CHAPTER 58: THE HOLLOWING

[The Underground— Venom]

The air in the underground pulsed alive with whispering magic and the hum of things long dead but not forgotten.

Venom stood before the floating mirror of shadows, a twisted relic suspended by chains forged from black flame. It revealed the world above— the realm of fools and dreamers. Tonight, the mirror showed him Bulb.

Bulb sat by a dying campfire, the flicker painting his face in gold and despair. His hands raked through his hair, frustration burning quietly behind his eyes. Venom could almost taste it...The fear. Confusion. And something softer...desire?—

"So..." Venom’s voice slithered into the darkness, low and dangerous, "his heart beats for Valkyrie..."

A grin stretched across his lips, slow and cruel. "How... quaint"

He raised his hand. The mirror obeyed, zooming closer, showing every flicker in Bulb’s eyes, every nervous swallow, every crack in his heart. Venom’s chuckle rumbled in his throat deep, velvety and VENOMOUS.

"They think distance can save them," he whispered. "Running from Galveston to Euphoria... as if changing their location rewrites their destiny and fate"

The chuckle deepened, it became a laugh. A dark, bone-rattling laugh that echoed through the vast cavern until even the shadows seemed to recoil.

"You think you’ve escaped me, little rabbits?" he said, his tone now dripping with mockery. "No... you’ve only crawled into a prettier cage."

He turned from the mirror. His cape of woven shadow trailed behind him like liquid night, whispering across the stone floor. Every step he took made the ground hum faintly, as if the lair itself recognized its master.

As he walked, the mirror followed like a loyal phantom. Strange runes glowed faintly on the cavern walls, pulsing with the rhythm of his presence. The air thickened with ancient energy.

"Camila..." he said at last, almost gently— but fierce in his expression. The name carried an edge sharp enough to cut through silence. "You really thought hiding them in Euphoria would prevent the surprise I have for you?"

He smiled faintly. "You always did mistake hope for strategy."

He paused, eyes glinting red in the dark. "Still... I’ll give you this much...you’ve learned to run better. But you never learned to hide...regardless I’m still the master, and what is mine WILL REMAIN MINE..."

He tilted his head slightly, and for a fleeting heartbeat, there was something else in his expression— something older and personal.

"How long has it been, Camila? How long since you believed you could outsmart me?"

A dry laugh escaped him. "You’ve surprise me once. I underestimated you once... But never again."

He stepped closer to a massive sealed gate etched with ancient sigils that pulsed like veins under flesh. They writhed as if alive— feeding on the dark air, whispering their curses to one another.

Venom extended his right hand. Black energy spiraled from his fingertips, thick as ink and cold as death.

The locks hissed in protest and the sigils screamed....

***********************

CRRRRRAAAACK!

One seal shattered. Then another.

THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!

The ground quaked as each chain tore loose, serpents of darkness coiling into smoke. Venom’s smile returned, slower this time and sharper. "Wake up beloved."

The gate exploded outward with a deafening KLAANG! that rolled through the cavern like thunder—

—Then.

A storm of ash and shadow burst from the cracked seal, roaring into the cavern like a living tempest.

The air itself seemed to tear apart under the pressure, each gust carrying whispers of screams: old and trapped voices spilling from the void.

From within the swirling darkness, something began to take shape. Slowly and Seductively.

At first, it was only a silhouette— tall, impossibly feminine, and still as stone while the storm raged around her. Then, the shadows began to peel away, layer by layer, revealing the skin color of cold ash, it was smooth yet faintly cracked, with glowing veins of crimson pulsing beneath like molten fire trapped in marble.

Her body was lean, carved in impossible symmetry. Her armor clung to her form in shattered fragments of blackened metal, revealing curves that should have belonged to life, not death.

Chains hung loosely around her hips and wrists, whispering as they swayed. Every motion she made was too fluid, beautiful, but wrong— like a dancer that had forgotten she was dead.

When her eyes opened, the light in the cavern dimmed. Two pits of burning red flame glared from her sockets, bright enough to cast shadows across Venom’s face. The heat from them was faint but alive, flickering with a rage that had slept for centuries.

Her lips parted slightly as she drew her first breath— a long, slow inhale that sounded more like a shudder than a sigh. The sound sent a ripple through the air, cold enough to bite.

Then she stepped forward.

Her bare feet touched the floor, leaving behind faint scorch marks with each step. A low, metallic hum followed her movements— the sound of the chains around her arms dragging like forgotten music.

When she moved, her joints didn’t creak like something broken...they flowed, smoothly and silently, guided by dark enchantment rather than flesh.

The storm began to die down, the ashes settling around her feet like dark petals. Only she remained, framed in the fading mist: half goddess, half corpse.

Venom’s expression was unreadable. He watched her in silence, eyes gleaming with satisfaction as though he’d just summoned both a memory and a nightmare.

"Zeraphina," he whispered, his voice low with purpose. "You’re as exquisite as I remember."

The zombie’s head tilted slightly at the sound of her name. Her lips curved into something that might have been a smile or a warning.

And when she spoke, her voice was like velvet dragged across stone.

"VENOM"

"You’ve slept long," Venom said, circling her like a predator admiring its weapon. "Your body remembers war. But now, you must remember your purpose."

"Say the word" She whispered, voice strangely smooth as though she was about to give him a lap dance.

He stopped before her, eyes glowing faintly. "Euphoria..."

Her head lifted, that cracked— corpse-like grin curling her lips. "At last...Some action"

All around, the other gates began to shudder. The sigils on their surfaces ignited one by one: red, blue, black. like stars dying in reverse.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Each gate split open, and from every chamber emerged shadow-forged warriors— Venom’s soldiers. Some bore armor of bone, others flesh stitched with iron. Their eyes burned the same red as their master’s mark.

They knelt behind Zeraphina, hundreds of them, the sound of metal knees hitting stone echoing like a heartbeat in hell.

Venom stood before them, hands clasped behind his back, Looking calmly around them— the calm of a god before a storm.

"You will not hunt..." he said. "...You will unleash."

Zeraphina’s head bowed lower. "What is your will?"

Venom’s eyes narrowed to glowing slits. "Chaos Zeraphina" The word struck like thunder, and the shadows seemed to thicken.

"You will march through the veil," he said softly, voice carrying across the hall like wind through a crypt. "You will burn their camps. Shatter their illusions. Break their peace until the word Euphoria tastes like ash in their mouths. I want the Council to tremble before dawn. I want Camila to wake and feel the air shift completely than she had suspected"

Zeraphina tilted her head. "And their souls?"

Venom waved lazily, his voice dripping with dismissal.

"Hmmm...still eager I see...Their souls you can do as you wish" he leaned closer, grin stretching too wide to be human, "I just want you to deliver a message to them..." He stretched.

"VENOM IS COMING..."

His tone dropped to a whisper.

"Let them know... the wolves have found their hole."

Zeraphina rose, her armor creaking with the sound of grinding bone. Behind her, the army slammed their fists to their chests in silent vow, the impact echoing through the lair like war drums.

Venom’s laughter followed— deep and elegant.

"Go," he commanded.

Zeraphina turned, her long hair sweeping across the air like smoke. She raised a single clawed hand, and with a crack of thunder, a portal tore open before her— an abyss swirling with red lightning and screams that weren’t quite human.

The death-soldiers marched through it, their steps pounding like drums of doom.

Each footstep reverberated through the cavern.

Each echo sounded like a countdown.

When the last of them vanished into the shadows, the portal sealed itself with a hiss. The silence that followed was heavier than before.

Venom stared into the void for a moment, then exhaled softly. A single flame flickered to life on his fingertip, small and harmless-looking. But within it burned the reflection of Euphoria.

He turned his hand, extinguishing it between his fingers.

Then he laughed— quietly at first, then louder, until the sound shook dust from the ceiling.

It wasn’t the laugh of a man pleased.

It was the laugh of a god remembering what fear felt like.

"Run as far as you want, Camila...with your puppet Darren" he said to no one. "Hide your precious students. Teach them courage, teamwork, whatever keeps their hearts beating. Because when my storm reaches you..."