Finally, the night, the night where it should be ended or they will be ended.
Shadows danced around her as robed figures, faces hidden beneath hoods, led her down a narrow stone corridor.
The walls felt alive, whispering dark secrets in a language she couldn’t understand, but each word made her stomach twist. The moon’s light spilled through cracks in the stone, growing brighter as they neared the end of the corridor.
Dylan was pushed next to her, his hands tied with rough, fraying ropes. His face was bruised, and blood dripped from a cut on his lip, but he looked at her with fierce determination.
“Stay strong,” he whispered, though his voice shook with fear.
She could see the panic hidden behind his steady facade.
Just beyond the crowd of hooded figures, Ivy caught a familiar face. Aria. Her heart twisted, torn between anger and disbelief as Aria approached, her footsteps slow and deliberate.
A sinister smile stretched across her face, wide and mocking, her eyes gleaming with twisted satisfaction.
Ivy felt a cold wave of betrayal wash over her, freezing her in place. How could Aria, her friend... the one who had shared so many secrets, so many moments... stand there with that smile?
“Surprised?” Aria hissed, her voice dripping with cruel amusement as she leaned in closer. “I told you not to resist. You never listen.”
Ivy clenched her fists, anger rising above her fear. “I trusted you,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “You were supposed to be my friend.”
Aria’s laughter was soft, chilling. “Friends? You were always so naive, Ivy. This is bigger than you could ever understand. You’re just a piece on the board, and tonight… well, tonight, you’ll fulfill your purpose.”
Beside her, hidden in the shadow of one of the pillars, Ivy saw another familiar face, Lila. Unlike Aria, her eyes weren’t cold or cruel.
They were wide with worry, her jaw set in a silent determination. Ivy’s heart squeezed with a rush of hope. Lila gave her a subtle nod, her eyes speaking volumes.
Ivy gave the smallest of nods back, clinging to that sliver of hope like a lifeline. She had to survive long enough for whatever plan Lila was hiding, whatever chance she was holding onto.
But as the chanting grew louder, filling the night air, her hope felt as fragile as glass.
The robed figures closed in, their voices rising, the dark melody weaving around her like a snare.
The leader stepped forward, his voice cutting through the chanting like a blade. “Tonight, you will serve as a vessel, a bridge to the darkness.”
He raised his hand, his eyes gleaming beneath the hood as he gestured toward the altar.
Dylan fought against his captors, his voice desperate. “Ivy, don’t let them do this! You’re stronger than they think!”
Aria’s laughter rang out, sharp and mocking. She turned to Dylan, smirking. “Poor, loyal Dylan. Always so eager to play hero, but powerless when it matters most.”
The leader signaled for silence, and two guards grabbed Dylan, forcing him to the ground as his voice faded away. Ivy’s chest tightened at the sight, a mix of fear and anger swelling within her.
Lila’s eyes met hers once more, her expression calm, reassuring. "Just wait," they seemed to say.
But Ivy’s hands trembled as the leader raised his arms, chanting in a language that twisted the air around them.
A cold, creeping presence slid over Ivy's skin, sinking deep into her bones. Shadows began to coil around her, thick and heavy, wrapping around her arms and legs like chains.
Beside her, Aria watched with an almost delighted fascination, her smile spreading wider. “This is what you were meant for, Ivy,”
But Ivy refused to give in, not yet. She glanced toward Lila, her silent plea echoing in her mind.
The chanting grew louder, pounding in her ears like a relentless drumbeat. The shadows closed in, thickening with every passing second, cold tendrils wrapping tighter and tighter, pulling her toward the altar. Blurring her vision as her strength drained away. Her legs wobbled, threatening to buckle.
But then, just barely noticeable through the darkness, Ivy felt something tugging at her wrists. A warmth, faint but real, sliding against the binds.
She turned, eyes searching the crowd, and saw Lila standing slightly apart from the others. Her lips moved in a silent incantation, her fingers twitching as if guiding the magic to her wrists.
Before Ivy could react, her bonds fell away completely, and just as she took in a sharp breath of relief, Lila’s gaze locked onto hers. In one swift, desperate movement, Lila pushed her with a surge of unseen energy, sending Ivy stumbling backward.
“No!” Ivy cried, the word barely leaving her lips as she felt herself fall outside the circle. 
A wave of power snapped up between them, a protective boundary sparking to life just as Lila took her place, standing alone in the center.
Dark smoke twisted and curled around Lila, winding up her arms, her torso, until it was sinking into her skin, swallowing her whole. Ivy’s heart lurched as she watched Lila struggle against the shadows, her face contorted in pain but her eyes locked on Ivy, steady and unflinching.
“Lila!” Ivy’s voice was strong with fear, terror clawing through her as she banged her fists against the invisible boundary. “Get out of there!"
But Lila just gave her a small, sad smile, her face a pale ghost behind the swirling darkness. “This was the only way, Ivy. I had to protect you. It's my fault after all.”
The shadows tightened around Lila, sinking deeper into her body and binding her to the altar. Ivy watched helplessly as Lila’s form began to shift, her face twisting as the dark magic took hold. Ivy could only stand by as Lila’s features faded, her look of quiet resolve replaced by a cold emptiness.
The chanting stopped, and a dreadful silence settled over the courtyard. Aria’s face twisted into a cruel smile, “You see, Ivy? Destiny has a funny way of choosing its vessels.”
She took a shaky breath, her heart aching as she gazed at the shell her friend had become.
But she would not let Lila’s sacrifice be in vain.
In the center of the circle, where Lila had stood only moments ago, a dark figure began to take shape, swelling and twisting, until it formed the unmistakable silhouette of a woman, tall, commanding, with an aura of malice that pulsed through the air like a poisonous fog.
It was the leader of the darkness. And with one glance, Ivy knew who it was.
Lila’s mother.
Though, her features were sharper, her expression twisted with a hatred Ivy couldn’t falter. Her gaze fell upon Ivy, a slow, calculating smirk spreading across her lips.
“You thought you could escape this, didn’t you?” Her voice was low, mocking, “I warned her about friends like you.”
Ivy's muscles tense with fear and anger. “Lila trusted you… she trusted you enough to stand in the circle herself! And this—this is how you repay her?”
Lila’s mother laughed, a dark, hollow sound that echoed through the night. “You don’t understand, girl. She was destined for this. It’s in her blood, as it was in mine. And now that I’m here…”
She spread her arms wide, the shadows rippling around her, spilling outward like a dark tide. “I will claim what is mine. And nothing, not you, nor that fool Dylan, nor the pathetic souls of this town, will stand in my way.”
A thick, consuming darkness began seeping from her feet, crawling like inky vines across the ground and spilling into the nearby rooms. Ivy could hear distant cries, the shouts of the robed figures as the shadows surged toward them, swallowing them in an instant.
One by one, each robed figure fell to the shadows, disappearing into the black void. They seemed to twist as they were consumed, their forms fading until they were nothing but whispers in the night.
“Do you see, Ivy?” Lila’s mother said. “This power… it’s unstoppable. And soon, it will be everywhere.”
Ivy replied, stepping forward, forcing herself to meet that cold, malicious gaze. “I understand that whatever power you think you have, it came at a cost. A cost you forced Lila to pay. And for what? Just to feed your own darkness?”
The shadows around Lila’s mother pulsed, thickening as her anger grew. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. My daughter was born for this, born to continue our legacy!”
A sudden chill rippled through the room, and Ivy turned to see her brother, Ethan, stepping out of the shadows.
He moved with a calm, unsettling authority, his gaze locking onto Ivy and then sweeping across the room.
“Brother…” Ivy’s voice barely rose above a whisper.
Ivy,” his voice low but carrying. “I heard something. Seems I arrived late.”
They could sense the weight of the power in Ethan, a darkness that seemed to hold them all captive with just his presence. Even Dylan paused, a wary look flickering in his eyes.
“Ivy… are you alright?” Ethan asked, a flash of concern breaking through his hardened demeanor.
She nodded. “I am, thanks to Lila,” she murmured. She clenched her fists, “But there’s more to this darkness than we thought. It’s her mother, Ethan. Lila’s mother… she’s the one who controls it all.”
Ethan’s gaze darkened, his jaw tightening. “And she’s the one who forced all of them into this, isn’t she?”
Lila’s mother, now a towering figure cloaked in darkness, faced Ivy, Dylan, and Ethan. Her presence filled the space, her gaze sharp and furious, but her eyes focused on Ethan.
“You’ve grown taller than I remember,” she sneered, her voice a low, venomous. “But not wise enough to stay away, I see.”
Ethan’s face remained a hardened mask, but Ivy caught the subtle shift in his posture, a coiled tension, a silent warning in his stare. The weight of his gaze bore into Lila’s mother, a warning as quiet as it was fierce.
Ignoring him, Ivy raised her hand, and dark tendrils of shadow sprang to life, twisting through the air with wicked intent. She barely had time to react before they were upon her, wrapping around her throat and tightening with a cruel, icy grip.
Across from her, Dylan struggled as another tendril choked him, his fingers clawing at the shadows.
“Such a shame,” Lila’s mother hissed, her voice dripping with malice as she tightened her hold. “You thought you could defy me? You children are mere insects beneath my feet.”
Ivy’s vision blurred, her chest straining against the suffocating force. She turned her gaze toward Ethan.
Ethan’s eyes narrowed, his gaze darkening. He stepped forward, his voice a cold whisper, barely masking his fury. 
“Release them,” he commanded, each word sharp, unyielding. “Now.”
Lila’s mother let out a mocking laugh, leaning into the power of her shadows as she tightened her grip further. 
“And what will you do, boy?” she taunted, her eyes glinting with a twisted satisfaction. “You’re nothing but a child pretending to be a protector.”