Novels by D F X

“Axel, what happened to you?” Ethan asked the moment Axel climbed out of the underground tunnel.Axel did not answer. He stood there, breathing hard. His clothes were covered in dust. His eyes glowed a strange crimson red for a second before fading back to normal. Everyone saw it. Everyone froze.Nurse Evelyn walked closer with careful steps. “Axel, your arm… let me see it.”Axel looked down at his arm. The mark was burned into his skin like fire. A serpent curled around a skull, dark and glowing faintly.Evelyn reached out. “Let me check it. Maybe I can—”“Don’t touch it,” Axel warned, but it was too late.Her fingers brushed his skin.She screamed.Smoke rose from her fingertips as if the mark burned her. She pulled her hand back fast. “It burned me! Axel, what is this?”Everyone stepped back in fear.Ethan looked at Axel with wide eyes. “What happened underground? Tell us the truth.”Axel turned his head away. His mind still echoed with whispers from the skeletons below. The whispe

The ground was cold under Axel’s feet. The air was heavy and dark. He looked around the underground chamber and felt his heart beat fast. The place was silent at first, too silent. Then the soil at his feet began to move.Axel stepped back and whispered, “What is this place? Why does it feel like it’s alive?”The floor cracked open again. Bones pushed out from the dirt. Hands made of bones grabbed the ground. Skulls rose next. One skeleton… then two… then ten… then more. Soon, the whole chamber filled with them. They stood tall, made of bones but moving like trained soldiers.They were not slow like zombies. They were not confused. They moved together, sharp and ready.Axel swallowed hard. “Are you kidding me? Skeletons? Really?”One skeleton stepped forward with a rusted sword in its hand. Another held a broken spear. Their weapons were old, but Axel could feel the danger in every move they made. These things could kill him with one strike.Axel reached for his knife. “If you want

“Are we really going inside this place?” Chloe asked as she held her torch tight. Her voice shook a little.Axel looked at the old cathedral standing in front of them. “Yes. We have no choice. This place might have answers.”Ethan stepped closer and frowned. “It looks dangerous. The windows are broken. The door looks like it wants to fall.”The old cathedral stood in the middle of the dark forest like a forgotten ghost. The stained glass windows were shattered into sharp pieces on the ground. The air felt cold, almost like something was watching them. No birds. No wind. Nothing.Professor Grant walked ahead, touching the broken wall with his old hand. “This place… I know this place. It was once used for rituals to keep the undead sealed. We must be careful.”Nurse Evelyn held her medical bag and looked around nervously. “I don’t like this, Axel. Everything feels wrong here. Even the air tastes strange.”Axel nodded but pushed open the old wooden doors. They creaked loudly like they ha

The cathedral was cold and dark. Dust floated in the air. The broken windows made soft whistling sounds. Everyone stood still as they looked at the huge, red, pulsing heart in the middle of the room. It hung from the ceiling by thick black veins that looked alive. The heart beat slowly at first, like it was sleeping.Thump… thump… thump…Rowan stepped forward slowly and raised his hand.“Do not touch it,” he said. His voice shook. “If we destroy this thing, maybe the infection will end. But maybe… maybe something worse will happen.”The others looked at him with wide eyes.Axel felt something strange in his chest. It was like someone was calling him. Like invisible hands were pulling him toward the heart. He pressed his fingers against his shirt.“I… I feel it again,” Axel whispered. “It wants me.”Chloe moved closer to him, worry on her face.“Axel, don’t go near it,” she said softly.But Axel kept staring at the beating heart. The pull grew stronger.Ethan grabbed Axel’s shoulder.

“Did you hear that?” Mason asked as he stopped and looked around the dark stone hallway.Rowan held up her hand. “Everybody stop moving. There is something here. I can feel it.”Ethan turned slowly. “The walls… they are making sounds.”Axel frowned and walked closer to the wall. “This place is crazy. I swear it was quiet a minute ago.”Chloe stood behind them and hugged herself. “I don’t hear anything.”But the others did.Soft voices.Echoes.Whispers.Voices that did not come from outside.Voices that came from inside the walls.Mason stepped back, fear rising in his eyes. “No… no… I know that voice. It’s my mom. She’s saying I killed them. She’s saying it’s all my fault.”Rowan looked at him. “Mason, she’s not real. It’s the wall talking. Don’t listen.”But Mason shook his head. “I can’t stop hearing it.”Then Rowan stopped walking too.Her eyes went wide. “Oh no… the children… the children I couldn’t protect. They are calling me. They are crying. They are asking why I did not save

The night in the tunnels felt cold and heavy. Everyone sat close to the old fire pit, but the fire was only smoke now. Nobody talked much. Something felt wrong, and everyone could feel it. The air itself felt strange, like it was holding a secret.Sophia sat alone by the wall. Her eyes looked empty, but she kept smiling a small smile that made Axel’s skin crawl. She did not look scared anymore. Weeks ago, she could not even look at zombies without shaking. Now she looked calm. Too calm.Rowan kept watching her. He folded his arms and asked, “Sophia, why do you behave like this? You don't fear the zombies again?”Sophia turned her head slowly. “Fear?” she asked with a soft laugh. “Fear is for people who don’t understand.”“Understand what?” Rowan asked again, stepping closer.Sophia only shrugged. “Things.”That answer made everyone look at her. Nobody understood what she meant, but Axel noticed something else. When she moved her arm, her sleeve slid a little down, and he saw faint