Page 87 of Immersed
But not just blood. More blood. The hatchhadonly opened a fraction, like itwaswaiting for—
Oh God.Horror movies hewatched with Ethan flashed through his mind. Rooms that required sacrifices. Mechanisms that opened progressively as more victims fed them.
The hatch will open more with each death.
Asherwasstaring at the partially opened hatch, and Levi could see him making the connection as well. If more bloodwasneededto open their escape route, and therewerefour people left in the room...
He’s going to kill them.He’s going to—
The grinding sound of machinery erupted around them, deafeningly loud. Every wall, the ceiling, even the floor beneath them began shifting and moving. The roomwasgetting smaller, walls sliding inward with the sound of grating stone and screeching metal.
“What the hell?”Tyler shouted over the noise, his eyes wild with panic.
The wallsweremaybe eight feet apart, closing steadily. Levi watched Asher’s face transform—the brief surprise from Elliot’s accidental death disappearing, replaced by something cold and calculating.
“Fuck, we need to fight him!”Tyler yelled, pointing at Asher.“He killed Elliot!”
But Asherwasn’tpaying attention to Tyler’s threats. Hewaslooking between the slowly opening hatch and the closing walls with predatory focus.
“I figured it out,”he said, his voice carrying despite the grinding.
He looked directly at Levi.“I told you I would keep you safe. That’s my promise.”
Asher reached into his boot and withdrew something metal—a screwdriver, partially rusted, the handle smooth from use.
Tyler saw the weapon and lunged forward, but Asher moved faster.
The screwdriver punched into Tyler’s throat so fast Levi barely saw the motion. Just the silver flash of metal, then the wet sound of it piercing flesh. Tyler’s hands flew to his neck, blood bubbling between his fingers.
Levi’s mind struggled to process what hewasseeing. Asher’s movements were economical and practiced, almost effortless. When Tyler tried to defend himself, Asher drove the screwdriver through his palmsuntil Tyler lowered them and gave him an opening to keep stabbing into the soft flesh.
Blood sprayed across the room in arterial spurts. It hit Asher’s face, his arms, painting dark streaks across his skin. In the flickering light, the blood looked almost black against the definition of his biceps as he worked.
Why am I noticing that?The thought horrified Levi even as he couldn’t look away from the flex of muscle beneath blood-slicked skin.
Tyler collapsed, choking on his own blood, and the red stream found the grooves in the floor. The hatch ground open another few inches.
But it wasn’t opening fast enough. The walls kept closing.
Asher turned toward Jasper and something inside Levi fractured as he stood frozen, his feet rooted to the spot as he realized what was about to happen.
Asherwassolving a problem, and the solution required death.
Jasper didn’t even try to fight. Something strange and calm settled over his features as he looked at Levi—a sad, accepting expression that somehow made everything worse.
“It’s okay, man,”he said, just before Asher struck.
The screwdriver found Jasper’s throat with the same brutal efficiency. But this time, Levi saw more—the way Asher’s shoulders moved, the controlled violence of each motion. Blood splashed across Asher’s chest, soaking through his shirt, and droplets hit Levi’s face.
Warm.The blood on his skinwaswarm, almost intimate. The metallic taste hit his lips, and he didn’t wipe it away.
What’s wrong with me?
Asher worked with that same horrifying precision, using the screwdriver and brute strength to saw through neck tissue. The wet soundsfilled the air—tearing flesh, bubbling blood, Jasper’s weakening gasps. But therewassomething almost rhythmic about it.
Beautiful,some treacherous part of Levi’s mind whispered.Look how perfectly he moves.
The thought made him sick, but he couldn’t stop watching. Couldn’t stop noticing the way blood ran down Asher’s forearms, the careful control in every motion. ThiswasAsher without pretense—pure, focused, deadly.
