First blood (THE BEGINNING)

  The light swallowed everything. Lena couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

  Her body felt like it was being pulled apart and forced back together at the same time.

  “Wait—! What’s happening?!” someone screamed.

  Noah’s voice broke through the chaos, close to her ear.

  “Lena! Lena—don’t let go!”

  “I’m not—!” she tried to answer, but her voice didn’t come out right.

  It sounded distant.

  Dragged.

  Like she wasn’t fully there.

  The pressure increased.

  Her chest tightened painfully.

  Her fingers curled, searching blindly

  Then suddenly

  The light vanished.

  Lena collapsed forward.

  Hard.

  Her palms slammed against rough ground.

  Cold.

  Real.

  She gasped sharply.

  Air rushed into her lungs like she had been drowning.

  “Ah—!”

  Her body shook as she pushed herself up.

  Her vision blurred at the edges before slowly clearing.

  “What… what is this…” she whispered.

  Her voice trembled.

  Her throat dry.

  She looked around.

  And froze.

  This place......it wasn’t empty anymore.

  The ground beneath her wasn’t smooth.

  It was cracked.

  Uneven.

  Dark lines splitting across it like something underneath was trying to break through.

  The air felt wrong.

  Heavy.

  Like it was watching.

  No sky.

  No clear ceiling.

  Just a dull, gray space stretching endlessly.

  But this time

  It felt alive.

  A girl screamed somewhere behind her.

  “Something moved! I saw it.....I swear I saw it!”

  “Stop panicking!” another voice snapped. “You’re making it worse!”

  Lena’s heart started racing again.

  Fast.

  Too fast.

  “Noah…?” she called out softly.

  A hand grabbed her wrist immediately.

  “I’m here.”

  She turned quickly.

  Noah stood beside her, still pale, still shaking.

  But he hadn’t let go.

  His grip was tight.

  Like if he loosened it—he’d disappear.

  “You’re okay?” he asked, his voice uneven.

  “I… I think so…” Lena replied, though she wasn’t sure.

  Her body felt fine.

  Too fine.

  That scared her more.

  Noah let out a shaky breath.

  “This place… it’s different…”

  Lena nodded slowly.

  “Yeah…”

  A loud crack split the ground somewhere ahead.

  Everyone flinched.

  “What was that?!” someone shouted.

  The ground shifted slightly under Lena’s feet.

  She stumbled back.

  “Did you feel that?” Noah asked quickly.

  “Yes—”

  Another crack.

  Louder.

  Closer.

  Lena’s chest tightened.

  “Something’s wrong…” she whispered.

  A deep voice cut through the panic.

  “Of course something’s wrong.”

  Lena turned.

  Jax Hollow.

  He stood a few steps away, arms crossed, his expression dark.

  Unbothered.

  Or pretending to be.

  His eyes moved across the space slowly, calculating.

  “Stay alert,” he said. “This isn’t random.”

  “Easy for you to say,” someone snapped. “You’re not the one shaking!”

  Jax’s gaze snapped to the speaker.

  Cold.

  Sharp.

  “Then stop shaking,” he replied flatly.

  Silence followed.

  Heavy.

  Uncomfortable.

  Lena felt Noah shift slightly closer to her.

  “He’s… scary…” Noah whispered.

  Lena didn’t answer.

  But she didn’t disagree.

  A sudden movement caught her eye.

  Something… flickered.

  At the edge of her vision.

  She turned quickly.

  “Did you see that?” she asked.

  Noah stiffened.

  “See what?”

  “There....something moved—”

  “I don’t see anything…”

  Lena frowned.

  Her heart started beating faster again.

  “I swear… something’s there…”

  A girl cried out suddenly.

  “It’s under the ground!”

  Everyone turned.

  The cracks

  They were spreading.

  Slowly.

  Like veins crawling across the surface.

  “No… no, no…” the girl backed away, shaking her head.

  “I don’t like this I don’t like this!”

  The ground trembled again.

  Harder this time.

  Lena grabbed Noah’s arm instinctively.

  “Stay close,” she said quickly.

  “I wasn’t planning on leaving,” he muttered.

  Another crack.

  Louder.

  Then...

  The ground split.

  Right in front of them.

  A deep, dark gap opened.

  And from it

  Something moved.

  Lena’s breath caught.

  “What… is that…” she whispered.

  It wasn’t clear.

  Not fully.

  Just a shifting shape.

  Dark.

  Twisting.

  Wrong.

  A man stumbled back.

  “What is that thing?!”

  “It’s part of the game…” Jax said, his voice low. “Get ready.”

  “Get ready for what?!” someone shouted.

  The thing moved faster.

  A sudden lunge

  A scream.

  It grabbed someone.

  Too fast.

  Too sudden.

  “No! Help me! HELP...!”

  The voice cut off instantly.

  Gone.

  Silence.

  Then—

  Nothing.

  No body.

  No blood.

  Just… empty space.

  “…erased…” Noah whispered.

  Lena’s stomach twisted violently.

  Her hands shook.

  “No… no, we can’t”

  Another crack.

  Another movement.

  “They’re everywhere!” someone screamed.

  Panic exploded.

  People started running.

  Shouting.

  Pushing past each other.

  “Move! Move!”

  “Get away from the ground!”

  Lena’s chest tightened.

  “I can’t do this…” she whispered.

  Her legs felt frozen.

  Heavy.

  “I can’t”

  Noah grabbed her shoulders suddenly.

  “Lena! Look at me!”

  She blinked.

  Her breathing uneven.

  “You have to move!” he said, his voice shaking but firm. “If you don’t move you’ll die!”

  “I....”

  A scream cut her off.

  Close.

  Too close.

  Lena turned

  One of those things lunged again.

  Right toward them.

  Her body froze.

  Her mind went blank.

  “I can’t”

  “RUN!” Noah shouted.

  Something snapped inside her.

  Her body moved.

  She grabbed Noah’s hand and ran.

  Fast.

  Blind.

  Her heart slammed violently in her chest.

  Her breath came out in sharp gasps.

  “Don’t stop!” Noah yelled behind her.

  “I’m trying!”

  The ground cracked beneath their feet.

  She stumbled..

  Almost fell

  But kept moving.

  People screamed around them.

  Some tripped.

  Some didn’t get back up.

  Lena didn’t look.

  She couldn’t.

  “I don’t want to die…” she whispered.

  Her voice broke.

  “I don’t want to die again…”

  Her chest burned.

  Her legs screamed.

  But she kept running.

  Because stopping meant

  Disappearing.

  She ducked behind a broken rise in the ground, pulling Noah down with her.

  “Here—!”

  They crouched low.

  Breathing hard.

  Listening.

  The sounds didn’t stop.

  Screams.

  Cracks.

  That horrible dragging noise beneath the ground.

  Lena covered her mouth with her hand.

  Trying to stay quiet.

  Her body shook uncontrollably.

  “I can’t…” she whispered. “I can’t do this…”

  Noah leaned closer, his voice barely above a breath.

  “You are doing it…”

  She shook her head.

  “No… I’m just running…”

  “Exactly,” he said. “That’s how we survive.”

  Lena looked at him.

  Her eyes wide.

  Fear-filled.

  “You really think we can survive this?”

  Noah hesitated.

  Just for a second.

  Then nodded.

  “We have to.”

  Another loud crack interrupted them.

  Closer.

  Too close.

  Lena’s body tensed instantly.

  “It’s coming…” she whispered.

  The ground beneath them trembled again.

  Slow.

  Then faster.

  Noah grabbed her arm.

  “Lena…”

  She didn’t respond.

  Her eyes were fixed on the ground.

  The cracks were spreading toward them.

  Reaching.

  Like something underneath knew exactly where they were.

  “Lena,” Noah said again, panic rising in his voice.

  “We need to move...”

  “I know…” she whispered.

  But she didn’t move.

  Her body felt locked again.

  Frozen.

  Just like before.

  “I can’t…”

  The ground split.

  Right in front of them.

  The thing burst out.

  Closer than before.

  Too close.

  No time to run.

  No time to think.

  Lena’s breath caught.

  Her body refused to move.

  This is it “I can’t....”

  The thing lunged.

  Straight for her.

  And Lena realized survival wasn’t about strength.

  It was about who breaks last.

  And right now...she was breaking.