The tunnel opened into a hidden underground courtyard.
It was an ancient place.
Broken columns leaned drunkenly.
Moss choked the marble floor.
In the center stood a massive, rusted iron gate — chained shut, with seals older than Fred could name.
Mira stumbled to a stop beside him, hand clutching her ribs.
Subject 0 hissed softly through his teeth. "We shouldn't be here."
Fred didn't answer.
He knew it too.
But the pull of the letter... of the past... was stronger than caution.
He stepped closer.
Each footfall echoed too loudly.
As if the darkness was listening.
Waiting.
---
Click... click... click...
A sound like fingernails on glass danced across the walls.
Fred froze.
Subject 0 pulled Mira behind a broken column, crouching low.
Fred drew his blade.
Not the gun — that would be too loud.
Too final.
No.
The blade was personal.
And whatever was coming deserved nothing less.
The air grew colder.
Fingers of mist slithered along the ground.
Shapes moved beyond the gate.
Twisted things.
Human once, maybe.
Now... hungry.
Fred's grip tightened.
---
The chains across the gate rattled violently.
A low, guttering moan seeped from the keyhole.
Then —
A hand.
Thin.
Elongated.
Grey as death itself.
It clawed through the bars, reaching, grasping.
Fred didn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
Another hand joined the first.
Then another.
And another.
Until the gate was a writhing mass of groping, bone-thin arms.
Mira whimpered softly.
Subject 0 pressed a hand to her mouth.
Fred backed away slowly.
Whatever had been locked behind that gate...
It wasn't meant to stay locked forever.
And someone — something — was setting it free.
---
Fred's foot struck something hard.
He looked down.
A small, jagged shard of glass lay half-buried in the dirt.
Not ordinary glass.
It shimmered with a sickly blue light.
He bent to pick it up.
The moment his fingers touched it—
—FLASH
A vision slammed into his skull.
A woman screaming.
Blood flooding a marble floor.
A sigil carved into her forehead.
And behind it all... a voice.
"Bring him back."
"The blood isn't finished."
Fred jerked away, gasping.
The shard pulsed once, then faded to dullness.
But Fred understood now.
This place wasn't just a tomb.
It was a prison.
And the thing inside—
It knew his name.
---
Fred staggered back to Mira and Subject 0.
"We leave," he said hoarsely.
"Now."
Subject 0 didn't argue.
Mira just nodded, teeth gritted against her pain.
They fled down another tunnel, boots splashing through stagnant water.
Behind them, the gate's chains groaned.
One link snapped.
Then another.
The things behind the gate howled.
It was the sound of hunger.
Of memories with teeth.
And they were loose.
---