“Axel… come to me.”The voice echoed through the dark hall, low and heavy, and it felt like it pulled the air out of the room. Axel froze. The others stopped too. They all turned slowly to the throne at the end of the hall.“Who… who said that?” Axel asked in a shaky voice.Rowan stepped closer and whispered, “Axel… look.”The shadow on the throne moved. A tall figure rose from the seat, and the dim red light from the cracked ceiling fell on him. His body looked wrong. One side looked human, but the other side looked rotten like a zombie. His skin hung loose, and dark veins moved under it.Chloe covered her mouth. “What… what is that?”Rowan’s eyes widened. “No… it can’t be.”The figure stepped forward. His voice was deep but cracked. “Rowan. You remember me.”Rowan shook his head slowly. “Professor Grant… you’re dead. You died in the first infection. I saw you fall. I saw the zombies drag you.”Grant smiled, but the smile looked twisted because half his jaw was rotten. “Yes. I died.

“We need to move now,” Mason said in a low voice.The group walked deeper into the dark tunnels. Their steps echoed like soft warnings. The air was cold and heavy. Nobody spoke for a long time, but the tension followed them like a shadow.Axel walked in front, his back tense. The infection was fighting inside him again. His skin looked pale, and his eyes sometimes glowed faintly. Everyone was scared, even if they did not say it.Mason leaned close to Ethan and whispered, “If Axel loses it again… maybe we should kill him. It may be the only way to survive.”Ethan stopped walking.“What did you say?” Ethan asked sharply.Mason swallowed hard. “I said maybe—”Before he could finish, Ethan grabbed him by the shirt. “You want to kill Axel? After all he did for us?”Mason raised both hands. “I’m just saying the truth. You saw him last night. If he turns, he won’t stop. He won’t even know us.”Ethan looked ready to punch him. His voice shook with anger. “Axel saved your life ten times. You t

“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

“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

“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