Chapter 5: The Witness Circle
562 Words
Evie didn’t turn around.
Every instinct screamed at her to run, but her feet felt rooted to the cold stone floor. Marcus’ footsteps echoed behind her slow, unhurried, like he knew she couldn’t escape. The tunnel walls pulsed faintly, the symbols etched into them glowing a sickly green.
“Marcus,” she said carefully, forcing her voice steady. “You’re not alone in there.”
A pause.
Then footsteps stopped.
“You always noticed things,” Marcus said. His voice sounded right too right. “That’s why it likes you.”
Evie swallowed and turned.
Marcus stood a few feet away, half lit by her flickering flashlight. His face looked normal at first glance same strong jaw, same familiar eyes but when he stepped closer, she saw it. The way his pupils shimmered unnaturally. The way his shadow stretched across the tunnel wall, splitting into shapes that didn’t belong to one body.
“What does it want?” she asked.
Marcus smiled.
“To be remembered.”
The ground trembled beneath their feet. Dust rained from the ceiling as the tunnel widened into a circular chamber Evie hadn’t seen before. Stone benches ringed the room, carved with the same symbols she’d been sketching for months. In the center, the floor was etched with a massive spiral dark, old, hungry.
“This is where they stood,” Marcus said softly. “The Old Order. They believed fear was a kind of loyalty.”
Evie’s chest tightened. “They were wrong.”
Marcus’ smile faltered.
For just a second, his eyes cleared. “Evie,” he whispered, desperation breaking through. “You have to”
The lights died.
Darkness swallowed the chamber.
Then the chanting began.
It wasn’t coming from one place. It came from the walls, the floor, inside her skull. Evie dropped to her knees, clutching her head as cold fingers brushed her arms not touching, just close enough.
The flashlight snapped back on.
Marcus stood in the center of the spiral now, arms slightly raised, his shadow towering behind him no longer human in shape.
Witnesses are required, the voice boomed, layered over Marcus’ own. Power is sealed when it is seen.
Evie forced herself to stand. “You don’t need him,” she said, her voice shaking. “Take me instead.”
The spirit laughed.
You do not crave control. He does.
Marcus cried out, dropping to his knees. “I didn’t ask for this!”
No, the voice replied. You were perfect.
The chamber shook violently. Cracks spidered across the stone floor as the spiral flared with light. Evie scrambled forward, grabbing Marcus’ arm.
“Listen to me,” she said fiercely. “You’re not weak. You don’t need this.”
For a heartbeat, the chanting stopped.
Marcus looked at her really looked. Tears streaked down his face. “I can still feel it,” he whispered. “It’s tearing me apart.”
“Then fight it,” Evie said. “Let me help you.”
The shadow behind him shrieked.
The spiral exploded with light, throwing Evie backward. She hit the ground hard, her vision blurring. When she forced her eyes open, Marcus was standing again.
But he wasn’t alone.
The crown the crownhovered above his head, pulsing with ancient energy.
The ritual has begun.
And somewhere above them, Gravewood High creaked like a living thing waking up.
- Writer
