Chapter 78: The One Who Walks Alone

The passage chose for us.

That was the first thing I understood when the floor split beneath our feet and the silver light vanished.

There was no warning. No countdown. No time to brace myself.

One moment, Elliot’s hand was in mine solid, warm, grounding and the next, gravity tore me away.

I screamed.

The darkness swallowed me whole.

I landed hard, the air punched from my lungs as pain exploded through my ribs. The flash drive skidded across the cold floor, stopping inches from my fingers. I crawled for it instinctively, clutching it to my chest as the chamber sealed above me with a sound like a coffin being shut.

Silence followed.

Heavy. Absolute.

I was alone.

“No,” I whispered, pushing myself up. “No, no, no…”

The words from the voice echoed in my mind:

Only one of you will be forced to confront it alone.

This was it.

This was my trial.

The chamber was different from the others. No glowing symbols. No shifting walls. Just a long corridor lined with doors dozens of them  each marked with a name.

My breath stuttered when I saw the first one.

Elliot.

The second:

Marcus.

The third:

Liam.

And then… my own name.

My legs trembled.

A whisper slid along the walls, intimate and cruel.

Choose a door… and see what they would sacrifice for you.

I backed away. “You’re lying.”

The whisper laughed softly.

Open one… or I will open them all.

My chest burned.

I knew this wasn’t about curiosity. It was about destruction. About forcing me to witness something I could never unsee.

I reached for Elliot’s door first, instinctively , then stopped myself.

No.

This place thrived on instinct. On fear.

I steadied my breathing and turned toward my own door.

“If this is my trial,” I said hoarsely, “then I face it.”

The handle was warm.

The moment I stepped inside, the door vanished behind me.

I wasn’t in the chamber anymore.

I was home.

My childhood home.

The smell of dust and old books hit me like a punch to the chest. The living room looked exactly as it had years ago  right down to the crack in the wall and the worn sofa cushions.

My father’s voice echoed from the kitchen.

I froze.

He stepped into view.

Alive.

Smiling.

My knees buckled.

“Come here,” he said gently.

Tears burned my eyes. “You’re not real.”

He tilted his head. “Does that matter?”

I shook my head violently. “You died.”

“And yet,” he replied softly, “everything that happened after was because of what I uncovered.”

My chest ached.

“I tried to protect you,” he continued. “But I failed. And now… look at you.”

His gaze slid past me.

Toward something behind me.

“You’ve surrounded yourself with danger.”

I turned.

Elliot stood there, younger, bloodied, eyes hollow with guilt.

Marcus appeared next  hands shaking, calculations scrawled across his skin like scars.

Then Liam , kneeling, broken, rage burning behind his eyes.

“They will die for you,” my father said quietly. “One already would have.”

My throat closed. “Stop.”

“They are already sacrificing themselves,” he pressed. “All you have to do… is choose who matters most.”

The floor cracked.

The room began to collapse.

“No!” I screamed. “I don’t choose.”

My father’s expression hardened.

“Then you will lose them all.”

I screamed again  raw, feral  and slammed my fist into my chest.

“I choose myself,” I shouted. “I choose to survive. I choose truth. I choose not to be controlled by ghosts.”

The illusion shattered.

I collapsed to my knees, gasping, shaking, sobbing.

The chamber reformed around me.

One door remained.

Unmarked.

It opened on its own.

Elliot stood there.

Alive.

Breathing.

His eyes locked onto mine like he’d been searching for me across lifetimes.

I ran to him, crashing into his chest as his arms wrapped around me like he’d never let go again.

“I thought I lost you,” he whispered.

I shook my head against him. “Never.”

Behind him, Marcus and Liam stepped into view  tense, battered, but standing.

The voice returned, colder now.

You have passed… but the cost will come due.

The floor trembled.

And somewhere beyond the walls, something woke.

The lights went out.

And in the darkness, Elliot whispered against my ear:

“She knows your father’s final secret… and she’s coming for you next.”