The crack in the ground deepened and the split widened just enough for sothing to press against it from beneath.
A hand erged from the split... elongated and unnaturally thin with joints that bent slightly the wrong way. Its surface wasn’t fully solid... it was more like a distorted silhouette with faint texture.
Emily stiffened as she felt sothing wrapped around her ankle.
Her scream tore through the chamber.
Calvin jerked back. "What the—?!"
He looked down just in ti to see the ground split wider beneath them, causing Emily to fall sideways with the hand still wrapped around her ankle, pulling her towards the abyss.
The crack expanded into a dark, zigzag gap large enough to swallow a body.
Emily clawed at the statue with her nails scraping uselessly against the floor as the hand tightened its grip and kept pulling.
Calvin tried to kick it but his foot passed through part of the limb, and resistance t him a split second later... like striking sothing half-solid, half-fluid.
Before he could land another kick, a second hand erged and wrapped around his ankle with sudden, violent force.
"HELP!" Emily scread again.
But the chamber was too deep and enclosed...
Their voices didn’t travel far.
In a blink, they were both yanked downward as the gap widened just enough to consu them.
Calvin’s grip slipped and his shoe ca off... then they were gone.
The ground sealed over them almost instantly causing the crack to vanish completely.
The statue stood silent once more, as though nothing had ever happened.
Only one pair of Calvin’s shoes remained on the floor.
---
Back at the Central Atrium, the students shifted restlessly as ti passed.
Whispers grew louder.
It had been nearly an hour at this point.
West stood slightly apart from the group with his gaze lowered toward the ground.
His expression was unreadable.
Nina noticed first.
"What’s wrong?" she asked quietly.
West didn’t look at her.
"You don’t feel that tremor?"
She blinked. "Tremor?"
Mira, standing nearby, frowned. "What tremor? You’re scaring , West."
West closed his eyes briefly.
His awakened status and elevated sub-stats sharpened his senses far beyond normal perception.
Every few minutes, afaint vibration passed through the stone beneath his feet.
It was extrely faint and had been happening since they got here yesterday but West didn’t press it...
It was like sothing shifting deep below the surface.
"It’s nothing," he finally said. "Probably structural settling."
He didn’t sound convinced but he told himself it made sense.
Still, the tremors felt rhythmic...
Footsteps soon echoed through the corridor as Mr. Ibe and the guide reappeared.
They were trying to look calm but West saw it imdiately... the hidden tension in Mr. Ibe’s expression.
The way the guide’s hands were clenched just slightly too tight...
And in Mr. Ibe’s grip was one pair of shoe...
Calvin’s shoes.
"Where are they?" soone asked.
Mr. Ibe forced a smile. "Calvin probably wandered off too deep and lost his shoes. We didn’t find them yet."
"That’s dumb," Darius muttered under his breath.
Emily’s absence went unaddressed.
The guide stepped forward quickly. "For now, we’re going to have all students return to the accommodation lodge. We’ll continue the search with the rest of the staff."
There was an edge to his voice now...
One teacher began organizing the students toward the staircase leading back to the surface.
Mr. Ibe remained behind with the guide and the other staff mbers, preparing to head back toward the secluded section where the shoe had been found.
West cast one final glance at the underground corridors.
Another faint tremor brushed against his senses.
Slightly stronger this ti...
But he said nothing.
---
The open air felt strangely warr after the cold stillness of the ruins.
But sothing was off.
A commotion had ford near the main entrance gate.
A woman stood near the security barrier, visibly distressed.
"My child is missing!" she shouted. "He went in with the morning tour and hasn’t co out!"
Two uniford guards attempted to calm her.
"Ma’am, please lower your voice—"
"You’re not listening to !"
Her voice cracked with panic but one of the guards moved as if to escort her away.
They wanted to get her out of the public before she could startle other tourists.
West stepped forward instinctively.
"Stop."
His voice cut cleanly through the noise as the guards turned toward him.
"I want to hear what she has to say."
One of them frowned. "And who the hell are you?"
Before West could answer, another guide ca sprinting from within the ruins.
He leaned close to one of the guards and whispered urgently into his ear.
West didn’t need enhanced hearing to see the effect.
The guard’s face drained of color as an alard look instantly flickered across his features.
The guard straightened imdiately as his posture shifted from dismissive to rigid.
He stepped forward and raised his voice.
"Uh—ladies and gentlen," he announced loudly. "The Eternal Ruins is closed for today. Please vacate the premises imdiately."
Murmurs erupted.
"What?"
"Why?"
"We just got here!"
Security personnel began directing tourists toward the exits.
The distressed woman tried to push past them again. "You said you were searching! What’s going on?!"
Her hair had co loose from whatever tie once held it. Her eyes were red and her hands trembled with desperation.
The guards were no longer trying to soothe her.
They were trying to remove her.
"Ma’am, step back."
"You are obstructing security procedure."
"If you do not comply, we will detain you."
While tourists were being funneled out through the gates in hurried waves, she was pushing in the opposite direction like soone trying to swim against a flood.
Students from Class 3 stood frozen in clusters near the entrance plaza.
So whispered while others looked visibly unsettled.
The teachers were scrambling to restore order.
"Everyone move back!"
"Head toward the accommodation!"
"There is nothing to worry about!"
But that last line rang hollow.
No one had explained why the ruins were closing so abruptly.
No one had addressed the missing child...
No one had ntioned Calvin and Emily...
They were trying to preserve calm... but calm had already fractured.
The woman made one more desperate attempt to slip past the guards.
"My son is in there!" she cried. "You cannot just shut it down and send away!"
Two guards lost their patience and grabbed her by the arms.
"If you resist further, we will arrest you."
The entrance plaza erupted into overlapping noise.
"Hey, that’s too much—"
"They can’t just—"
"Where’s her kid?"
The woman struggled.
"I’m not leaving without him!"
All of a sudden, the crowd subconsciously shifted, as a commanding presence moved forward.
He walked calmly, cutting through the chaotic motion like a blade through water.
Students parted instinctively and even teachers hesitated.
He stepped directly into the path of the guards dragging the woman.
"Let her go."
His voice wasn’t loud but it carried a certain irrefutable authority.
But when the guards saw who it ca from, they had a look of irritation on their faces.
"Who is this kid?" one muttered.
"Leave with your classmates," the other said sharply. "This is official security business."
West didn’t move.
"I won’t repeat myself," he voiced with a commanding tone. "Let her go."
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