Margret knelt beside Daniel, her hands trembling as she whispered his name, pleading for him to wake up. His eyes were open, but they held nothing—no recognition, no warmth—just a void. His body lay still, rigid, as if frozen by some invisible force. She could barely hear him as he gasped, saying he couldn’t breathe. The sound of his voice sent waves of terror through her, knowing something far more sinister had taken hold of him.
Tears blurred her vision as she shook him, begging him to stay with her,
but nothing seemed to reach him. The cold, oppressive presence of the entity
was all around them, and the air seemed to thicken, crushing her under its
weight. Daniel's body jerked violently, and a low, inhuman growl escaped from
his lips. It wasn't him. It wasn’t Daniel anymore.
The change in his voice chilled her to her core as he rasped that they
should have left. Now, they would both suffer. Margret stepped back, her heart
pounding, terror gripping her so tightly that she could barely breathe. His
eyes, now dark and unfamiliar, locked onto her, filled with a malevolence that
wasn’t his own. His lips twisted into a sneer, mocking her as he claimed there
was no Daniel anymore—only the entity.
Margret’s voice trembled as she asked what it wanted from them. The
response came quickly, the words dripping with malice. The entity spoke through
Daniel, taunting her, saying they were nothing, that the town belonged to it,
and soon, so would she. Every instinct told her to flee, but her feet wouldn’t
move. The entity laughed, enjoying her fear, its twisted grin never faltering
as it warned that the shadows would find her no matter where she ran.
Suddenly, the clock began to chime. It was 2:05 AM, and the Vanishing
Hour had begun. The temperature in the room dropped sharply, and the whispers
returned, louder and more menacing. The sound of the town’s lost souls grew
deafening, filling the room with their eerie chorus. Margret’s mind raced,
remembering Eldridge’s words. No one had ever returned from facing the entity,
but maybe—just maybe—there was still a way to stop it.
As the entity in Daniel’s body mocked her once more, telling her she
would vanish like the others, Margret snapped into action. She bolted for the
door, ignoring the cold, clawing sensation behind her. Daniel—or whatever had
taken over him—laughed, telling her the shadows would always find her. She
flung open the door and stumbled into the night, her breath coming in ragged
gasps.
The town of Black Hollow was deathly silent, yet the shadows seemed to
move with a life of their own. They stretched and twisted toward her, growing
longer as the Vanishing Hour deepened. The whispers were relentless now,
creeping into her mind, urging her to give in. But she pushed forward, her only
thought on finding Eldridge. He had to know what to do.
She could feel the entity’s presence behind her, Daniel’s body standing in the doorway of the inn, watching her with that same cruel smile. She wouldn’t let it win. She couldn’t. The shadows loomed, reaching for her, but she ran, knowing that time was running out and that this fight was far from over.