CHAPTER 22: CHAPTER 22: SURFACE

It didn’t take long before they reached the tunnel’s final stretch.

The stale air began to shift, a faint breeze brushing past Jace’s face as they approached a rusted ladder built into the wall. The shaft above led back to the surface, back to the chaos.

Jace stopped at the base of the ladder and looked at the Areni girl. "We can’t take her up there."

[Agreed. Her presence will cause a scene. I’ll tell her to stay here.]

Zin translated calmly. The girl tilted her head, then stepped closer to Jace. Her hand gently touched his sleeve, her eyes wide, clearly signaling she didn’t want him to leave her behind.

Jace sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "Come on, Zin. Convince her."

Zin tried again, the harmonic language echoing softly in the tunnel. This time, the girl hesitated, then slowly stepped back, eyes still locked on Jace. Her tendrils twitched with unease, but she didn’t resist.

Jace glanced at Zin. "What did you tell her?"

[Something that would work. We dont have enough time, you should move.]

That made Jace pause. But Zin wasn’t wrong. They didn’t have time to debate. People were dying above.

Jace turned and grabbed the ladder.

"I’ll come back," he muttered, almost to himself.

Then he climbed.

The grate above was loose. He pushed it open, stepped out into the alley, and crouched behind a parked van.

The distant sound of sirens echoed through the streets, along with the occasional pulse of something far less human.

Smoke curled into the sky a few blocks away. The monster was still out there. Somewhere.

He adjusted his jacket and tightened the straps on his bike helmet.

[Direction confirmed. Eva’s last known location is two blocks east.]

Jace started moving. Every second counted now.

Behind him, the girl watched from the shadows, her glowing eyes barely visible through the grate.

Jace ran through the streets, weaving between parked cars and broken debris. His heart pounded with each step.

"Zin, can you track her current location?"

[Yes. Last night, I connected to her phone. I’ve already marked the path. Go straight, then take the second left.]

Jace didn’t slow down. He followed Zin’s directions, racing through intersections and past closed storefronts until he turned the final corner.

His steps faltered.

Just ahead, on the edge of the street, sat a black sedan—Eva’s car. The driver’s door was wide open. The windshield was cracked, spiderwebbed from an impact, and shards of glass glittered across the pavement.

Jace stepped closer.

The inside was empty.

A few feet from the passenger side, her phone lay face down on the road, its screen shattered.

Jace crouched and picked it up. The screen was still warm. A faint buzz vibrated from the damaged speaker, like it was stuck trying to connect.

"This is Eva’s car..." he muttered, his voice low.

He looked around. No signs of a struggle. No blood and definitely no clues.

"She was here."

[But not for long. Whatever happened, it forced her to run.]

Jace stood slowly, his grip tightening around the broken phone.

"We’re close."

[Yes. Stay alert.]

Jace slipped the broken phone into his pocket and scanned the area again. The streets were empty.

Glass and debris lined the sidewalks, but there were no people, no sounds beyond the distant whine of sirens. No sign of Eva.

"Zin, anything?"

[No movement nearby. I’ve marked the phone’s last GPS ping. This street.]

Jace took a slow step forward, checking every direction. He stayed low, moving carefully past the car, watching the shadows between buildings and alleyways. The silence wasn’t comforting. It felt like everything was holding its breath.

"Eva!" he called out.

No answer.

He reached the center of the road and turned to look behind the car, then checked the sidewalk across from it.

A faint scuff mark on the concrete caught his eye, like someone had slipped or fallen.

He crouched near it, but just as he leaned closer, something hit him hard from behind.

Something slammed into his back, fast and heavy.

Jace flew forward before he could even process what happened.

His body smashed into the hood of the car, then bounced off it and landed hard on the pavement.

His helmet struck first, skidding across the concrete with a sharp crack.

Pain ripped through his shoulder and ribs as he rolled twice before hitting the curb.

He didn’t move.

For a second, he couldn’t.

Everything hurt. His breathing was shallow, like his lungs were compressed. His shoulder burned.

His helmet had split down the middle from the impact. The internal display was gone, and one side of the faceplate had cracked clean off.

He pulled it off and dropped it beside him. Blood trickled from his lip.

"What the hell was that..."

[You were hit from behind. Velocity high. Mass estimate... two to three times your weight.]

Jace pushed himself up with one arm, trying not to scream from the pain in his ribs. He turned his head slowly toward the street.

And there it was.

The thing stood about eight feet tall. Hulking shoulders, heavy chest, limbs thick like tree trunks.

Its skin was rough, grayish-blue, with a faint shimmer under the streetlight. It didn’t look smooth, more like stone, cracked in lines across its arms and legs.

Its face had no eyes. No nose.

Just a wide, open cavity for a mouth and a row of jagged fangs. Each breath it took made a wet, wheezing sound.

It was already walking toward him.

Jace forced himself to his feet. He clutched his side. His ribs weren’t just bruised, they were damaged.

His balance was off. His shoulder wasn’t rotating right. That hit was the hardest he’d ever taken.

He didn’t say a word.

The thing came closer, one heavy step at a time. There was no sound but the impact of its feet and that constant wheeze.

Jace backed up, slow and uneven.

[That thing’s not human. And it’s not stopping.]

Jace already knew that.