We walked through the dead city, each step echoing between the skeletal buildings. Hundreds of civilians lined the streets — unmoving, eyes glazed, their bodies suspended by glimmering threads barely visible to the eye. They weren't walking. They were being walked.
No one spoke.
The skyscraper loomed ahead like a cracked monolith, its glass face smeared in ash and blood. Mattethis broke off without a word, vanishing into the upper levels. Neo and I continued downward.
The stairwell had caved in — scorched, broken, and slick with oil. Chunks of concrete hung at odd angles, as if frozen mid-collapse.
"Be careful," Neo said, voice low but steady. He gripped the rusted ladder inside the elevator shaft and began descending. I followed, the silence between us tense with anticipation.
At the bottom, the shaft opened into a wide parking garage — dim, cold, and humming with a sick resonance. Cracked headlights flickered like dying stars. And at the far end…
The rift.
It pulsed, black and jagged, floating just above the concrete like a wound carved into reality.
And surrounding it — demons.
Some crawled, bone-thin and twitching, their jaws dislocated in permanent screams. Others loomed — armored, horned, reeking of sulfur and dried blood. No two looked alike, but they all turned when they heard us.
Neo drew his blade. I raised my hand.
No plan. No words.
Just the sudden, brutal beginning of violence.
We started killing.
---
Forn sat on the rooftop.
"Forn, this is Meredith and Daniel. We've secured the research facility — eighty-one civilians alive, one casualty," Meredith reported.
Forn scribbled on the board and pointed it at the driver.
"Neo and Kai have reached the rift. Waiting on an update from Mattethis."
---
Mattethis walked up twelve flights of stairs and reached the floor where the demon waited.
He caught up to Xae, who was already in position to deliver the finishing blow.
The creature was a spider demon — eight long legs and a humanoid upper body — nestled in a thick web, sleeping.
"This is Mattethis. The demon's asleep. We're about to kill it," he reported to Forn.
Xae leaned in and drove his daggers into the creature's neck.
Instantly, thousands of baby spiders poured from the wound like conjured nightmares, swarming Xae as the demon's legs lashed out, slamming him into the wall.
Realizing Xae was in danger, Mattethis sprang forward and finished the demon off.
A shriek tore through the chamber, and Mattethis shouted, "Xae! Are you okay?!"
Xae didn't respond. Threads began to cover his body — endless, pulsing threads — and all of them stemmed from him.
The possessed Xae stared blankly at Mattethis.
Mattethis stepped out of sight, but as soon as he did, the demon-possessed Xae froze — confused — then howled and charged the corner, locking eyes with Mattethis again.
It was like the demon knew it had forgotten something — but didn't know what.
Mattethis turned and bolted down the stairwell, chased floor after floor.
"I'm being chased by a possessed Xae! It's not letting up — what do I do?!" he shouted over comms, breath ragged.
"Malakai had an idea," neo responded. "Bring it to the basement."
"where's Forn?" he asked, voice strained.
"She's having a vision she's not responsive and all the vessels started moving so he careful" the driver sounded nervous
***
The vessels of the demons began flooding toward the research facility — dozens, then hundreds, shambling forward as if something had whispered to them, calling them inward.
They knew.
They knew there were humans inside.
Forn's hand twitched violently, her eyes unfocused as she clutched her stylus. A low hum built in her ears — pressure mounting in the air like a storm about to break. She didn't move.
The Gravehowl was parked at the base of the outer wall, engine humming steady. But the street around them darkened as the vessels approached from every angle, threads glinting faintly in the low light.
The driver looked around, wide-eyed. "Shit. This is bad! They're everywhere! What do we do, miss?!"
Forn didn't answer. She was somewhere else now.
Her body trembled once, hard. A spasm ran through her shoulders as her breathing shallowed — eyes rolled slightly, locked in a vision.
The Gravehowl rattled as the first of the vessels slammed into its side, clawing and scraping.
But it held. For now.