I thought it was over.
The shadows stopped moving. The light returned, a pale orange haze slipping in through my windows like shy fingers. I hadn't heard any screams in a while. No thudding bodies. No more of those awful hands rising from the ground.
The phone had buzzed.
The reward was claimed.
So naturally—I thought I had survived it.
But I should have known by now…
Survival is never that easy.
I was sitting by the window, clutching the handheld beacon in my palm. I hadn't used it yet. Just having it near made me feel safer. Then I looked up—just to make sure the sky was clear again.
And what I saw made my spine curl.
The sky… was changing.
Not returning to normal.
Stretching.
Phalorge was still there.
And it was moving.
The pattern in the clouds—those swirling, symmetrical designs like old curtain fabrics—began to elongate. At first I thought I was imagining it. That my eyes were just playing tricks. But no… the pattern didn't just stretch.
It bent. It spiraled. It twisted like it was made of elastic reality.
That black "pattern" in the sky unfurled like a living banner, long and wide, rippling through the upper atmosphere in impossible ways. It defied wind, clouds, even gravity. It writhed with purpose.
Like it had noticed us.
Like it had decided to take this more seriously.
And then I saw the sunlight disappear again.
Not all of it.
Just enough.
Large chunks of the city began to fall back into shadow. Slowly. Steadily. Like a creeping hand across a sundial.
Phalorge wasn't gone.
It was expanding.
Spreading its reach.
I looked at the buildings across the street. Their walls fell back into darkness. The edges of their rooftops began to twitch. The shadows underneath the streetlamps started shivering again.
It was happening again.
The people who had crawled out from hiding now looked up and froze. Someone whispered:
> "No… it's still here…"
And then someone ran.
And stepped on a shadow.
And vanished under the weight of a black arm that cracked the pavement beneath him.
They never screamed.
Just a single crunch.
Then silence.
My phone buzzed again.
---
CORRECTION: WARNING #0005 STILL ACTIVE
> PHALORGE IS ADAPTING
SHADOW ZONE EXPANSION: 37%
WARNING: THIS ENTITY DOES NOT LEAVE. IT WAITS FOR THE PLANET TO ROTATE.
NOTE: SUNLIGHT IS NOT PERMANENT. BE READY FOR NIGHTFALL.
---
My mouth went dry.
It wasn't just stretching.
It was settling in.
Like a blanket tucking us into death.
I activated the beacon.
A sharp white glow filled my room. Pure, artificial sunlight. For now, it kept the corners of my room safe. But it wouldn't last. The beacon was already ticking down from 10:00 to 09:59…
Phalorge wasn't done.
It never leaves.
It just waits… for the Earth to turn.
And when it's nighttime everywhere?
There won't be anywhere to run.