|| Penelope ||
The escape from the Archive had been a blur of chaos. Flickering torches, their flames dancing wildly against the stone walls, provided the only light as we raced through the dark corridors, shadows screaming around us like living things. Every footstep echoed with urgency, but the air was thick with something far worse than the fear that twisted our hearts. It was the presence of something ancient and hungry, something that had been awakened far too late. The sharp tang of fear — raw, unrelenting — clung to my skin like a second layer, coating everything, suffocating everything.
We barely made it out. The massive iron doors slammed shut behind us with a finality that reverberated through the very ground we stood on, sealing whatever horrors had lurked inside. Ancient Maya
