Chapter 26: The Torn Choices

"Do you think there's any point in running now?" Sarah's voice was thick with fear as the door slammed shut, plunging the room into a deeper darkness.

Alex stood frozen, their mind racing. The messenger's words echoed through their head: You cannot fight them. You can only surrender.

"Running?" Alex murmured, barely able to process what had just happened. "How can I even think about running when I don't know what we're up against?"

Sarah's hand clutched Alex's arm, shaking slightly. "We need to get out of here. We need to leave this apartment—this city—everything, Alex!" Her voice trembled, on the edge of panic. "I can't—I can't breathe in this room. I feel like it's closing in."

Alex stared at her, torn between the weight of the impossible choices laid out before them. Every instinct screamed to escape, to hide, but the cold realization gnawed at the back of their mind: there was no outrunning the darkness. Not anymore.