The trees around us swayed in the wind, their branches creaking under the strain, but it wasn’t the wind that made my heart race. It was the woman standing before us.
Her presence was like a sudden chill, her pale figure emerging from the shadows as if the night itself had birthed her. She wore a long, tattered coat, the fabric stained and worn, but her eyes… those eyes were sharp, calculating, and so damn familiar.
Elias tensed beside me, his grip tightening on the handle of his crowbar. “Who are you?” he demanded, his voice low, like a growl.
The woman didn’t answer right away. Instead, she surveyed us both with an eerie calm, as though she were measuring our very souls. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, each one faster than the last. Chronos. The experiment. The rift.
“You don’t recognize me, do you?” The woman’s voice was soft, but it had a weight to it that made the air feel heavier.
I shook my head. “Should I?”
Her lips curled into a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I was part of the experiment, too. Just like you.”
My breath caught in my throat. Chronos. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. After everything we’d been through, after everything we’d learned, how was it possible that there were still people out here, people who had been part of the experiment and survived?
“How do you know about Chronos?” Elias demanded, stepping forward, his eyes narrowing.
She tilted her head slightly, as if the question was beneath her. “I was part of it. Before it all went to hell. And I can tell you, both of you are dangerously close to destroying everything.”
I blinked, stunned. “What do you mean?”
Her gaze flickered to the horizon, where the sky seemed to be shifting, darkening. “The rift you’re trying to stop—it’s not just a tear in time. It’s the very fabric of reality itself. If you tamper with it again, you’ll destroy everything that’s left. The world as you know it, the Faded, even you.” She paused, letting the weight of her words settle before continuing. “There’s no going back once you’ve crossed that line.”
Elias looked at her, his jaw clenched. “What are you saying? Are you telling us we just… give up?”
The woman met his gaze with a coldness that sent a shiver down my spine. “I’m saying you don’t understand what you’re dealing with. The rift… it was never supposed to be fixed. It was never supposed to be opened in the first place. But someone had to make the choice—someone had to pull the trigger to make it happen. And now, it’s too late.”
I took a step forward, my voice rising despite the dread that gripped me. “But we can’t just let the loop continue! People are suffering! The Faded—”
“Are you so sure about that?” she interrupted, cutting me off. Her eyes were searching mine, as though she were looking for something I didn’t even know I had. “The Faded are trapped, yes. But they’re not the only ones who are suffering. You don’t even know what’s at stake. If you try to end the loop, you might free the Faded. But in doing so, you will release something far worse. Something that’s been waiting for the right moment.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. “What’s worse than this?” I whispered, glancing at Elias, whose expression was just as stunned as mine.
She hesitated, her eyes flickering with a strange mix of fear and regret. “I can’t say much more. I’ve said too much already. But I can help you. For now.”
“Why?” Elias asked, suspicious.
“Because,” she said, “you’re both part of something bigger than you realize. And if you don’t stop now, it’ll cost more than just your lives. It’ll cost the world.”
The silence that followed was thick, suffocating. I felt the weight of her words hanging in the air, and the tension between us crackled like electricity.
“I can show you the truth,” she continued, her voice lower now, more urgent. “But you have to trust me. Do you?”
My heart was racing. My head was spinning. Trust her? How could we? She was a stranger—someone who claimed to have been a part of the very experiment that caused all of this. How could we trust her, knowing everything was hanging by a thread?
But Elias stepped forward, his jaw clenched. “How do we stop it?” he demanded, his voice hoarse.
The woman’s gaze softened just slightly. “Not by stopping it. By understanding it. You have to learn what happened before it all went wrong. Only then can you even think about finding a solution. And even then…” She trailed off, her eyes flickering with something I couldn’t quite place. “Even then, you may not like the answer.”
I felt a cold chill sweep over me as the weight of her words pressed down on my chest.
“Okay,” I said, my voice trembling slightly. “We’ll trust you. But if you’re lying—”
“I’m not,” she interrupted. “But time is running out. The loop is close to collapsing in on itself, and once it does, everything you’ve known will be gone. You’ll be left with nothing but shadows.”
I looked at Elias, my heart heavy with uncertainty. Could we really trust her? Could we trust anyone in a world this broken?
The woman turned, motioning for us to follow. “Come. I’ll show you where it all began.”
I hesitated for a second before stepping forward, my hand instinctively reaching for the knife at my side. The Faded were out there somewhere, and the woman wasn’t the only danger we’d face.
But as we moved deeper into the forest, something else began to gnaw at me—an unease, a whisper at the edge of my mind that we were being led into something even darker than we could imagine.
And then, out of nowhere, the ground beneath us trembled again.
“Get down!” the woman yelled, pushing us to the ground just as a massive, deafening roar filled the air.
I looked up in horror, eyes wide as the trees around us seemed to warp and bend.
And from the darkness, something massive—something not human—emerged.
The air was thick with tension, and every instinct in my body screamed at me to run. The massive shape looming in the distance was no longer a shadow—it was real, and it was coming for us.
My heart hammered in my chest as I scrambled to my feet, my eyes fixed sa isang creature that had emerged from the depths of the forest. It was huge—far bigger than any Faded I had ever encountered. Its body was twisted and monstrous, limbs far too long, covered in jagged, dark scales that shimmered in the faint light filtering through the trees. The eyes, though—those eyes glowed with an unnatural, otherworldly light, casting an eerie glow on everything around it.
“Stay down!” the woman hissed, grabbing my arm and pulling me behind the cover of a fallen tree.
I didn’t need to be told twice. I pressed myself against the cold, damp earth, heart racing. The creature’s growl reverberated through the air, sending a chill down my spine. It was hunting us. I could feel its gaze, even though it wasn’t looking directly at us. It was like it knew we were there.
Elias was already up, crouching low beside me, his eyes scanning the area. "What the hell is that?" he whispered, his voice hoarse.
“I don’t know,” I replied, trying to keep my breathing steady. “But it’s not one of the Faded.”
“No," the woman said, her voice steady but laced with fear. "That... is something worse. Something that shouldn't exist. It's the result of the rift—something that was released when the experiment went wrong."
"Released?" Elias’s voice rose in disbelief. “Are you saying that thing is from the rift?”
“Yes,” she said, her eyes never leaving the creature as it lumbered closer. “It’s a product of the distortion in time. A creature that was never meant to exist. It's the other side of the loop.”
The ground beneath us vibrated as the creature’s steps grew louder. My breath hitched as it drew nearer. I could feel its presence in my bones, a sickening weight that pressed against my chest, suffocating me.
“Why didn’t you warn us about this?” I demanded, my voice barely a whisper.
“I didn’t know it would come this far,” she replied, her voice strained. “This… thing was meant to stay hidden. The rift was supposed to seal it away, but now it’s breaking free.”
I glanced at Elias, who had his crowbar gripped tightly, ready to strike. His jaw was set in a grim line. I could see the conflict in his eyes—fear mixed with the need to protect, to fight. He wasn’t ready to give up, not yet.
But I wasn’t sure we could fight this thing.
The creature’s growl was getting louder, the air vibrating with its rage. It was closing in, and there was nowhere to hide. My mind raced, and panic began to set in. There had to be something we could do, something—
Suddenly, the woman grabbed my wrist, her fingers cold and urgent. “We have to move. Now!”
I didn’t hesitate. She was right. The creature would be on us in seconds.
“Where?” I asked, my voice tight.
She didn’t answer directly. Instead, she tugged me toward a narrow path that led deeper into the forest. “Follow me. Trust me!”
I didn’t have a choice. We sprinted through the underbrush, the sound of the creature’s footsteps growing louder behind us. The trees around us seemed to close in, but the path the woman had chosen was the only hope we had.
My lungs burned as we pushed forward, my legs screaming for mercy. Every step felt like a race against time, as though the forest itself were trying to swallow us whole.
And then, the ground shook again.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw the creature emerging from the trees, its glowing eyes fixed on us. It was faster than I thought possible, crashing through the woods like a nightmare given form. There was no way we could outrun it.
“We’re not going to make it!” Elias shouted.
I could hear the panic creeping into his voice, and it was contagious. My own fear was rising like a tide, threatening to drown me. But I couldn’t stop running. Not yet.
The woman pulled us forward, faster now. I could see her face, pale but determined. She wasn’t slowing down. She knew something we didn’t.
And then, we reached the edge of the forest.
There, standing before us, was a large, metallic structure—a door of sorts, embedded into the side of a cliff. The door was old, rusted, and covered in strange symbols that matched the ones we had seen before, the same ones branded into our skin.
“This is it,” the woman said, breathless but determined. “Inside. Quick!”
Before I could process her words, she slammed her hand against the door. It groaned, and for a moment, I thought it wouldn’t open. But then, with a deafening screech, the door slowly creaked open, revealing a dark, cold interior.
“Go!” she urged.
We didn’t have a choice. Without looking back, we dashed inside. The door slammed shut behind us, sealing us in darkness.
I collapsed against the cold walls, gasping for air. The pounding of my heart was deafening, but the silence inside the room was even worse. We were safe… for now.
“Where the hell are we?” Elias demanded, his voice filled with frustration.
The woman didn’t answer right away. Instead, she slowly stepped toward a control panel, her fingers dancing across the buttons and switches. The room lit up with dim, flickering lights. The hum of machinery buzzed to life, and I felt a cold shiver creep up my spine.
“This,” she said, her voice quiet, “is where it all began.”
I could barely process her words as the room’s lights flickered again, casting shadows across the walls. The symbols from the door were everywhere—etched into the floor, the walls, the ceiling. They were more than just markings. They were a language. A language I had seen before.
And then, without warning, the entire room shook violently.
“Something’s wrong,” the woman muttered, her eyes wide with panic.
I felt the ground tremble beneath me, and I knew—it was happening again.
The rift.
Something—someone—was opening it again.
And this time, I wasn’t sure if makakalabas pa ba kami dito ng buhay.