CHAPTER 206: THE BLACK CORE [4]

The air smelled like rain. Not the clean kind, Fresh kind.

This was the heavy, suffocating stink. Like mold and rot. Like something dead had been left out too long.

It clung to Kyle’s nose, thick and sour, sank down his throat, and made his stomach turn.

The sky above him wasn’t just dark. It was wrong.

A deep, bruised purple mixed with sick black. Clouds hanging so low they looked like they were about to crush everything beneath them.

He was running.

Bare feet smacking against hard, cold stone. The floor was freezing, slick, and rough. Each step stabbed into his soles like broken glass. But he didn’t stop.

Something was behind him.

The hallway stretched on forever. It was narrow, crooked, with no end in sight.

The walls pulsed like they were alive, covered in a wet, sticky film. He brushed one by accident.

His fingers came back red.

Not paint.

Blood.

It was warm and fresh.

Drip. Drip

Still Dripping on the floor.

Somewhere behind him. The sound came.

A whisper.

It wasn’t a voice or words. Just sound. Low and slithering, like a worm crawling into his ear, curling up inside his head.

Kyle’s breath hitched. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. Just a dry rasp. His lungs burned. His legs shook.

But he ran.

He didn’t look back.

There was a door ahead.

It was old and cracked. Barely holding together. Light leaked out from the bottom. A thin, golden strip on the black stone floor.

Hope.

His breath came in ragged gasps. Feet skidded on the slick ground. His heart hammering in his chest like a drum. His fingers clawed at the door.

His hand wrapped around the metal handle—freezing cold. Like it had just come out of ice. He twisted. Pulled...

Locked.

The whisper came again. Closer

"No," he croaked, voice breaking. He slammed his shoulder into the door. Once. Twice.

A third time...

Crack.

The door broke open.

Light exploded around him. Blinding. Pure.

And then...

Gone.

The hallway vanished.

He landed on his knees, hands sinking into something soft.

Grass.

Warm. Alive.

He looked up.

A field stretched around him, silver grass swaying under a massive moon that hung far too close. It lit everything with a strange, blue glow.

It was Beautiful.

But cold.

Wrong.

Shadows twisted across the ground. They didn’t match the grass or trees. They moved on their own.

And in the distance—

A tall figure.

Its robes hung loose, torn at the edges. They swayed even though there was no wind. Like smoke.

Its face—

Kyle froze.

There was no face. Just Darkness. A black void where eyes, mouth, and nose should have been.

But. Kyle knew it was looking at him.

Staring.

It raised a hand.

The fingers were long. White like bone, with black nails. The skin looked like stretched wax over bone.

"Come."

The words didn’t hit his ears. It rang inside Kyle’s head. A whisper and a scream at the same time. It rattled his teeth. Made his eyes ache.

His feet moved on their own.

One step.

Then another.

The grass hissed beneath him, curling around his legs like snakes, trying to pull him down.

But he couldn’t stop.

The figure waited. It didn’t move. Just watched.

The thing smiled.

There were no lips. No mouth. Just a crack across the darkness where a face should’ve been.

"Found you."

That voice—

It wasn’t just one.

It was many.

Kyle’s voice.

Whispers.

Laughter.

Sobs.

All his.

The hand reached out. Touched his cheek.

It was Cold.

So cold it burned.

Pain exploded through his skin. His cheek turned black, cracked, peeled away like paper curling in fire—

He screamed.

———

Gasp

Kyle woke up gasping.

His body shot upright. The sheets tangled around his legs were damp with sweat, clinging to him like wet cloth.

His shirt stuck to his back, cold and heavy from how much he had sweat through it.

It took him a second to realize where he was.

The infirmary.

White walls. Bright, buzzing lights that made his eyes squint. The sharp, clean smell of disinfectant filled the air.

A quiet rune nearby blinked softly, its beeping in time with the wild pounding of his heart.

His hands trembled as he raised them to his face. They were wet. Sweaty.

He could feel how fast he was breathing. Short, shallow gasps like he couldn’t get enough air.

Just a dream. Just a dream.

His cheek still burned where the nightmare hand had touched him.

He raised trembling fingers to the spot, they came away wet.

Just a sweat.

"You’re awake."

Doctor Rinna’s voice made him flinch.

She stood next to his bed, her arms crossed.

Her usual serious face was still there, but her eyes held something else, something softer. She handed him a glass of water. The ice had melted. It was just cool now.

Kyle took it with shaking fingers. Water splashed over the rim and slid down his wrist. He barely noticed it.

"Nightmare?" Rinna asked.

He swallowed hard. The water tasted stale.

"Yeah," he said.

She didn’t press him. But she looked at him for a long time, her sharp gaze picking up everything—

How fast his pulse throbbed in his neck. How his knuckles were white around the glass. How his hair stuck to his forehead.

She sighed. "You need rest."

Kyle said nothing.

He didn’t trust his voice to stay steady.

Rinna gave his shoulder a quick pat. "No magic. No training. Just rest, Kyle. You hear me?"

Then she turned and walked away, her white coat fluttering as she disappeared behind the curtain.

Kyle leaned back against the pillows.

The silence around him was thick, broken only by the soft,

beep... beep... beep of the rune and the low hum of voices outside at the nurses’ station.

Then he heard.

Rain.

It started soft. A few drops tapping against the window. Then more. Soon, it was a steady hiss, like the world itself had decided to shiver.

Kyle closed his eyes.

’You okay?’

Zalrielle’s voice echoed inside his mind. Soft and warm.

’Yeah,’ he answered.

’You should rest for today.’

’Okay.’

This time, he didn’t argue.

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