Samy didn't know how long they had been walking.
Time didn't exist in the hollow space.
There was no sun.
No shadow.
No direction.
Just endless black stretching in every possible way.
Tin never let go of her hand.
Tony and Jet walked slightly ahead, their fingers tightly intertwined — not romantic, not soft — just steady. Like two soldiers refusing to separate.
No one spoke.
Because what was there to say?
Stopping meant surrender.
Walking meant hope.
So they walked.
And walked.
And walked.
Until the wind came.
It didn't rise slowly.
It exploded.
A violent gust tore through the hollow space, circling them like a storm trapped in a cage. Samy stumbled, Tin pulling her closer as the darkness around them twisted.
Then—
Laughter.
Soft. Controlled. Almost amused.
"Oh look… you're all still here."
The voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once. It didn't sound distant anymore. It sounded close.
Too close.
Jet looked up instinctively. "Show yourself!"
The wind swirled tighter.
"Hm. I can help you," the Voice continued, almost playful. "You want that, don't you?"
There was something wrong in the tone. Not rage. Not cruelty.
Interest.
Samy stepped forward despite Tin's grip tightening.
"What do you want from us?" she demanded, her voice shaking with anger more than fear.
Silence.
Then a soft hum.
"You know…" the Voice said slowly. "Only you."
The wind circled Samy now.
"You are different."
Tony moved protectively in front of Jet. Tin stepped closer to Samy.
"They want to escape," the Voice continued calmly. "They want freedom. Safety. An ending."
A pause.
"But you…"
The air grew heavier.
"You want answers."
Samy's heart pounded.
"And I think," the Voice whispered, almost warmly, "you deserve them."
The wind intensified.
It wasn't just air anymore — it felt alive. Moving with purpose. Gathering.
Above them, the darkness rippled like fabric being pulled apart.
Something descended.
At first, it was shapeless. Just distortion. Then strands of wind began forming edges, outlines — a silhouette sculpted from air itself.
A figure.
A woman.
Her form solidified slowly, as if the hollow space was building her piece by piece. Hair flowing unnaturally, eyes glowing faintly against the dark.
She stepped forward.
The wind died instantly.
Silence returned.
Tony's voice broke it.
"Who the hell are you?"
The woman tilted her head slightly, studying them — but her eyes lingered on Samy.
"I?" she said softly.
A faint smile touched her lips.
"I am the Voice."
Elsewhere
Pete felt it first.
A shift.
The door they had escaped through had vanished. The room around them had changed again.
But this time—
It wasn't empty.
Noah's breath caught.
There were others.
Figures lined the walls — students. Dozens of them.
Some standing.
Some kneeling.
All chained.
Metal shackles wrapped around their wrists and ankles, embedded into the walls like part of the structure itself. Their eyes were open.
But hollow.
"They're…" Noah whispered. "They're the missing ones."
Pete stepped forward cautiously. "They've been here the whole time."
Roger and Kim exchanged a look.
This room was different.
It wasn't just memory.
It wasn't just a trap.
It felt like—
Evidence.
The air in the room was colder than before. The chains weren't normal metal. They shimmered faintly, pulsing with something deeper.
Pete reached out to touch one.
The moment his fingers brushed it—
A scream exploded in his head.
He staggered back, clutching his temples.
"Pete!" Noah grabbed him immediately.
"It's not chains," Pete gasped. "It's guilt. It's regret. It's… something binding them."
Roger stepped closer, examining the walls. "This isn't a prison."
Kim's voice was quiet. "It's a holding place."
"For what?" Noah asked.
No one answered.
Because in the center of the room—
There was something worse.
A large symbol carved into the floor. Ancient. Twisted. Familiar.
Pete stared at it.
"I've seen this before."
Roger felt cold realization creep into her chest.
"The ritual."
The same symbol that would one day demand sacrifice.
But this version—
Was incomplete.
Back in the Hollow Space
Samy stared at the woman.
"You don't look like a monster," she said.
The Voice smiled faintly. "Monsters rarely do."
Tin stepped forward slightly. "If you can help us, then do it. Stop playing games."
The Voice's gaze shifted to him briefly — assessing — then back to Samy.
"I could send them out," she said calmly. "All of them. Right now."
Jet stiffened. "What's the cost?"
The Voice ignored her.
"I could show you everything," she continued, her voice lowering. "The truth of this place. Why it exists. Who started it. Who feeds it."
Samy's pulse quickened.
Tin's grip tightened.
"No," he whispered to her.
But Samy didn't look away.
"What do you want?" she asked again.
The Voice stepped closer.
Now Samy could see her clearly.
Her face wasn't twisted or monstrous.
It was tired.
"You," the Voice said simply.
The wind stirred again.
"You stay."
The others leave.
Samy's breath caught.
"You become part of the answer."
Tony immediately stepped forward. "Absolutely not."
Jet grabbed his arm, but her eyes were locked on the Voice with fury.
Tin pulled Samy slightly behind him. "We're not separating."
The Voice sighed softly, almost disappointed.
"Always the same," she murmured. "You cling to each other like it changes fate."
She raised her hand slowly.
The hollow space trembled.
"You think this place is evil?" she asked.
The darkness around them shifted — images flickering in the air.
A classroom.
A music room.
A scream.
A ritual circle drawn imperfectly.
"You think it was born from nothing?" the Voice whispered.
Samy stared at the images, her heart pounding violently now.
"What are you?" she breathed.
The Voice looked at her.
And for the first time—
Her expression cracked.
Loneliness flickered across her features.
"I am what remains," she said quietly.
The Room of Chains
Noah walked toward one of the chained students slowly.
"They're alive," he said.
Barely.
Pete knelt near the ritual symbol. His mind was racing now.
"This wasn't meant to trap them," he muttered.
Kim frowned. "Then what?"
"It was meant to transfer something," Pete said.
Roger felt it too.
The symbol wasn't a prison.
It was incomplete because—
It was waiting.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook.
The chained students began to stir.
Their hollow eyes flickered.
And from the walls—
Darkness began to seep inward.
The room wasn't holding them.
It was preparing them.
The Hollow Space
Samy stepped forward.
"If I stay," she asked quietly, "do they go free?"
Tin's heart stopped.
The Voice watched her carefully.
"Yes."
The wind rose again, but softer now.
"Because you are not like them," the Voice said gently. "You don't just want to survive."
Was this the price?
Tin grabbed her shoulders. "Don't."
Tony stepped closer. "We'll find another way."
Jet's eyes were wet, but determined. "We always do."
Samy looked at them.
Then back at the Voice.
"You said I deserve answers," she said.
The Voice nodded.
"Then tell me the truth first."
The wind paused.
And for the first time—
The Voice smiled.
"Very well."
Far away, in the room of chains, the ritual symbol began to glow.
The shadows stirred.
And somewhere deep in the hollow space—
Something older than all of them woke up.