All three of their jaws were still on the floor as Betty smashed through each of the statues. Hunks of rock flew over her bonnet. She was even doing 180-degree turns and coming back to smash more. The waves above had slowed, although the wails from the people grew louder.

“Betty what the fuck are you doing!” shouted Joe, not being able to take it anymore. 'Staying Alive' was still blasting and Betty now began to honk her horn.

“I told you that car was insane.” Said Levi.

“She’s made a gap!” shouted Pete as he ran through the middle of Joe and Levi towards her. Joe and Levi looked at each other and ran after him through the wreckage of the shattered statues. Betty had cleared a rough path, but it was littered with broken stone, limbs and whatever other body parts you could think of.

Joe stumbled over a fallen statue’s head, nearly twisting his ankle and letting out a curse as pain shot up his toe.

"Come on!" Pete shouted from up ahead. They sprinted to catch up to Betty, but before they got far, her taillights flared red in an abrupt stop.

As Joe drew closer, he saw why: Betty had reached the edge of a cliff. Joe was so engrossed by what was happening above that he hadn't noticed that they were perched precariously on a cliff's edge. Betty's back right wheel dangled over the precipice, inches from a deadly drop. Thank god she’d stopped in time. The music faded as the three of them gathered around her.

"That was awesome, Betty!" Pete whooped.

"No, it was not!" Joe shot back. "What if those statues are people? People trapped?

They could have been innocents!"

Pete let out a small, "Oh." Betty stayed silent.

"Exactly! You didn’t think this through, did you?" Joe scolded, eyeing both of them.

No one replied. The wails from above lingered in the air. Betty eased the car forward, pulling her tyre off the edge. She seemed apologetic—until, suddenly, she didn’t.

"Bullshit, Joe! They were red markers on my map! I killed them and got tons of XP!"

Joe hadn’t even glanced at his map when they entered this area. He was too focused on the unsettling tide of floating figures above them. When he looked, it was true, the statues did have red markers on them, but they didn’t feel like a threat. Some even looked...

"Wait—hold up. You can see a map now? Notifications? XP?" Joe asked.

Betty paused. "Oh... yeah, didn’t I mention—?"

"No, you did not." Joe blinked at her and saw she was now Level 6. The highest level in the group! What the hell was going on?

“We’ve got a problem,” Levi interrupted.

“Yeah, no kidding we have a problem,” Joe said. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier, Betty? Can you access everything? Quests, abilities? Talk to us, for God’s sake!”

“Not that—that!” Levi said, spinning Joe’s head toward the statues.

Joe’s blood ran cold. The statues weren’t scattered anymore; they had reassembled, seamlessly, with no cracks or signs of having been smashed. And they were moving toward them. Not individual limbs, but the whole form sliding forward like chess pieces on a board.

The statues' faces remained contorted in horror, each one frozen in the last moment before a grim end—and now, all advancing.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“This isn’t good,” Pete said, inching backwards and grabbing Joe’s arm like a child clutching a stuffed bear for comfort.

“I think we should get back in the car. Now,” Levi said.

Joe didn’t argue. He edged back, never taking his eyes off the statues. They moved one at a time as if also taking turns in response. “Betty, pop the trunk for Pete,” he whispered, not sure if the statues could hear them—or if they somehow could.

The trunk clicked open just as the wails from above deepened, growing louder. Joe looked up. The swirling shadows they’d stirred earlier now converged into a massive form, descending straight toward the statues again. It then shifted, turning towards them, the tide now coming at them in full force.

Before they could react, the wave of bodies swallowed them whole, plunging Joe’s world into utter darkness. He felt himself twist and writhe, pressed between the clammy, shifting bodies. Fingers brushed against his skin; desperate voices murmured in his ears, pleading and sobbing as he was jostled left and right.

He was shoved forward—squeezed through what felt like a narrow tunnel, like he was being spat from the jaws of some monstrous creature. He hit the ground with a painful thud, cold and wet seeping through his clothes as he lay face down, dazed on the hard surface.

His nose was squished against the damp floor. “Ow,” he said, groaning as he braced his hands against the ground and pushed himself up.

The air felt cold. Riddled with the stench of wet stone and mildew. He knew the smell was at its worst down here, but he had gotten used to it fairly quickly since entering the Sullen Abyss. He shivered as he blinked, trying to get his bearings in the dim, shadowy space around him.

The cave stretched out in murky shades of grey and green, jagged walls gleaming with moisture. Pools of stagnant water littered the floor. Just a few feet away behind him, he spotted Betty. She was plonked next to a rock by the cave wall, headlights dimmed and her frame motionless, almost like she was... unconscious? That seemed to unnerve Joe.

Beside him, another groan broke the silence. He turned and saw Pete sprawled awkwardly across Levi, who looked less than pleased about it.

"Hey!" Pete protested as Levi shoved him off.

“Get off me, kid,” Levi snapped, pushing himself up and dusting off his denim.

Joe cracked a weak grin. "Looks like you broke Pete’s fall there."

Levi just grunted. His hand shot up instinctively to his head, then froze. He patted the top of his head again, slower this time. His hat was gone. A fresh wave of annoyance crossed Levi’s face, and he began scanning the cave floor. Each glance around the cavern only deepened his scowl.

Joe edged forward, surveying the shadowed expanse of the cave. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed a few feet ahead a vast pool of water. It stretched across the cave floor like a dark, unmoving lake. The water was inky black, its surface perfectly still, broken only by the occasional ripple that pulsed outward in lazy rings. It looked deep—bottomless, almost inviting.

The sight reminded him of that phenomenon he’d once heard about, of one standing on a cliff’s edge—the call to the void. Except here, there was no urge to jump. Just a quiet, hypnotic pull to stare into the depths, to let the darkness swallow him, drawing him deeper and deeper until he forgot himself entirely.

“I take it you see that too?” Pete said, suddenly appearing next to Joe.

“The call to the void?” Joe replied.

“No. The giant monster thing in the middle of the lake.”

Joe’s gaze drifted to the centre of the pool, where a jagged slab of rock jutted out from the dark water. Perched on top was a hulking shape, barely discernible in the dim light. Was it an animal? A person?

A wet, burbling voice rose from the mass, low and muffled at first, then louder, each word like a gurgling gasp. The voice sounded like a pig being drowned, or at least what Joe imagined that might sound like.

“You dare to tempt the Harbinger,” it said, its body now shifting with a pulpy squirm. Joe could see it writhe and shiver but still couldn’t quite make out its features.

“I don’t like this,” Pete whispered, already stepping back. Joe felt his own feet move as if by instinct, retreating until his back touched the cold metal of Betty’s front bumper.

“I’m guessing that’s the Harbinger,” Levi said, as he drew his gun from his inventory.

Joe blinked at the creature’s stats. Level 8. Damn. This thing was nearly as strong as that fireroach he’d barely survived earlier. The only one close to this level was Betty. Joe tapped on her hood behind his back, glancing anxiously at her dark, unresponsive form.

“Betty…?” He knocked again. No reply.

Shit. A sadness washed over Joe, he hoped she wasn’t dead. Whatever they had just gone through had done something to her. Please be okay. He realised the last thing he did was yell at her. She was a lunatic, sure, but she was his lunatic.

“Looks like the car bit the dust.” Said Levi.

Joe bit his lip, now wasn’t the time for infighting.

The Harbinger shifted again, rising to its full height, and light flared up from beneath it as if finally released from its prison. The glow blazed through the cave, forcing Joe to shield his eyes against the sudden brightness. When he finally saw past the light, the Harbinger came into full detail—and it was monstrous.

The creature towered over the water, its bulk massive and round, at least twelve, maybe fifteen feet tall. Leathery skin stretched across its bloated form, mottled with boils and scabs that glistened in the light. It wore no clothing—not that Joe thought any retailer in the Inferno would stock something in its size. It was also completely hairless. It had some real Jabba the Hut vibes.

The cave was even larger than it had seemed at first. The pool of dark water sat at the centre, ringed by a wide stretch of rocky ground, forming a rough circle around the Harbinger. Across the cavern, a jagged rock shelf jutted out, half-hanging above the creature like a ceiling. With the water separating them and no visible path across, Joe doubted they could reach each other—even if the Harbinger could somehow move, it seemed trapped in place, stranded like a beached whale.

Unfortunately, this whale had a few tricks up its sleeve.

A bolt of something dark shot from the Harbinger’s mouth, a flash too fast for Joe to track, and narrowly missed Levi, instead hitting Pete—who dropped like a stone at Joe's side.

“Pete!” Joe knelt down beside him, shaking him hard, his hands trembling. No blood. No wounds. Just a heavy, terrifying stillness. Joe slapped Pete’s face once, twice, and then pressed two fingers to Pete’s neck. He felt a faint heartbeat. But it did nothing to steady his fear. Fuck, not the poor kid. First Betty, and now Pete. Things were spiralling fast.