Shadows Of Eterna

The Game

Episode 3

The tunnel swallowed them whole. Their flashlight beams seemed weaker here, as though the darkness itself resisted illumination. The dripping grew louder, echoing off the metal walls until it felt like water was falling inside their heads.

Eli led, holding the pocket watch like it might guide him. But its frozen hands stayed fixed at midnight, the glass fogging as though it breathed.

“Stop,” Maya hissed. She crouched, running her fingers along the ground. The dust was disturbed—drag marks, as if something heavy had been pulled through recently. The streaks disappeared into the blackness ahead.

“Maybe… part of the setup,” Eli muttered, though his throat was dry.

“Setup my ass,” Harper snapped, hugging the mirror shard. “Nothing about this is safe. We should turn back.”

They turned—only to find the passage behind them sealed by a solid wall of concrete. Fresh, smooth, as though it had been there for decades.

Nina whimpered, but forced herself forward. “No choice. We keep going.”

The corridor widened into a chamber lined with broken subway tiles. The dripping sound intensified—and then they saw it.

A figure slumped against the far wall, half-hidden in shadow. A woman, her hair hanging in matted strands. Her clothes were torn, soaked dark with what could only be blood.

“Hello?” Nina called softly.

The woman twitched. Slowly, her head lifted, and they saw her face. Or what was left of it. Her mouth was stretched unnaturally wide, lips torn, as if something had forced itself inside. Her eyes were milky white, blind yet focused directly on them.

Jules swore and stumbled back. “That’s not—she’s not alive.”

The woman moved. Her body jerked like a marionette as she stood, joints cracking. And then she began to walk toward them in sharp, stuttering strides.

“s**t, s**t, s**t!” Eli shouted, backing up.

The shadow-woman opened her ruined mouth—and a voice came out. Not hers. The same voice they’d heard before:

“Trial One: The Watcher. Do not be seen.”

Instantly, the lights overhead buzzed to life, flickering on and off in erratic bursts. The chamber was now a strobe-lit nightmare. Every time the lights blinked out, the woman jumped closer, appearing feet away when they flashed back.

“Don’t let her look at you!” Maya cried, pulling the candle from her pocket. She shielded her face, dropping low.

Harper clutched the mirror shard instinctively, turning it outward. When the woman lunged close, her milky eyes reflected back in the jagged glass—and she shrieked, staggering, smoke rising from her skin.

“It works!” Harper shouted.

“Then keep her busy!” Eli yelled, dragging Nina and Jules toward the exit—a rusted service door at the chamber’s edge.

But the door wouldn’t budge. It had no handle, just a keyhole. Nina’s hand shook as she jammed the blackened key into it. The lock resisted, groaning as though alive, before finally clicking.

The woman lunged again, this time toward Jules. He froze, her gaze locking onto his. His body stiffened, shaking violently as if an unseen force was crushing his lungs.

“Jules!” Nina screamed.

Thinking fast, Harper shoved the mirror shard between them. The woman’s reflection distorted across the broken glass, and she howled, releasing Jules, who collapsed, gasping.

“Go, go, go!” Maya shouted.

The door screeched open, and they tumbled into another tunnel just as the lights in the chamber shattered, plunging everything into darkness. The woman’s final scream echoed behind them before cutting off like a severed wire.

They slammed the door shut, panting in unison.

“Not a show,” Jules rasped. His face was pale, sweat pouring down. “That thing… she was going to hollow me out.”

“Trial one,” Maya repeated in a whisper. “Which means there are more.”

The tunnel ahead stretched infinitely, lit by occasional failing bulbs. Somewhere far ahead, faint music played—a distorted lullaby, warped and off-key.

“This is insane,” Harper said, clutching the shard tighter. “They’re making us play some kind of… game.”

The pocket watch in Eli’s hand ticked once. Just once. Then the hands twitched forward—midnight to 12:01.

“Progress,” Eli whispered.

They walked on, though every step felt like trespass. The lullaby grew louder until they entered another chamber. This one resembled a derelict waiting room. Rows of broken chairs, a flickering sign overhead, and at the far wall, a glass window like an old ticket booth.

Inside the booth, a shape stirred. Pale fingers tapped against the glass. Slowly, a face leaned into view. Another eyeless figure, this one smiling with far too many teeth.

It pressed its forehead to the glass and whispered through cracked lips:

“Trial Two awaits.”

---