The Pursuit

The glowing doorway snapped shut the moment Sarah's double disappeared, leaving the room shrouded in a pulsating glow. The hum of the walls grew louder, more intense, vibrating through her chest. She clutched the case tighter, her knuckles white.

The phone buzzed in her hand, the screen lighting up with another message:

Run.

"Run where?" Sarah muttered, her voice shaking. Her eyes darted around the circular room. The metallic walls showed no seams, no obvious exits. She was trapped.

Then, as if in answer, another doorway opened to her left. This one glowed faintly blue, its edges rippling like water. Beyond it, she could see a narrow corridor stretching into the unknown.

The hum grew sharper, almost a shriek. Her pulse spiked as she turned toward the new passage. The phone buzzed again, the screen flashing urgently:

Move now. They're coming.

Behind her, the walls began to shift, the rippling patterns of light distorting into something darker. Shadows stretched and writhed, growing claws, teeth, forms that barely resembled anything human. A cold, suffocating pressure filled the air, pushing against her chest.

She bolted.

The blue-lit corridor seemed to stretch endlessly, its walls narrowing with every step. The case banged against her side, its weight dragging her down as her injured ankle throbbed with each step. She glanced over her shoulder, her breath catching in her throat.

The shadows had followed her.

They moved unnaturally, flowing like liquid but snapping into jagged, angular shapes with every flicker of light. Their distorted forms filled the corridor behind her, consuming everything in their path. A guttural roar echoed through the space, vibrating the walls and sending a wave of terror through her body.

Her legs screamed in protest, but she didn't stop. The phone buzzed again:

Faster.

"Easy for you to say!" she shouted, her voice drowned out by the roar of the shadows. The corridor tilted sharply downward, the ground slick and uneven. Her foot slipped, sending her sprawling forward. The case slid out of her grip, skidding several feet ahead.

"No!" she cried, scrambling after it. Her fingers closed around the handle just as the shadows surged forward, their jagged edges slicing through the walls like knives.

A blinding flash erupted from the case the moment she touched it. The shadows recoiled, their distorted forms writhing as they retreated a few feet. The light faded quickly, but it gave her the opening she needed.

She staggered to her feet, clutching the case like a lifeline, and kept moving.

The corridor leveled out, opening into another circular room. This one was smaller, darker, the walls lined with strange, glowing symbols that pulsed in rhythmic patterns. At the center of the room was a pedestal, its surface smooth and glassy, radiating a faint golden light.

The phone buzzed. Place the case on the pedestal. Now.

Sarah hesitated, her breaths ragged. The timer on the phone read 12:42. She didn't have time to think, but every instinct in her screamed that she was being manipulated. The case felt heavier now, its weight pulling at her arms like it wanted to stay with her.

The shadows roared from the corridor behind her, their forms spilling into the room like an unholy tide. She had seconds, maybe less.

With a strangled cry, she slammed the case onto the pedestal.

The room exploded with light. The symbols on the walls flared to life, casting the space in brilliant gold. The shadows recoiled, their forms disintegrating into wisps of smoke as the light consumed them. The hum in the air reached a deafening crescendo before falling silent.

For a moment, Sarah couldn't move. She stood frozen, her chest heaving, the golden glow illuminating her tear-streaked face. The case on the pedestal was untouched, its surface cool and matte as if nothing had happened.

Then the phone buzzed again. This time, the message was different.

Leave it. Exit through the next door.

Another doorway opened across the room, its edges glowing faintly green. Sarah stared at it, her mind racing. Leave it? After everything she had been through? The case wasn't just a burden it was the only thing tethering her to whatever reality she'd stumbled into.

But the phone buzzed again, insistent.

Now.

Her legs felt like lead as she stepped away from the pedestal. The shadows were gone, the air still, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. The green-lit doorway beckoned, its glow soft but unrelenting.

She crossed the threshold, the light swallowing her whole.