"I didn’t think.. you would actually show up."Emily was seated on the staircase in front of the library.Hugging her knees.Her eyes flicking up to meet mine as I approached. The sun was setting behind her.It cast a soft, golden light on her face. For a moment, she looked almost... innocent."Why wouldn’t I?" I asked. I dropped my bag beside her and sitting down."You texted me." A tiny, soft chuckle escaped from her lips. "Yeah, but I didn’t think you would want to talk after... you know, yesterday."Yesterday.The fountain.Jared.My sketchbook, still drying out in my room. Its pages wrinkled and ruined.I hadn’t spoken to Emily since then.I had not really wanted to.But, when her text arrived on my phone after school, I ended up heading there without stopping to consider a plausible reason."I mean.. it’s not like you did anything."I tried to speak without showing any bitterness in my tone. "You just stood there."Emily’s smile faltered.She looked down at her shoes."I

"Didn't I tell you.. not to look at me, Sergio?"Even though Jared's voice was hardly more than a growl,It sounded to me like a siren.I kept my eyes down;My head down;And my back against the cold brick wall.All other sounds were muffled by the laughter,The footsteps of his friends coming closer,And the distant voice of a teacher behind the doors.That one voice was all I could hear.Jared's.I opened my mouth;My tongue was starting to form words.*Say something.But I choked on the words.I felt like my body was frozen.As though my limbs were fixed.I had lost all sense of my purpose for being here.Why I kept coming back,Day after day. To this dumb school."I asked you question." Jared said.Abruptly, his hand grabbed my shirt collar.Yanking me forward."Did I not?""Yeah," I croaked.“You did.”"And?"He smiled and leaned close enough for me to smell the slight tang of cheap cologne and sweat. “What’s your excuse this time, huh?""Gonna cry about it?""Or maybe you’ll ru

"You’re awake. Finally."The voice wasn’t mine.It wasn’t anyone I knew. But it was there. Clear as day. Echoing inside my head.I blinked. My eyes struggling to focus. I wasn’t in the alley anymore.I wasn’t even sure I was... anywhere. Everything around me was dark. No, not dark. Just blank. Empty.Like I was floating in some kind of void.“Who... who are you?” I said.My voice sounded distant, even to me."I am your Guide."The voice was calm. Almost soothing.This.. didn't feel comfortable, at all.It wasn’t *really* a voice. More like... an idea.A thought that had somehow turned into words.“My... Guide?” I repeated. Trying to sit up, but my body didn’t move.I wasn’t sure if I even had a body here."Yes. I am here to help you understand the system."I frowned. The system. Right.The hologram. The energy. The way I’d thrown Jared and his friends across the yard like they weighed nothing.It all came flooding back, hitting me like a wave.“What... what is this?” I asked.My voic

“You’re seriously telling me there’s a secret underground tunnel in the middle of Brno.”Ben’s voice echoed slightly. Bouncing off the damp walls of the tunnel as we walked.His flashlight flickered in and out. Casting dim light on the narrow path ahead.I could faintly hear water dripping in the distance.“Not a tunnel.” I corrected. Stepping over a broken tile. “A catacomb.”He snorted. “Yeah. Because that makes it so much better.”I couldn't resist smiling. “You’re the one who wanted to come along.”“Yeah. I wanted to see if you were losing it. Not. Y’know. *Actually* go dungeon crawling.”“If you want to turn back.”“I’m not turning back.” He cut in. Sounding defensive. “I just. I don’t get how you even found this place. A catacomb. In Brno. Since when.”I stopped walking for a second. Shining my light on a section of the wall.Old, weathered bricks stared back at me. Covered in scratches and faded symbols.“Since always, apparently. People just don’t talk about it.”Ben came up

“Tell me! You have a plan!”Ben’s voice was sharp. There was no mistaking the panic in his eyes.I could hear the creature behind us. Massive paws pounded the ground like a drumbeat.It was getting closer by the second.“I’m working on it!” I muttered. I scanned the twisted landscape ahead.There was nowhere to hide. No cover. Just those floating, jagged pillars. The metal surface beneath us appeared to vibrate under our feet.“Well, work faster.” He snapped. He was taking quick, uneven breaths.I was trying. I really was.But the thing chasing us was like nothing I’d ever seen before.It was huge. Bigger than anything should be. Dark, oily skin shimmered in the strange silver light of Irithiel.And those eyes... glowing red. Like they were burning from the inside out.“I thought you said you could stop it!" Ben yelled. Fear caused his voice to crack.“I thought I could!" I shot back. My heart raced. “But it’s not exactly *listening* to me.”We heard another growling noise from behin