The tunnel swallowed every sound as Lilith walked deeper into the station. Her shoes echoed on the cracked concrete, the only sign that she was still tethered to reality. The air was colder here thicker. Like the past itself had taken physical form and was crawling up her spine.
She remembered this place now.
Not just from blurry childhood memories but from the nightmares.
This was the station beneath the orphanage the one everyone believed had collapsed after the fire. But it hadn't. It had been sealed… hidden… protected.
The note crumpled in her hand, she followed the trail of flickering bulbs that buzzed like whispers in her ears. A familiar scent crept into her nose: old wood, burned rubber… and blood.
A soft voice echoed in the distance.
"You left me there, Lilith…"
Her breath caught.
"You promised you wouldn't run…"
Her heart slammed in her chest.
"But you did. And you forgot me."
A shadow moved in the corner. Then another. The tunnel split into three paths ahead each one dark, dripping with time and torment.
Lilith closed her eyes and whispered to herself, "You want me to remember? Fine."
She stepped into the middle path.
Each step dragged up pieces of her past she had locked away. She saw a small boy ragged clothes, dirty face holding her hand. They were running. Smoke clouded their lungs, screams echoed from behind them. She could hear the fire devouring everything in its path.
And then...
She'd let go of his hand.
Because she'd thought he was behind her.
Because someone had pulled her out.
Because she'd believed he was already gone.
"You didn't come back," the voice was closer now, no longer just in her head. "You chose to forget me."
She turned sharply and saw him.
Nathan.
But not the little boy she remembered.
He stood in the shadows like a ghost resurrected. Taller, broader his eyes were sunken, haunted, as if the flames had never stopped burning inside him.
"Lilith," he said, and even her name sounded like an accusation. "Look at what I became without you."
Her lips trembled. "Nathan, I didn't know. I thought you were..."
"Dead?" He laughed coldly. "I was. And then I woke up alone. Buried beneath a lie."
She stepped forward. "Please… whatever you're planning, this isn't the way."
He tilted his head. "It's already begun. You think this is about revenge?"
She froze. "Then what?"
He stepped into the light, revealing a small silver device in his hand wires trailing from it like veins.
"This is about the truth. And I'm going to make everyone remember."
The lights overhead burst in a shower of sparks.
Behind Lilith, a hidden door slammed shut.
She was trapped.
And she had no idea what he'd just triggered.