The hallway shakes violently.

A door slams shut somewhere below. Glass shatters. Bode screams your name.

“Upstairs—NOW!” Tyler yells, grabbing Kinsey’s hand and pulling her forward.

You run.

The floorboards groan beneath your feet as something heavy crashes through the wall behind you — claws scraping, shadows spilling across the hallway like ink.

Then you hear him.

Your name.

Not shouted. Not rushed.

Calm.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” Gabe’s voice echoes through the house, smooth and intimate, cutting through the chaos like he’s standing right beside you. “I won’t let them hurt you.”

You glance back just long enough to see him at the end of the hall — firelight behind him, monsters crouched low at his feet like trained animals.

He isn’t chasing.

He’s waiting.

“Don’t listen to him!” Kinsey cries, pulling you toward the stairs. “It’s not Gabe!”

Gabe smiles when he hears that.

“She still says my name like that,” he murmurs to the creatures beside him. “I like it.”

A shadow lunges. Tyler shoves you aside just in time, swinging wildly. The house groans again — another wall collapsing.

“Go!” Tyler yells. “Get Bode out!”

You hesitate.

And Gabe sees it.

“There,” he says softly, eyes locking onto yours across the chaos. “That hesitation. That’s ours.”

The monsters freeze at a subtle tilt of his head.

He takes one slow step forward.

“You could keep running,” Gabe continues, voice dropping, intimate, possessive. “Hide with them. Pretend you’re still safe.” A pause. “But I know you feel it.”

The lights flicker. The walls pulse.

“You were never meant to be on their side,” he whispers. “You just don’t know it yet.”

Bode is crying now. Kinsey is begging you to move. Tyler’s bleeding.

Gabe holds out his hand.

“I won’t chase you,” he says calmly. “But if you come to me… I’ll stop all of this.”

The monsters stir.

The house trembles.

And Gabe’s eyes never leave yours.

“Choose,” he says quietly. “Run with them— or stay with me.”