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Chapter 14 - one more

The Hollow breathed. The air inside the cavern shifted, cold and damp, pressing against the children's skin like a second heartbeat. They huddled together, silent and shaking, their eyes darting toward the walls where shadows writhed and whispered.

Ethan sat apart, his body still weak from his failed escape. Every breath rattled in his chest, but his eyes burned with stubborn fire. He had tried. He had failed. And they had all suffered for it.

The darkness thickened, gathering in the chamber's center. It took no fixed shape, only a shifting mass of shadow and smoke. Yet its voice filled every corner, sliding into their ears, their bones, their thoughts.

"Just one more…"

The children froze.

"One more, and the sacrifice will be ready."

The words were not shouted—they were whispered, tender as a lullaby. But the promise inside them made the children tremble harder.

A little girl began to sob, muffling her face in her hands. The shadows rippled in delight, feeding on the sound.

Ethan clenched his fists. "No," he whispered under his breath. "You won't have us." But his voice was too thin, too broken. Even he wasn't sure if he believed it anymore.

The Hollow shifted again, its presence pressing closer, brushing against each of them like cold fingers tracing their skin. "One more mistake. One more voice. One more rule broken… and the gate will open."

The chamber fell into silence again, broken only by the sound of the children's uneven breaths. They all understood now—time was running out.

One more. That was all it needed.

_____________________________

The silence stretched, broken only by the dripping of unseen water deep in the cavern. The children huddled close, afraid to speak, afraid that even a whisper might feed the shadows.

Finally, Ethan raised his head. His voice was rough but steady. "It's lying," he said. "It wants us to break. That's how it wins."

A boy beside him shook his head, tears glistening on his cheeks. "You don't know that. You tried to run and—look what happened." He pulled back his sleeve, showing faint black marks curling over his wrist, marks that hadn't been there before.

Ethan looked away, shame tightening his throat. "I tried. At least I tried."

A girl with braids leaned closer, her eyes darting toward the shifting walls. "Then what do we do? Just sit here until… until one of us makes the mistake it wants?"

Her words hung heavy. They all knew the truth—fear itself was a weapon in this place. One wrong move, one broken rule, and the Hollow would tighten its grip.

Another boy, the youngest, whispered through trembling lips, "Maybe if we listen… maybe if we give it what it wants… it'll let us go."

"No!" Ethan snapped, louder than he meant to. The shadows quivered, curling at the edges of the chamber, and the children all flinched. Ethan lowered his voice quickly, his eyes wide. "That's what it wants—obedience. Fear. If we give in, we're already lost."

The youngest buried his face in his knees, sobbing quietly.

Ethan closed his eyes, trying to push down the despair clawing at his chest. One more, the Hollow had said. One more mistake, one more crack in their will, and the sacrifice would be ready.

But as the children sat together in the stifling dark, Ethan couldn't escape the gnawing fear that one of them—maybe even himself—would break long before rescue ever came.

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