EMILI
The thing that had been Noa moved toward me with slow steps, savoring every second of my terror. Her body elongated, distorted, as if her skin were a costume that no longer fit. Her bones cracked beneath her flesh as her true form struggled to emerge.
I backed up until my spine hit the damp wall of the cave. The altar was to my left, radiating a sickly heat that churned my stomach. The exit lay behind the demon. Blocked.
“Don’t run,” it hissed with that needle-filled mouth. “It’s more fun when they don’t run.”
Its fingers had lengthened, nails turning into curved black claws. Its ashen skin split along glowing lines like embers, as if living fire burned beneath its flesh.
Panic paralyzed me. My legs wouldn’t respond, my hands trembled, my heart pounded so fast the sound flooded
