Announcement:

Please note that the images provided here are for reference purposes only. They have been rendered with a lighter background than described in the chapters to ensure readers can clearly view the details. When reading, imagine the surrounding atmosphere as significantly darker, in keeping with the narrative.

***

Namjoon's voice trembled. "We should go back up."

"No," Jungkook said. "Up is where that... thing was."

"What if it followed?" Mira whispered.

Jungkook didn't answer.

Because they all knew the truth, whatever was following them... There was more than one.

They kept descending, faster now. The stairwell echoed with their steps, every sound too sharp, too exposed. Soohee and Taehyung kept glancing back over their shoulders, convinced they would see something crawling out of the shadows.

A floor ticked past.

116th.

115th.

114th.

113th.

112th.

111th.

Then 110th, it went on.

But something was changing.

The air grew heavier. Warmer. As though the stairs had begun sinking into the building's core.

At the 100th floor landing, they stopped.

This door wasn't cracked open.

It wasn't dented.

It wasn't dusty.

Mira took an involuntary step forward.

Jungkook pulled her back quickly. "Don't."

"I'm not..." she stopped. Her heartbeat stuttered. "It felt like it was...calling."

Namjoon backed away from the door entirely. "That's not a clear floor. That's a trap, obviously."

For a long moment, none of them moved.

The light behind the door pulsed, just once, and then faded.

Completely.

The glow vanished, as it had never existed.

Jungkook exhaled shakily. "We keep going. Fast."

They ran now. Quiet didn't matter. Stealth didn't matter.

Only distance.

More floors blurred past - 109, 108, 107... 99, 98.

Then-

A howl.

Not from above.

Not from below.

From the stairwell itself.

A long, broken wail that vibrated the metal railings. Soohee's legs nearly buckled. Mira pressed her hands over her ears. Namjoon dragged her forward.

The sound twisted, shifted, turning into jagged gasps like someone drowning in air.

And then-

Silence.

Taehyung forced his breath steady. "Jungkook... how far do you think the ground floor is?"

"Too far," he whispered.

They were on the 98th floor now. They'd made a quarter of the descent. But they felt no relief.

Something was getting closer.

Jungkook motioned for them to keep going.

They took another step-

And the stairwell light above them went out.

Then the one below them. Dark. Pitch black. Something was in the stairwell. Something breathing.

Slow. Wet. Hungry.

Soohee grabbed Jungkook's arm tightly. Taehyung is behind them. Namjoon's hand fumbled for Mira's.

They didn't speak. They didn't move.

They only listened to the sound moving closer, step by step, scarping lightly on the stairs.

Something that had been waiting for them to come down this far. Something that had followed the echo of their footsteps.

Taehyung's back was pressed against the concrete wall, his fingers wrapped around the knife so tightly his bones ached. The emergency lights had died, leaving a suffocating darkness that felt like cloth pressed over their faces. Even their breathing sounded too loud.

Jungkook whispered, barely audible, "Don't move."

His voice was steady, but Soohee heard the fear buried beneath it. She was too close to him.

Mira whispered against Namjoon's shoulder, trying not to sob. Namjoon held her close, his hand shaking on her arm.

A small sound drifted up the stairs.

A faint tap.

Then another.

Not footsteps.

Fingertips.

Dragging along the metal railing.

Slow. Curious. Almost playful.

Taehyung's pulse hammered in his throat. He felt every drop of blood in his body freeze. Jungkook shifted slightly, positioning himself at the front of everyone, rod raised, body tense.

Whatever it was... it wasn't rushing.

It was approaching like something that didn't need to hurry because it knew exactly where they were.

The sound stopped.

Silence spilled over them again, thick and suffocating.

Soohee didn't realize she'd closed her eyes until something warm brushed her ankle.

Her eyes snapped open just as Mira screamed.

But it wasn't the panicked scream of fear.

It was pain.

A sharp, tearing, raw pain.

Something had grabbed her.

Soohee saw only a blur, a pale shape lunging upward from the stairwell darkness. A wet snarl cut through the air. Mira stumbled backward, clutching her leg.

Blood sprayed across the wall.

"MIRA!" Namjoon shouted, grabbing her as she fell.

Everyone looked at Mira in shock when Namjoon shouted Mira's name.

The creature clung low on the steps, half-crawling, half-slithering. Its limb didn't move right, elbows bending the wrong way, shoulders twitched with each movement. Its head jerked unnaturally as if pulled by invisible strings.

But the worst part was its mouth.

Not the size.

Not the teeth.

The way it bit.

Like it wanted to taste everything, skin, blood, flesh, all in one desperate snap.

Mira's hands trembled violently as she tried to push away from the stairs' edge. Blood dripped fast between her fingers.

"It bit me! It- Namjoon- it bit- help!"

The creature crouched.

Ready to jump again.

Jungkook didn't think. Didn't breathe. He charged.

To be continued...

HELLO LOVELIES, PLEASE READ MY STORY, COMMENT ALL YOUR THOUGHTS, VOTE, FOLLOW AND SHARE THIS AMONG YOUR FRIENDS TOO!

Thank you so much for your ideas and thoughts on the previous chapters and for all your lovely comments...

Add this little book to your reading list, to get the latest update... Love Yall!!!!