WHISPERS IN THE DARK

CHAPTER 5

The sound of each footstep was driving Jace crazy.

"Enough!" Jace roared, firing a bullet into the darkness.

The bullet cracked through the night and vanished into the air as if swallowed by nothing.

Silence came back, and a single high and childish giggle, echoed from the right-hand part.

Jace's gut twisted, but he forced himself to the left instead, heading into the suffocating darkness.

Into the dark, his flashlight beam fought against it, barely reaching a few feet ahead. And every step he took, sounded as if they weren't his as the walls closed in.

He went further into the dark, until a young woman who looked like Ana appeared.

She stood at the end of a corridor, barefooted. Her hair hanging wild with pale dress soaked with something dark.

Her eyes turned to Jace, glimmering with recognition as if she knew him well.

"Jace..." she whispered.

Relief came too easily, and in that instant, he knew something was wrong.

Her voice trembled, soft and pleading. "Help me."

Jace raised his weapon slowly, unwilling to lower his guard. "Ana, is that you?"

She took a few step closer, and black liquid drew the floor.

"Take me out of here, Jace. Please."

Jace knew it was a trap because Ana had never seen him before, let alone his name.

Behind her, dozens of pale, boneless arms, came out of the dark, reaching around her like a cage.

Her face looked like Ana. But as her face twisted, it cracked into a smile far too wide for her face.

The voice sounded real, but deeper this time. Mocking. "You came running like a good little soldier, Jace." She said laughing.

"Where is Ana?" He asked while the arms suddenly lashed forward.

Jace fired quickly as bullets tore through the darkness.

The walls groaned and shifted, the corridor screaming as if the city was alive.

Jace staggered back, pulling the trigger until nothing was left.

The alley threw him back to the path that led to the lantern houses that waited silently. While the shadows on the left twisted like nest of serpents.

Jace's mind replayed Malvoryn's words of Ana's blood, the key. Her heart the candle. Her soul the offering.

Jace felt that Ana was being used, hunted, or already a piece on Malvoryn's board in this cursed city. But giving up on finding Ana was never on his bucket list.

Staring at the lantern path, a lantern flickered in the nearest window of a house close by. And a girl's shadow, passed across it.

Jace reloaded his guns quickly. "I hope you're still alive, Ana," He said, gripping his weapon tightly. "Because I'm not leaving this place without knowing if you're alive or not." He said and moved forward.

******

The moment he stepped into the lantern path, laughter followed him. Drifting from house to house. Every window he passed felt as if something unseen was watching him.

Jace kept his gun leveled, as he moved deeper. But on his way, a door ahead suddenly creaked open on it's own.

Jace hesitated for a second watching the faint light inside the building, but forced himself through.

The air changed instantly, the moment he stepped into that building. No whispers, no laughter. Just silence.

The house was filled with dust and old wooden furniture that looked untouched, as if people had lived here only yesterday.

Jace searched every corner of room, but... they were empty.

"What of waste of my time." Jace said, already heading back out, when he suddenly heard a sound that caught his attention.

It wasn't footsteps this time but breath. A breath that held too long, trembling on the edge of panic.

Jace followed it carefully, as the sound led him to a door at the far end of the hall. Unlike the other doors, this door was locked from the inside. A chair was wedged beneath the handle and marks of blood stained the edges.

Jace froze, when a shadow shifted under the crack at the bottom, human in shape.

Jace's grip on the gun tightened as he whispered:

"...Ana?"

The breathing on the other side stopped.

Nothing moved for a long, heavy silence. Then, sudden movement and a broken voice.

"Stay back..."

Jace heard a girl's voice, weak and shaking, but it sounded real without illusion.

Jace's breath caught, as he lowered his gun a little. "I'm not your enemy. I'm here to help you. You're Ana, the president's daughter, right?"

There was a pause, until a chair scraped softly against the door, a hint that she might shift it. But when she spoke again, fear sharpened her voice.

"You're lying. You're all liars."

Jace stepped closer, his shadow falling over the door. He rested one hand against the wood, steady but firm.

"Ana, please listen to me. My name's Jace. I don't know you. I've never met you. But I've bled all my team just to get here. If you're in there, if you're alive... I swear to you, I'm not leaving without you."

There was silence between them for a moment, until a violent crash shook the walls.

Something guttural roared outside the house as it's claws scraped against the sidings, shattering the windows. Monsters had picked up his trail.

Ana gasped behind the door, quieting her scream.

Jace turned quickly, raising his gun toward the noise outside. The walls trembled, as another blow landed harder. The monsters were circling.

He turned back to the door, his voice urgent now.

"Ana! Please, you have to open the door! They've found us. Open it now!"

Inside, she pushed the chair quickly, and tries to open the door. But the lock didn't budge.

"I... I can't!" She cried, panic breaking through. "I jammed it. Oh God, I jammed it!"

The monsters outside howled, hammering against the walls. Dust rained from the ceiling, and the house wouldn't last long.

Jace switched his small gun into a rifle, slamming the butt of his rifle against the door.

"Hold on, Ana! I'm getting you out of there!"

The walls shook again as monsters were tearing their way in.

Jace drew his knife, sticking it into the frame, and began forcing the lock as the roars were closing in fast.

Finally, the door lock cracked open, banging against another barrier on the other side.

And through the cracked door, he saw Ana for the first time.

She looked younger than he thought, scared, pale and dirty as she stared at him.

"Ana..." Jace called, breathing heavily.

Her lips trembled as she stared at him, unable to believe he was real.

And then... the ceiling split above them with thunderous crack.

The monsters were breaking in.