Lilith's legs moved before her mind could catch up. She had no idea where she was running, only that the sound of footsteps behind her was growing louder. The house her childhood home was no longer a sanctuary. It was a cage.
They're coming.
Her breath hitched in her throat as the walls seemed to close in. The shadows writhed, twisting and shifting like they were alive. They were everywhere now, crawling along the floor, creeping up the walls, following her with silent hunger.
And in the center of the room, the boy no, the man was standing, still as ever. His face, once familiar, now a mask of unreadable sorrow.
"You can't run, Lilith," he said quietly, almost too quietly. "You know that. This is where it ends."
Her heart thudded painfully in her chest, each beat a drum of impending doom. She shook her head, struggling to clear the fog from her mind. End? What do you mean, this is where it ends?
"Why?" she gasped, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Why can't I remember? Why… why is this happening to me?"
The man's expression softened, but his eyes still burned with an impossible knowing.
"You made a choice. A decision that should've been yours alone to make."
Lilith's legs buckled, and she collapsed to the floor, knees hitting the cold wood. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if blocking out the man, the house, the shadows that seemed to breathe with a life of their own. None of this felt real anymore.
"I didn't choose any of this. I didn't… I didn't want it!"
The boy's shadowed figure stepped closer, and the air grew colder, more suffocating.
"But you did, Lilith," he murmured. "You traded your memories for peace. Peace that was never meant to last. You thought you were safe, that nothing could hurt you. But safety comes at a price."
Lilith's mind spun in a blur. The image of the photograph from the mantle flashed behind her eyes the boy standing beside her, smiling with an innocent face she could no longer remember. The same boy who had haunted her dreams, the same one who had told her she was different.
"What did I give up?" she asked, her voice raw, desperate.
"Everything," he replied.
The room seemed to shift around her. The walls grew tighter, the air thick with a suffocating pressure. Lilith struggled to breathe, to hold onto the small shred of clarity she had left.
The shadows crept closer, curling around her like an unyielding embrace. The whispering voices grew louder, filling her ears with a deafening cacophony.
"You can't hide from them," the boy said softly. "They've always been here. They've always watched you."
"The Watchers…"
Her throat tightened as the name settled over her like a curse. The shadows around her surged forward, pulling her into the dark. The boy's words echoed in her mind, taunting her, reminding her of something she could not quite reach.
"It's too late, Lilith," he said, stepping back. "The Watchers are coming for you. They know what you've done. They know what you took from them."
Lilith stood, her body trembling, her mind reeling. She didn't understand. What had she done?
Before she could gather her thoughts, the floor beneath her feet trembled, and a loud, bone-rattling crash shook the house. The windows rattled violently, and the walls groaned as if the house itself was coming alive. The sound was deafening.
And then, from the corner of her eye, she saw them.
Figures tall, cloaked, and made of shadow emerged from the walls. Their faces hidden beneath hoods, their eyes glowing like burning embers.
The Watchers.
"No…" Lilith whispered, her voice shaking. "No, no, no…"
The boy, the one who had once been familiar, stepped forward, his expression full of regret.
"I'm sorry, Lilith. But you're not the one who can stop them."
The Watchers advanced. The room seemed to close in on her as the darkness spread, drowning the light. She backed away, her feet slipping on the smooth floor as she tried to flee.
The boy's voice, soft but full of finality, followed her.
"The price of peace has come due."
And then, just like that, everything went black.