Darkness swallowed them whole. The air grew thick, suffocating, as if the very walls of the subway were pressing in. Claire’s breath hitched as she reached for Riley’s arm, fingers closing around empty air.

"Riley?" she whispered.

A scuffle echoed in the black void, followed by a sharp gasp. Then silence.

Elena clicked on her flashlight. The beam cut through the dark, shaky and weak against the abyss. Daniel held his breath, eyes scanning the platform as the dim light swept across the cold tiles. The body—the one that had moved—was gone.

"Where the hell did it go?" Daniel muttered.

A sound slithered through the stillness. Not footsteps, but something scraping, dragging. The beam of Elena’s flashlight quivered as she aimed it toward the tunnel entrance. Beyond the yellow caution line, the shadows writhed, like something lurking just beyond the edges of perception.

A whisper drifted through the air. More than one voice.

"Leave… now… before… it wakes…"

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Claire’s pulse pounded. "We need to find Riley and get the hell out of here."

A sharp cry erupted from the darkness, followed by the sound of feet pounding against tile. Then, from the depths of the tunnel, Riley came barreling toward them, wild-eyed and breathless.

"Run!" he screamed.

Behind him, the darkness moved.

Not just shadows—something living, writhing, shifting. The very fabric of reality trembled as the tunnel seemed to stretch, elongating into an impossible void. Then, the entity emerged. It was neither human nor machine, its form a twisting amalgamation of broken shapes and flickering static. A grotesque mockery of existence.

It let out a piercing shriek that rattled through Claire’s skull.

Daniel yanked her arm, pulling her toward the exit. "Go! Now!"

They sprinted back up the stairs, the sound of reality tearing apart behind them. Claire risked one last glance over her shoulder. The entity was consuming the station, tendrils of distortion unraveling the walls, the ceiling, everything.

They burst into the open air just as the ground beneath them cracked. A wave of raw energy surged upward, swallowing the subway entrance in a cascade of static and ruin.

They collapsed onto the pavement, gasping for breath. The street was empty, eerily silent, as if the city itself was holding its breath.

Elena clutched her knees, shaking. "What the hell was that?"

Riley wiped the sweat from his face, eyes still wide with terror. "We were never supposed to go down there. Something else is here. And it’s watching us."

Claire’s stomach twisted. Whatever was happening to the city—whatever was breaking reality apart—they weren’t just running from it anymore.

It was hunting them.