Chapter 6 – Plaza of Whisper
The streets outside the station had fallen into a strange, unnatural silence. The road that should have led to the plaza twisted unpredictably, cobblestones curling beneath their boots like frozen waves. The fog had thinned slightly, but the air remained heavy, damp, and metallic, as if the shadow of the station clung to every corner. Broken lanterns lay scattered along the street, their fractured glass reflecting nothing but darkness, as though someone—or something—had ensured the path ahead remained cloaked.
Ren's boots struck the wet cobblestones with a harsh echo. He pulled Elli along by the arm, his breaths short and rapid. "We need to get out of here fast," he panted, eyes darting to every alleyway and warped doorway. "I can't believe Max…" His voice faltered, and the tension in his throat made his words hollow.
John gripped his bag straps tightly, knuckles white. "We can't think about him right now," he said, his voice low. "Not if we want to survive."
Liza ran slightly ahead, gesturing for the others to keep pace. Her face was pale, but her movements were precise, determined. "Focus," she called over her shoulder. "Eyes open. Move as one."
Elli fell silently into step beside Ren, her shoulders tense, eyes scanning every shadowed corner, every warped window frame. Her silence spoke louder than words, a steady caution that grounded the group.
As they rounded a corner, the plaza unfolded before them. The wide square stretched out like a wound across the town, flanked by crumbling buildings whose twisted facades leaned as though straining toward the center. Windows stared like hollow eyes, broken and unseeing. The fountain in the plaza's center was long dried, its stone cracked, waterlines etched like dark vines. Around its base lay scattered objects—broken chairs, toppled lanterns, shards of glass catching the faintest traces of light.
Ren slowed, chest heaving. "We… we should stop for a second. Catch our breath."
The group hesitated, scanning the open space. The plaza felt heavy, oppressive, yet quiet in a way that pressed against the ears. And then something moved.
From a shadowed alley along the plaza's far edge, a figure stepped into partial light. Its limbs were skeletal and elongated, sinews stretched over exposed bone, skin missing in patches, revealing raw muscle beneath. A jagged scythe hung in its right hand, threads of shadow stretching taut to a quivering red orb that hovered just above the ground, obeying the figure like a tethered servant. In the left, a lantern flickered, its glow bending the remaining fog, shaping it into curling shadows that seemed to move on their own.
No one spoke.
The group's stomachs knotted. Every instinct screamed that this was no ordinary presence. And yet, the figure did not approach in a straight line. It lingered at the periphery, moving in ways that felt anticipatory, stalking. The orb pulsed, the threads quivering, like the heartbeat of some unseen predator.
Ren's voice was barely audible. "It's… it's watching us."
John swallowed hard, his eyes following the faint, jerky movements of the figure. "It's… hunting us," he whispered.
Liza's hand went instinctively to her bag. "Keep moving," she said firmly, gesturing to the group. "Don't let it know we see it fully."
Elli's gaze never wavered from the shadowed figure. The subtle movements of the fog, the unnatural pull of the lantern's light—they all whispered the same truth: they were being tracked. Every corner of the plaza seemed distorted, the buildings leaning in ways that made escape paths unpredictable. The figure was everywhere and nowhere, yet its presence tugged at the edges of their vision and thoughts.
The plaza, once an open space of potential refuge, now felt like a cage. Every step forward was measured, tentative. The group moved in a tight formation, ears straining for any sound other than their own.
A sudden clatter from the fountain startled them. A shard of glass skittered across the cobblestones, bouncing unnaturally, drawing their gaze to the figure's lantern. In that instant, the fog around the orb thickened, curling like black fingers across the square. Threads of shadow shimmered faintly, extending toward them, brushing past Ren's shoulder like spectral tendrils.
John's voice cracked. "It's… it knows where we are."
Ren's hands clenched into fists. "We need to get to the other side of the plaza. Fast."
Liza glanced toward a narrow passage between two leaning buildings, but the path seemed to shift as they watched. The cobblestones rippled faintly underfoot, giving the sense of walking on water frozen mid-motion. Shadows twisted unnaturally, the lantern light bending to follow them even as they moved.
Elli's voice, calm and low, cut through the tension. "It's learning us. Watching how we move. Every step, every hesitation."
A sudden gust of wind—or something like it—swept across the plaza. The orb pulsed violently, threads snapping taut, and for a moment, the Lantern Figure seemed to split its attention, moving with impossible speed toward a corner of the square. The group froze, hearts hammering.
Ren whispered urgently, "It's testing us."
"Or it's herding us," John added, his voice shaking. "Like prey."
The fog swirled again, thickening around the fountain. Shadows stretched, forming vague humanoid shapes, each one bending unnaturally, curling toward the group like fingers. The Lantern Figure did not advance openly but shifted position constantly, stalking with patience, letting the orb and scythe threads probe their movements.
Liza's eyes narrowed. "We move in unison. No stopping, no hesitation." She reached out, grabbing Ren's arm. "Follow me."
The group pressed forward, navigating the plaza as one, senses on high alert. Every step seemed heavier than the last. The twisted buildings loomed overhead, and the cracked fountain seemed to watch them. The threads of shadow occasionally brushed against their clothes, a tactile reminder that the figure's influence reached farther than they could see.
Ren's voice was a strained whisper. "Do… do you think it catches Max?"
Elli didn't answer immediately, her gaze scanning the fog-choked plaza. "If it has … then he's already been claimed …."
John's hands shook around his bag straps. "And if it catches us?"
"We survive," Liza said, voice firm. "Step by step, breath by breath. Keep together. Don't let it isolate anyone."
The Lantern Figure shifted again, threads tugging slightly toward the group, pulsing in time with the orb. For the first time, the group realized the orb's movement was not random—it was anticipating, probing, tethered directly to some unseen mechanism of control, a silent stalker guiding death toward them.
Ren swallowed, chest tight. "We can't… we can't fight that thing. Not here. Not like this."
"No," Elli agreed. "We evade. That's all we can do for now. Survive long enough to regroup, think, and plan."
As they moved toward a narrow street leading from the plaza, the shadows flickered one last time, thickening near the fountain. The orb pulsed, threads snapping taut for an instant, like the Lantern Figure was taking a measure of their progress, storing it, calculating their next movement.
The group disappeared into the twisted alleys beyond the plaza, leaving behind the open square and the illusion of safety. The Lantern Figure remained, half in shadow, half in fog, watching, waiting. Its scythe glimmered faintly as threads extended outward, invisible and inexorable, connecting it to the world it had marked as prey.