffrah exhaled sharply and leaned against the panel, muttering something in a language I didn’t recognize. I swallowed. My mouth was dry. My body refused to move.

Because I knew... I knew.

That thing... let us go, and I had no idea why.

Knowing distance was the key I searched through my bag and found the Phantom token and summoned my cruiser. This desert sun was a cruel mistress, and I wouldn't want for anything more than to be stuck in a forest again with its calm temperate climate.

I looked over at Jaffrah and asked, "You know how to drive one of these?"

Jaffrah gave me a look that was equal parts confusion and exhaustion. "Drive one of these?" He scoffed, stepping closer to inspect the cruiser. "I was locked in a dungeon, not a racing circuit."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Right. Of course."

That meant I was driving.

I wasn't exactly thrilled with that, either. The last time I had to drive under pressure, I almost flew over the handlebars. But standing here, baking in this cursed sun while an abomination played mind games behind us wasn’t an option.

I swung my leg over the seat and powered it up. The cruiser hummed to life beneath me, its energy core sending out a faint, cool vibration. I looked over at Jaffrah again, debating whether I should offer him a spot behind me or just gun it and let him figure out his own transport.

Before I could decide, he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Go. I'll follow."

I hesitated. "Are you messing wit-?"

Then he vanished.

I barely had time to process it before a gust of wind shot past me, a shimmer in the air revealing a streak of dark energy darting ahead. Jaffrah was flying. Of course he was. Mages.

Bram sighed in relief. "Thank the gods. I really didn't want to be smashed against another dude at high speeds."

I rolled my eyes and kicked the cruiser into gear. The wheels lifted, hovering just slightly above the sand, and with a sharp jolt forward, I sped off after Jaffrah.

The desert stretched out before us, an endless expanse of heat and shimmering air, but I wasn’t fooled. The real danger wasn’t behind us anymore.

It was watching.

Waiting.

And I had a feeling this wasn’t over yet.