Page 7 of Chaos Carnival

Eachsteptowardthedoor stretched and warped like a funhouse mirror, its proportions all wrong, the air thick and syrupy in my lungs. My legs grew heavier with each movement.

I stumbled, catching myself against the wall. The windows lining the corridor reflected our small group, but the reflections were... wrong.

My mirror image stood at a different angle than I did. Maverick's reflection walked backward while he moved forward. Stone's duplicate faced the opposite direction entirely. My heart stopped as my reflection slowly, deliberately, turned its head to look directly at me. Its lips stretched into an impossible smile.

“Maverick—” The word just left my mouth before he shoved me behind him, his body tensing. Sparks of energy made my hair stand on end.

He went rigid. “Fuck.”

A voice echoed from all directions, seeming to come from the walls themselves. “Your abilities are temporarily unavailable.”

The shadows writhed and twisted like living things, stretching across the walls in impossible patterns. I watched in horror as the window glass rippled like the surface of a disturbed pond. Three dark figures stepped through, their forms solidifying as they emerged from the liquid glass.

Oscar's weight grew heavy in my arms as the world bent and warped around us. The skull's usual glow had dimmed to almost nothing, as if whatever magic controlled this space was dampening his, too.

The figures took another step closer, and I pressed into Maverick's back, my fingers curling into his. Without his abilities, without magic, we were trapped here with whatever these things were.

They moved with inhuman grace, their forms glitching between steps as if they existed in multiple spaces at once. Their eyes blazed with celestial fire, and the air surrounding them shimmered with barely contained energy.

Stone collapsed to his knees, his face contorted in agony. “No,” he choked out. “Not again—” His eyes were distant, lost in some private horror. “Please, don't take them—”

Lux lunged, but one of the hunters merely flicked a wrist. Reality seemed to fold around the seraph, and suddenly, he was slumping against the wall, his eyes glazed, mouth open in a silent scream.

“The prodigal sons,” the central hunter spoke, his voice resonating at a frequency that made my teeth ache. “And their new pet hybrid.” His gaze fixed on me with unspoken threats,the viciousness behind it unmistakable. “We've been waiting for you.”

The hunter to his left uncoiled a length of chain that glowed with a sickly light. Where it brushed the floor, the carpet blackened and curled. “The abomination carries your essence,” he said to Maverick. “Did you think we wouldn't sense it?”

Maverick tried to push me further behind him, but the third hunter was suddenly there, moving at an angle that shouldn't have been possible. His hand shot out, fingers elongating into talons that raked across Maverick's chest.

The wounds weren't deep, but where the talons touched, black veins immediately began spreading outward like cracks in glass. Maverick hissed in pain, the corruption visibly burning cold enough that frost crystallized along the spreading lines.

“Your choice is simple,” the first hunter said. “Surrender the hybrid, and your deaths will be quick. Resist...” He gestured at Maverick's spreading corruption. “Well, celestial poison is such a slow way to die.”

I reached for Maverick, my mind racing. Stone was still trapped in his memories, Lux lost in whatever mental torment they'd inflicted. And Maverick...

The black veins had spread across his chest now, frost crackling along their paths. His skin was ashen, but his eyes flared with desperate fury as he squeezed my hand. His gaze flicked meaningfully to the window, then back to me, his fingers tapping twice against my palm. Something about the gesture felt familiar, instinctive, like we'd done this dance before.

“Now!” he roared.

I didn't hesitate. Yanking my keys from my pocket, I hurled them at the nearest window. The shatter created a cascade effect as the supernatural tension in the air caused all the glass in the hallway to implode. Maverick pulled me close, shielding me withhis body as chaos erupted, and the familiar lurch of teleportation turned my stomach.

The last thing I saw was the hunters' smiles—not angry, but satisfied. As if everything had gone exactly as they'd planned.

Chapter 5: Celestial Poison

Tess

Wematerializedonwetconcrete, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. My arms tightened around Oscar's crystal skull as nausea rolled through me from the fierce teleport. The alley's brick walls tilted and swayed before my vision steadied.

Maverick stumbled beside me, his breath coming in sharp gasps. Black veins crept up his neck like poison ivy, frost crystallizing along their paths. His skin had gone grey, dark circles deepening under his eyes.

“Shit.” He pressed his palm flat to the wall to stay upright. “That was... that was just their opening move.”

I reached out, flattening my hand to his chest. The cold beneath my palm burned like liquid nitrogen, seeping through my skin. “Hold still.”

Stone paced the narrow space between dumpsters, his usual composure shattered. His hands trembled as he ran them through his hair. “They knew exactly what to show me. Every detail...” His voice cracked. “Things I never told anyone.”

Lux hadn't stopped shaking since we landed. He kept looking over his shoulder, jumping at every shadow. “We can't... we can't go back to the house. They'll be watching. Waiting.”

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