Gaetano lifts his hand, palm up, fingers slicing throughthe air as if parting it. I recognize the magic taking shape the moment the air thickens again. His eyes meet mine. I need him to pull me into his arms and whisper that it will all be over soon. That everything will be all right.
What I read in his expression is something entirely different. A final warning:You’ll see things that will haunt you for the rest of your life.A cold wave surges from my chest to the back of my neck.
He projects his voice through the crowd. “The contracts are now in effect. And the first trial… is to endure till the end.”
The lights go out, and darkness swallows the entire space.
Someone screams, “There’s something down there!”
Another person bursts into drunken laughter as I glance down. A red mist creeps across the floor, slithering between our legs like smoke, wrapping around my ankles, sliding up my thighs. Its warmth is unsettling, like something alive beneath the surface. And then come the whispers. They rise from the ceiling, the floor, the corners of the room,the mistitself carrying them. Different voices—male, female, young, old. All chillingly soft, whispering inside my skull, yet somehow also everywhere.
You never regretted blaming your best friend, did you?
You posted the video out of spite. You knew she’d kill herself if she saw it.
You killed his dog just to get back at him…
Everyone’s spinning around, looking for the source. All that’s visible are silhouettes shrouded in red smoke.
You didn’t tell anyone you saw him fall. You just let it happen.
Your mother still believes it wasn’t you, doesn’t she?
Someone screams again. The fog at our feet thickens, crawling like sentient flesh, seeping into shoes, clothes, and skin.
“Where the hell is the door?!”
You never loved him. He was just… convenient.
“I want to leave!”
You sleep soundly because someone else took the blame for you.
You deleted her messages, didn’t you? So no one would know what you did to her.
Cold slithers down my spine. The words aren’t meant for me, but the guilt in them weighs on me as if it’s mine.
A woman’s scream cuts through the whispers.“Stop it!”
Panic spreads like a virus. People start bumping into each other, trying to break free from the circle. The chaos and dim lighting create a bottleneck of crashing bodies.
As the crowd shifts, I somehow find myself in the center and lose sight of Gaetano. Everyone is surging toward a door I’m pretty sure no longer exists. This gives me the chance to slip through the mass of bodies and reach the other side of the room. I press myself against the wall and scan the space, searching for Gaetano. But I don’t see him. Maybe he’s blended in with the crowd…
The mass of people suddenly recoils, forming a ring around a woman screaming and clutching her head. I think she’s one of Ina Stein’s friends. The crowd backs away in unison. It’s as if an invisible dome has risen above her.
“It’s not true! It’s not true!” she shrieks. “Stop, please. I want to go. I want to!”
Gaetano appears—a black silhouette towering above her.The red fog sharpens his features, intensifying the sense of danger radiating from him. If Death had a human form, it would probably look like this.
I clutch the dagger around my thigh as my chest rises and falls erratically.
His lips move, but I can’t hear what he’s saying over the noise and the pounding in my ears. He extends his hand and grips her shoulder. The woman stiffens, her mouth opening in a silent cry. At the center of her chest, a swirling ball of black mist forms.
Her body convulses. A shriek echoes in my ears. I don’t know if it’s real or just in my head. I press my back to the wall for support, fighting the urge to collapse.
The woman’s face begins to wither, shrinking as black threads peel from her cheeks like melting skin. I cover my mouth to stifle a scream. Her body unravels, dissolving into the same dark strands as her face. Her clothes crumple to the ground, the only remaining proof that a person once stood in that spot.
Something white and shapeless flickers in the dim light. It must be her soul. Gaetano reaches out and seizes it. His touch drains its color, transforming it into a black shadow that extends from his hand.
