Chapter 46: No no
“He’s breathing… barely.”
Lyra’s shaky voice broke the silence. Peter’s body lay in the middle of Maya’s living room, his skin pale, his veins black like ink spreading under his flesh. The smell of burnt metal filled the air. Jack knelt beside him, checking for a pulse while Damien stood frozen by the doorway.
“Move back!” Maya shouted. She grabbed her gloves and crouched beside Peter, her eyes glowing faintly blue as she examined the marks on his neck. “This isn’t from any creature I know,” she whispered.
Damien’s hands tightened. “You’re saying something killed him that’s not from our world?”
Maya didn’t answer. She just stared at the black veins. “It’s new… or ancient.”
Cole stepped closer, arms crossed. “Great. So now we’ve got a mystery killer dropping bodies at our doorstep. What’s next? A ghost party?”
“Shut up, Cole,” Lyra snapped. “Look at him. He’s not just dead, he looks drained.”
Jack rubbed his arm. “Drained? You mean like his soul?”
The air grew cold, and Maya’s candles flickered even though there was no wind. Everyone went silent. Then Peter’s fingers twitched.
“Back off!” Maya yelled, dragging Lyra away as Peter’s body jerked upright. His eyes opened, glowing white like burning light.
“Peter?” Damien whispered.
But the thing that spoke wasn’t Peter.
Its voice was layered, deep and sharp. “The seal is broken,” it said, staring right at Damien. “The wolf has fallen, and the beast rises.”
Before anyone could move, Peter’s body collapsed again, lifeless.
Everyone just stared. The only sound was Maya’s heavy breathing.
Jack swallowed hard. “What did that mean?”
Maya slowly stood up. “It means whatever killed him isn’t done.” She wiped her palms on her jeans, her voice trembling for the first time. “It’s hunting something… or someone.”
“Damien,” Lyra whispered, her gaze shifting toward him.
He didn’t answer. He just stared at Peter’s body, then at his own hands. The wolf has fallen.
Cole rubbed the back of his neck. “Alright, no offense, but I think we should burn the body before it starts talking again.”
“No,” Maya said firmly. “We need to know what this thing is. If it can possess a body, it can come back.”
Jack sighed. “Then what do we do? Just wait until it knocks on the door again?”
Maya went silent. Then, slowly, she said, “We find where Peter went before he died.”
Lyra frowned. “You think it followed him?”
“I think,” Maya said, looking at Damien, “it followed you.”
They took Peter’s phone from his pocket and scrolled through the last messages. The last text was from an unknown number: “The mirror calls for the broken wolf.”
“The mirror?” Lyra repeated.
Maya nodded slowly. “I’ve heard of that. The Mirror Realm, it’s not real, not in our world. It’s where spirits go when their bodies can’t hold them anymore. But if someone opened it…”
Damien felt cold. “Then something came out.”
They buried Peter behind Maya’s house that night. The moon was full, but its light felt wrong, too bright, too cold.
Jack placed a flower on the grave. “He didn’t deserve this,” he said softly.
“No one does,” Maya replied.
Damien said nothing. He could still hear the creature’s words in his head. The wolf has fallen.
He looked down at his hands again. No claws. No wolf. Just a boy who once had power and now couldn’t save anyone.
Lyra touched his arm. “It’s not your fault.”
“Then whose is it?” he asked quietly. “Because it keeps happening around me.”
No one answered.
Later that night, they gathered in Maya’s living room again. The candles were relit, the floor cleaned, but the fear still lingered.
Maya spread old papers and books across the table. “I searched every page. There’s no creature that fits what we saw tonight. But.” She paused and pulled out a torn page. “This… might be close.”
It was a sketch of a dark figure with white eyes and claws that looked like smoke. The name written below it: The Hollow.
Cole leaned closer. “That’s dramatic. What is it?”
Maya’s lips pressed into a line. “A creature made from dead souls. It feeds on magic… and blood.”
Lyra’s voice trembled. “And it followed Peter?”
“Maybe. But Peter wasn’t the real target.”
All eyes turned to Damien again.
Jack shook his head. “You think it wants Damien because he lost his wolf?”
“No,” Maya said. “Because he’s still connected to it. That loss created a crack, and something slipped through.”
Damien stared at the picture. The Hollow. For a second, he thought he saw it move on the page, like smoke shifting in the candlelight.
He blinked. It was gone.
“I’m done,” he said suddenly, standing. “I’m done with rituals, curses, everything. I’ll handle it myself.”
“Damien.” Lyra started, but he cut her off.
“No. Every time I’m near someone, they get hurt. I don’t even know what I am anymore.”
He stormed toward the door, but Jack grabbed his arm. “You’re not going anywhere alone.”
Maya sighed, rubbing her temples. “He’s right, Damien. Whatever’s out there knows you’re weak now. That makes you a target.”
“Then I’ll be bait,” Damien said coldly.
“Don’t be stupid,” Cole snapped.
“Too late,” Damien muttered.
Before anyone could stop him, the window shattered. The candles blew out. A whisper filled the room,soft, almost human.
“The broken wolf still breathes.”
The air turned icy. Everyone froze.
Maya reached for her salt bag. “Everyone, stay back!”
From the broken window, dark mist started to crawl across the floor. It took shape a tall, thin figure with glowing white eyes.
Lyra gasped. “That’s.”
“The Hollow,” Maya finished.
It turned its head toward Damien. “You took what was mine.”
Damien stepped back. “I don’t even know what you want!”
The creature smiled, voice echoing. “You will.”
Then it vanished, leaving behind only a whisper and Peter’s blood mark glowing faintly on the wall.
Everyone stood still, too scared to breathe.
Maya looked at the mark, then at Damien. Her voice came out soft, but firm.
“It’s not over. The Hollow marked you.”
Damien’s throat tightened. “What does that mean?”
Maya’s eyes darkened. “It means it’s coming back for you, and next time, it won’t leave a body behind.”