Margret sat in the cold silence of the
inn, staring blankly at the floor. Her thoughts spiraled, refusing to settle.
Daniel had barely spoken since Eldridge's revelation. The entity had taken hold
of him, and she could feel its presence twisting deeper into his mind.
"We have to do something,"
she whispered to herself. But what? They were in too deep, and every option
seemed like a death sentence.
Daniel’s breathing grew heavier as he
sat by the window, watching the empty streets. His face was pale, his eyes
glassy. The light outside was fading fast, and the familiar sense of dread that
came with nightfall crept in.
"Margret," Daniel’s voice
suddenly cut through the air, but it wasn’t his usual tone. It was cold,
distant. "It’s almost time."
She turned to him, her heart sinking.
His eyes had darkened, and the way he looked at her was unsettling, like he
wasn’t entirely there.
"We need to leave," she
said, her voice shaking as she approached him. "We can’t stay here any
longer."
Daniel stood, moving with a mechanical
slowness, his gaze still fixed on the window. "It’s already here. You
can’t run."
Margret froze, a chill crawling down
her spine. The room felt wrong, the air thick with a malevolent presence. And
then she heard it—whispers, faint and unintelligible, slithering through the
air. The entity was close.
Her mind raced. She couldn’t fight it,
not head-on. But maybe there was still a way to save Daniel—if there was
anything left of him to save. She grabbed the journal Eldridge had given them
earlier, flipping through its brittle pages. Her eyes scanned the cryptic
symbols, desperate for something, anything that might help.
"Daniel," she pleaded, her
voice cracking. "You have to fight this. I know you're still in
there."
He didn't respond, his body now
unnervingly still, his eyes hollow. The whispers grew louder, as if feeding off
her fear. Suddenly, Daniel's hand shot out, grabbing her wrist with an
unnatural strength.
"You think you can stop
this?" His voice was laced with the entity’s venom. "It’s already too
late. You belong to us now."
Margret’s pulse quickened, panic
rising in her chest. She yanked her arm free and stumbled back. Her eyes darted
to the journal again—there had to be something in here, some way to sever the
entity’s hold.
A loud thud echoed from the hallway,
followed by another, closer this time. It wasn’t just them anymore. The inn was
filled with the sounds of movement—doors creaking open, footsteps approaching.
Margret backed away from Daniel, her breath coming in shallow bursts. They
weren’t alone.
The entity wasn’t only inside Daniel.
It was spreading.
"Stay away from me," she
warned, clutching the journal tightly to her chest as Daniel took a step toward
her. His face twisted into a grotesque smile, one that didn’t belong to him.
"Why would I do that?" he
asked, his voice layered with the whispers of countless voices. "You
called us, remember? You wanted the truth. Now you have it."
Margret’s back hit the wall, her heart
pounding in her ears. This wasn’t just Daniel speaking—it was the entity, and
it was toying with her. She glanced at the window, the sun nearly gone. Soon,
the Vanishing Hour would be upon them again, and when it came, they would be
trapped.
She had to make a decision. Run now
and leave Daniel behind, or try to save him and risk everything.
Margret took a deep breath, her hands
trembling. "I’m not leaving you," she said, her voice trembling but
determined.
The whispers surged, filling the room
with a cacophony of voices, drowning out everything else. Daniel's face
contorted in pain, his body jerking violently as if fighting an invisible
force.
And then, silence.
Daniel collapsed to the floor,
unconscious. The whispers faded, retreating back into the darkness.
Margret knelt beside him, her hands
shaking as she tried to steady her breath. "I’ll get you out of
this," she whispered, clutching the journal tighter. But deep down, she
wasn’t sure if she could. The entity had already won too many battles. And the
final confrontation was drawing near.
Outside, the last light of day
disappeared, plunging the town of Black Hollow into darkness once more.
The Vanishing Hour had begun.