Asher's legs burned with every step, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he stumbled through the ruins, Jeremy's broken body weighing heavily on his back. The creatures behind them screeched, their guttural cries growing louder, closer. Shadows slithered between the jagged stones, creeping toward him with deadly intent.
Jeremy groaned weakly against his shoulder, his fingers gripping Asher's torn shirt. "Asher… I can't anymore…" His voice was barely a whisper, filled with agony.
"Shut up," Asher rasped. "You're not dying. Not here."
The ruins stretched endlessly before them, a labyrinth of decay and despair. The ground trembled beneath his feet, the air thick with the scent of blood and rot. His vision blurred, but he forced himself to move, ignoring the sharp pain tearing through his wounded shoulder.
Then—a flicker of movement ahead.
A structure, half-collapsed but standing, loomed in the distance. A bell tower, its rusted iron bell swaying slightly in the cold wind. If they could just reach it, maybe—just maybe—they'd have a chance.
A shriek ripped through the air, and something heavy slammed into Asher's back. He went down hard, the impact knocking the air from his lungs. Jeremy tumbled from his grasp, landing in the dirt with a strangled cry.
Asher rolled onto his back just in time to see the creature—a monstrous, skeletal thing with sinewy flesh stretched over its bony frame. Its hollow eyes glowed like dying embers, its gaping maw dripping with thick, black saliva.
It lunged.
Asher barely managed to twist aside as its claws tore into the ground where his chest had been a second ago. Heart pounding, he scrambled for a weapon, anything—his fingers closing around a shattered stone. With a desperate yell, he swung it upward, smashing it into the creature's jaw. Bone cracked, but the monster barely flinched.
"Asher!" Jeremy's voice was weak, but laced with panic.
The creature recovered, snarling, its claws raised to end him—
BANG!
The gunshot echoed through the ruins. The creature's head snapped backward, black ichor spraying from the gaping wound between its eyes. It let out a strangled screech before crumpling to the ground.
Asher's wide, disbelieving gaze shot toward the source of the shot.
A woman stood atop a pile of rubble, a smoking revolver in her grasp. She was clad in torn leather, her face streaked with blood and dirt, eyes sharp as steel.
"Get up," she barked, already reloading. "Unless you wanna end up like the rest."
Asher didn't hesitate. Ignoring the searing pain in his limbs, he grabbed Jeremy and hauled him up, throwing his arm over his shoulders. The woman jumped down, scanning the darkness behind them.
"They're swarming," she muttered. "We need to move—now."
Another shriek split the night, and the ruins trembled. More creatures poured from the shadows, their eyes glowing with insatiable hunger.
The woman fired again, taking one down instantly. Then she turned and ran.
Asher followed, half-carrying, half-dragging Jeremy with him. His lungs burned, but he pushed forward, toward the bell tower looming ahead.
"Who the hell are you?" he rasped between breaths.
The woman didn't look back. "Your only chance of surviving the night."
The creatures closed in. Their escape was still too far.
*******
The battle had been unlike anything Asher had ever faced. The creatures—twisted monstrosities of darkness and hunger—had come at them in waves, their shrieks splitting the air like the wail of the damned. But he and Jeremy had fought like cornered beasts, using every ounce of their strength, every scrap of strategy they could muster.
It wasn't just brute force that had won them this fight; it was cunning. Asher had lured them into a narrow crevice between jagged ruins, forcing them into a bottleneck where their sheer numbers worked against them. With stolen blades and scavenged weapons, he and Jeremy had cut them down, one after another, until the ground was slick with their black, steaming blood.
But victory came at a price. Jeremy was barely conscious, his body battered and broken. Asher's feet were raw, bleeding profusely from torn flesh. They had survived, but just barely.
And then, salvation.
The woman who had appeared from the shadows, cloaked and mysterious, leading them through a hidden path toward the towering cliffs. They had followed her without question, their bodies too weak to resist.
Now, inside the cool, damp safety of the cave, Asher watched as Jeremy lay unconscious while the woman—Nerrisa—worked swiftly, tending to his wounds. Her hands were practiced, her face unreadable.
"You're lucky," she muttered under her breath as she wrapped bandages around Jeremy's chest. "Most don't survive this long in the Dark Trench."
Asher barely had the strength to ask, "Who… are you?"
The woman glanced at him. "Nerrisa," she said simply. "Wife of Malek, leader of the survivors."
Survivors. The word struck Asher like a cruel joke.
Jeremy remained unresponsive, his face pale, his breathing shallow. Asher clenched his fists. He had dragged his friend through hell, and now he could only watch, helpless, as someone else fought to keep him alive.
Lia, a young woman with sharp eyes and a surprisingly gentle touch, knelt beside Asher. She had taken one look at his bleeding feet and immediately started cleaning the wounds.
"You're reckless," she muttered, applying a cool salve that stung like fire.
"Had no choice," Asher hissed.
She scoffed but said nothing more. Instead, she handed him something unexpected—a roasted rabbit.
Asher blinked at it. "How… in this nightmare of a place… did you manage to catch a rabbit?"
Lia smirked. "We have our ways."
Hunger clawed at his stomach. He hadn't eaten in what felt like days. He tore into the food without hesitation, the warmth of it spreading through his exhausted limbs.
Afterward, he limped to the edge of the cave, staring down at the abyss beyond the cliff. The world stretched before him, a ruin of shadows and whispers, a graveyard of the lost.
It was safe here—for now. The sheer drop protected them from the horrors that roamed below. But Nerrisa had warned them: the sky held worse things. Things with wings and hunger more insatiable than the creatures that crawled the land.
Asher shivered.
A presence approached. Nerrisa stood beside him, her arms crossed.
"What's on your mind?" she asked.
Asher exhaled shakily. "I never thought I'd miss the real world," he admitted. "I never thought I'd crave the smell of rain, the sound of traffic, the taste of real food… I want to go back." His voice cracked. "But… I don't think we ever will."
Nerrisa's expression darkened. "You need to understand something," she said. "This place… it doesn't let people leave. Those who try—" she paused, as if weighing her words. "They don't just die. They become part of it. If you're lucky, you'll never meet the dead witches."
Asher stiffened. "Dead witches?"
Nerrisa's voice dropped to a whisper. "They were once human. Cursed souls, bound to this place, feeding on the living to sustain their unnatural existence. If they find you… you won't just die. You'll wish you had."
A chill ran through Asher's bones.
Behind them, a soft groan broke the heavy silence.
"Asher…"
He spun around. Jeremy was awake.
Relief flooded him as he rushed to his side, grasping his hand tightly. "Jimmy! You jerk! I thought you decided to leave me behind!" Asher's voice cracked, betraying the emotions he was trying to suppress.
Jeremy blinked up at him, surprised by the wetness in Asher's eyes. "Sorry, Ash," he murmured. "I'm back. And this time, I'm not leaving."
Nerrisa watched them quietly, a small smile flickering across her face. But it was a bittersweet expression. She had seen bonds like this before—ones forged in survival, in pain. And she knew how easily they could be torn apart.
She knew because hers had been.
Jeremy, still weak, forced himself to stand. He winced but made his way to the edge of the cave, looking out at the ruined expanse.
"Asher… we're never going back, are we?"
Asher swallowed. "I don't know, Jimmy. But… we have to try. We have to believe there's a way out."
Jeremy sighed. Then, in a rare moment of vulnerability, he reached out, pulling Asher into a tight embrace.
Despite everything—the horror, the pain—Jeremy smiled faintly. "At least I'm here with you," he whispered.
Asher's breath caught.
Jeremy's touch lingered, his fingers brushing through Asher's silver hair. His ember eyes held an emotion Asher couldn't quite place—one that sent a strange, shivering warmth through him.
And then, as if drawn by an unseen force, Jeremy leaned in.
Asher's heart pounded. Was this really happening?
Jeremy was close, too close. His red lips hovered just inches away, and Asher felt himself tilting forward, his breath hitching in anticipation.
Then—
"It's time for proper introductions," Nerrisa's voice cut through the moment. "Come on, boys. Everyone needs to know who they're surviving with."
Jeremy jerked away, his face flushing. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh—sorry. Don't know why I did that."
Asher forced a smile, though inside, something twisted painfully. "Yeah… don't worry about it."
But he did worry.
Because for the first time in his life, Asher realized something terrifying.
He was about to kiss a straight guy one that was in love with his twin sister how terrifying was that?