Darkness swallowed the station.
Not soft. Not gradual. Violent.
Like the building had been punched in the spine.
Someone screamed.
Metal clattered.
A chair fell.
"Noah..." Evan gasped.
His hands clawed at the edge of the table, breath coming apart in sharp, broken pieces, chest heaving like his lungs had forgotten the rhythm of living.
Noah was already moving.
He vaulted the table, grabbing Evan's wrists.
"Look at me," he ordered. "Evan... look at me."
Evan's pupils were blown wide, reflecting nothing.
"He's here," Evan whispered. "He's inside the building."
"That's not possible."
"You said the same thing before the others died."
Noah didn't answer.
A door slammed somewhere down the corridor.
Footsteps.
Too slow to be panic. Too steady to be staff.
Noah pulled Evan to his feet.
"Can you walk?"
Evan nodded.
Lie.
His knees folded immediately.
Noah caught him again, hauling his arm over his shoulder.
"Stay with me," he muttered. "You hear me? You don't get to disappear again."
They staggered into the hallway.
Emergency lights flickered weak red like some half-born ghosts of vision.
Officers shouted orders.
Someone fired a warning shot.
Glass shattered again.
The building breathed chaos.
And inside it, something moved like it owned the dark.
Evan's nails dug into Noah's jacket.
"He's close," he whispered. "I can feel the space folding."
Noah tightened his grip.
"Don't think. Just breathe."
They turned the corner and nearly collided with someone.
"Whoa....whoa... easy."
Kai's voice.
A flashlight beam cut through the dark from his hand.
"Jesus, Noah," Kai said. "You look like you dragged a ghost out of a grave."
Relief hit Noah so hard his legs almost buckled.
"Kai," he exhaled.
"I was across the street when the power dropped," Kai said quickly. "Thought you idiots finally blew something up."
His eyes landed on Evan.
Concern softened his face instantly.
"Hey," he said gently. "You okay?"
Evan stared at him like he was real.
Like the world had stitched itself back together around his voice.
"He's here," Evan whispered.
Kai's brows knit. "Who is?"
Noah shook his head. "No time."
Kai nodded once. Sharp. Focused.
"Back exit," he said. "Security door near records. Less chaos."
He didn't wait for permission. He led. Noah followed.
They moved through smoke and shouting, down a narrow corridor lit only by Kai's beam.
Then—
They saw it.
The security door.
Open.
Something dark smeared across the white wall beside it.
Blood.
Not spilled.
Painted.
In careful letters.
A message.
Evan stopped breathing.
Noah read it first.
Then his blood turned cold.
YOU TEACH HIM TO LISTEN.
I TEACH HIM WHAT TO HEAR.
Below it, drawn slowly, lovingly—
A symbol.
A circle.
Crossed by three lines.
Evan made a sound like something breaking open inside a chest.
"He wrote to me," he whispered.
Kai stepped closer, voice steady. "Evan… what does it mean?"
Evan shook violently.
"I don't know."
Sirens wailed outside.
Backup finally arriving.
The Hunter was already gone.
But his fingerprints were everywhere.
On the dark.
On the wall.
On Evan's mind.
And most dangerously—
On the space between all of them.