The first light of dawn broke over the village, painting the ruins in an eerie, golden glow.
The darkness had receded—for now.
Sarah was still weak, leaning on Aaron as they walked. The others were battered, their clothes torn, faces streaked with exhaustion.
But they were alive.
For now.
Graves led the way, his rifle gripped tightly, scanning their surroundings.
They needed shelter.
Somewhere safe.
That's when they saw it.
A house.
Not like the crumbling ruins around it.
This one was well-kept.
The wooden walls sturdy, the windows patched, a firepit still smoldering outside.
And just near the entrance—
Recently used torches.
David frowned. "Someone's been here."
Aaron approached cautiously, motioning for Sarah to stay close.
The place looked… lived in.
But by who?
Just as Graves reached for the door—
A blade pressed against Aaron's throat.
"Drop your weapons," a hoarse voice growled. "Now."
The group whirled around, guns instantly aimed—
And there he stood.
A man.
Ragged. Dirty. Wild.
His hair unkempt, his beard overgrown, his clothes torn and bloodstained.
But his eyes—
Sharp. Cold. Unbroken.
He had survived.
Alone.
For God knows how long.
Matthias froze, his breath hitching.
His lips parted—
And then, in a voice filled with disbelief, he spoke:
"Elias…?"
The man's grip on the knife tightened.
Recognition flickered in his weary eyes.
Matthias took a slow step forward.
"You're supposed to be dead."
A bitter chuckle escaped Elias's lips. "I've been 'dead' for a long time, priest."
Aaron swallowed, feeling the blade dig into his skin.
How the hell was this man still alive?
Aaron remained still, his pulse steady despite the knife at his throat.
Elias's grip was firm, but his eyes—his eyes were full of something else.
Something Aaron recognized.
A man on the brink.
A man who had seen too much.
Matthias slowly stepped forward, hands raised. "Elias, listen to me."
Elias stiffened.
Matthias swallowed. "It's me. Matthias. We were here together. The first time."
Elias's expression twitched. His grip tightened on the knife.
The others remained still, waiting.
Matthias took another step. "You, me, Samson, and—" He hesitated. "—Father Desmond."
The name hit Elias like a gunshot.
His breath hitched.
His jaw clenched.
Memories. Buried deep. Dragged to the surface.
The knife at Aaron's throat wavered.
Matthias took a slow, deliberate breath. "You're one of us, Elias. You survived."
Elias's lips pressed into a thin line.
Then, after what felt like an eternity—
He let Aaron go.
Aaron stepped back, rubbing his neck, but said nothing.
Elias's face hardened as he eyed Matthias.
"You shouldn't have come back."
The warning in his voice was clear.
A death sentence wrapped in a whisper.
Matthias held his gaze. "We had no choice."
Elias let out a bitter laugh. "No choice? No choice would've been leaving this damn place buried under time. No choice would've been listening when they told you it was lost."
He looked past Matthias, past Aaron and Sarah, past Graves and the rest.
His eyes darkened.
"But now, you've doomed yourselves."
Silence.
Aaron exhaled. "You keep saying 'back.' What do you mean?"
Elias turned his gaze to him. "I mean, Father Matthias already escaped this place once."
His eyes flickered to Matthias.
"And it never let go of him."
They sat around the smoldering fire, its dying embers casting a dim glow over their weary faces.
The house Elias had been staying in was the only one untouched by time and decay.
A mystery in itself.
Aaron leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees. "Tell us what you know."
Elias remained silent, staring into the embers.
Graves, still gripping his rifle, narrowed his eyes. "You held a knife to my man's throat. You owe us answers."
Elias sighed, running a hand through his unkempt beard.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Matthias spoke softly. "Try us."
Elias exhaled sharply, then, finally—he began.
"The four of us came to this village after the first wave of disappearances. People vanishing without a trace. No bodies. No blood. Just... gone."
"Father Desmond led the expedition. He was convinced something unholy was here. He wasn't wrong."
"At first, it was just the whispers. A voice calling our names, sounding like loved ones. Then the hallucinations—seeing people we knew were dead. Samson was the first to go. He walked off one night, said he heard his mother calling. We found his body the next morning. Hollow."
"Then Desmond... he changed. He kept saying he could hear 'it'—the thing that lived here. It showed him things. Promised him things."
Elias's voice darkened.
"Then one night, he tried to kill me. Said I was in the way. I fought back, but—" He exhaled, shaking his head.
"I killed him. I had no choice."
Sarah swallowed hard. "And Matthias?"
Elias's eyes flickered toward the priest.
"He was lucky to had run when the entity wasn't fully awaken. He got out before it truly took hold."
The fire crackled, breaking the heavy silence.
Aaron shifted. "And you? How have you survived here all this time?"
Elias's eyes were , haunted.
"By restraining it."
They frowned.
"There are symbols—old ones. Carved into the trees, the rocks, the ground beneath and around this house. They keep the darkness at bay. At least... long enough to see the morning."
He gestured toward the faint carvings along the walls of the house, and those etched deep onto the wood.
"But they're not perfect. And they won't last forever."
Matthias tensed.
"Then we don't have much time."
Elias's gaze was grim.
"No. You don't."
Elias led them around the house, pointing out the symbols carved deep into the wood, etched into the very foundation.
Strange, ancient markings.
Aaron stared at them, a deep unease creeping through him.
He had seen these before.
His breath hitched.
The gun.
He dropped to his knees, ripping open his bag. He dug through supplies, past ammunition, past rations—until his fingers brushed against cold metal.
The rotting gun.
He pulled it out, along with a tattered piece of fabric he hadn't paid much attention to before.
Both were covered in the same symbols.
Elias's eyes widened.
He grabbed the gun from Aaron's hands, his fingers running over the engravings, his expression shifting from shock to pure hope.
"Where did you find this?" Elias's voice was hoarse.
"At the storage unit. In a locked box." Aaron answered, still staring at the gun.
Elias let out a shaky breath.
"This… this is it. This is the only thing that can truly hurt the Hollow Ones."
Matthias frowned. "But not kill them?"
Elias shook his head.
"No. Not kill. But it wounds them. Slows them down."
His eyes burned with something Aaron hadn't seen in them before.
Hope.
"Maybe you were meant to bring this here."
Sarah, still weak from her possession, looked at everyone in a strange way but it quickly disappeared from her thought,back to her normal weakened state.
Elias looked toward the darkening sky.
"Only if we use it right."