Where the Dark Lives

The air in the factory was thick with tension. Jessica helped Daniel to his feet, her mind racing. The urgency in his voice sent a chill down her spine.

Leanna grabbed the scanner and adjusted the settings. "His readings are unstable, but he’s here. We need to move before whoever ‘they’ are show up."

Daniel gripped Jessica’s arm, his eyes wild. "You don’t understand. They’re already here. They’ve always been here, and once they’ve touched you... they can always find you."

Not footsteps. Not voices. Just that low, awful scrape—metal dragged across metal, like something remembering how to move. Olivia spun around, a flashlight beam slicing through the darkness.

Jessica tensed. "Everyone stay close. We move on my count."

The factory, silent and abandoned minutes before, now felt alive with unseen movement. Shadows shifted unnaturally along the walls, and the temperature plummeted.

Leanna whispered, "They’re using the same energy. Whatever pulled Daniel, they can manipulate it too."

A deep hum reverberated through the steel beams, growing in intensity. The factory walls trembled.

Daniel’s breathing quickened. "If they take me again, I won’t come back."

Jessica’s resolve hardened. "Then we make sure that doesn’t happen."

Olivia yanked a handheld EMP device from her bag and tossed it to Jessica. "This should disrupt whatever frequency they’re operating on—at least for a few minutes."

Jessica caught it and nodded. "Leanna, take Daniel. Olivia, cover our exit."

They moved swiftly, weaving through rusted machinery toward the exit. A low whisper crawled along the edges of their hearing—not words, but intent. Something was watching, waiting.

The exit was within reach when a shadow coalesced in front of them, a shifting void that absorbed all light. A humanoid figure with no discernible face, only a void where a head should be.

Daniel froze. "That’s them."

Leanna hissed, "This isn’t their usual playbook."

Jessica grimaced. "No. This is older. Or worse."

Whatever these things were, they were built wrong for this world. Electricity wasn’t supposed to hurt ghosts. But these weren’t ghosts. She triggered the EMP, the pulse sending a rippling shockwave through the air. The figure flickered, disoriented, buying them a few precious seconds.

"Go!" Jessica shouted.

They burst through the factory doors into the cold night. Behind them, the shadow figures twisted unnaturally, unable to follow—yet.

They ran until their lungs burned, finally collapsing near their car.

Leanna gasped for breath. "We need to figure out what Daniel knows. And fast."

Jessica glanced back toward the factory. The shadows were gone. For now.

She turned to Daniel. "Tell us everything."

His expression was grim. "Nobody stops them. You just hope to survive."

The wind howled around them, carrying the weight of something unseen, something relentless.

And Jessica knew—this fight was just beginning.