Roy furrowed his brow deeply. The website address the caller provided was clearly not a standard URL—it had to be a dark web link.
Before he could press for more details, the call was abruptly cut off.
Something felt off.
Had something happened?
Roy quickly reined in his desires and patted Francesca, who was hanging upside down in the pool. She immediately understood and surfaced.
"Roy, is something up?"
"Let's pause for a bit. I need to handle something."
Roy stepped out of the pool, and Francesca obediently used a towel to dry him off, serving him like a maid.
Then, she helped him slip into a bathrobe.
While enjoying the ghostly maid service, Roy's mind was racing, trying to figure out why someone from the dark web would call him.
They wouldn't contact him without a reason. Given the dark web's reputation, could someone close to him be in their hands?
Madison's villa had a computer, so Roy used the method Nidi had taught him to access the deep web and entered the strange URL.
To his shock, the dark web site was a live-streaming platform.
In 2000, even regular video websites were rare, let alone live-streaming ones—and this one had surprisingly high-quality visuals.
Where there's profit, people always find a way to pull off something wild.
The site's homepage showed a live feed of six people inside a subway car. Beside the video were six profile pictures, each with a betting button underneath, plus two special options: "All Survive" and "All Die."
It looked like a real-life, bloody escape game.
But two of the profile pictures stopped Roy in his tracks—Nidi and Ashley.
"What the hell? Didn't Nidi say she and Ashley were going to some gaming event?"
Francesca, standing nearby, suggested a possibility.
"Maybe the dark web lured Nidi in under the guise of a gaming event."
Roy thought it over and realized it was plausible.
Nidi was a gaming fanatic—her love for games even surpassed her habit of scouring the dark web for gossip. She only did that when she was in a gaming drought.
A fresh, exciting game could easily trick her into showing up at a specific location.
In theory, Nidi, being a hybrid angel, shouldn't have much trouble, even with Ashley in tow.
But Nidi's kind heart could lead her to risk herself to save others.
Roy placed his M629 revolver and a spare phone on the table. He kept several phones in his inventory in case one got damaged.
"Francesca, stay here and monitor the feed. Contact me if anything happens, and keep an eye on Meri!"
"Got it!"
Roy grabbed his phone and headed out. Just as he was about to call Saltana for help, he saw a text from Ashley.
Line 7, Car 1?
At first, Roy thought the subway car was just a staged set, not an actual train. But now, it seemed he'd been wrong.
If Nidi and Ashley had boarded a real subway and gotten trapped in the car through some mechanism, there was only one place in Los Angeles where such a setup could exist: the abandoned subway line connected to the ghoul nest.
Roy didn't hesitate and dialed Saltana.
"Hey, Saltana, Nidi and Ashley are in trouble!"
Saltana was at the mental hospital, investigating. After a day of searching, the FEA had found numerous bodies of psychiatric patients who'd undergone ice-pick lobotomies, including the ghost Roy had seen.
They'd also discovered a massive underground space beneath the hospital and were now searching for a way in.
"Roy, what's going on?"
Roy quickly explained the situation with Nidi and Ashley.
"That's insane!"
Saltana bit her lip. The dark web wasn't a supernatural organization, so technically, the FEA had no jurisdiction.
But if she pretended not to know and filed a report later, it wouldn't be a big issue. After all, no one could predict if supernatural elements might emerge during the operation.
"I can send a few agents to help, but I don't have many to spare. Things are heating up at the hospital too!"
Roy could tell the hospital situation was serious, or Saltana wouldn't have said that.
"I don't need many—just enough to contain the situation. We might be dealing with a major incident."
"Understood!"
After hanging up, Roy called Iris. The wise angel was in Los Angeles, and her God's Eye was perfect for tracking people.
This time, Roy was determined to take down the dark web for good.
But Iris's phone didn't connect—it kept saying the number was out of service. Had something happened at the Shadowhunters' base too?
Los Angeles was turning into a mess tonight. The media would probably explode tomorrow.
Still, the Shadowhunters' base wasn't as urgent as Nidi and Ashley, so Roy prioritized heading to the subway.
The scene shifted to Nidi and Ashley.
Ten minutes earlier, they'd arrived at Los Angeles' Line 7, Car 1.
For some reason, Line 7 was nearly empty that night, and Car 1 had only four other people besides Nidi and Ashley, making six total.
The other four were a burly bald guy in a tank top, a wealthy-looking middle-aged Black woman in a stylish fur coat, a rugged blonde woman with a round face, and a scruffy, seemingly drunk middle-aged man.
(From left to right: Round-Face, Bald Guy, Drunkard, Black Woman, Nidi, and Ashley, replacing the original male and female leads.)
Everything seemed normal. Nidi, excited, scoured the car for clues left by the "Cartographer" for the game. She found a bag under a seat.
"Excuse me, does this bag belong to any of you?"
Round-Face glanced coldly at Nidi and Ashley, then turned to stare out the window without a word.
Bald Guy, who seemed to have hearing issues and wore a hearing aid, didn't hear Nidi until she repeated herself. He shook his head.
The drunkard, sprawled across a seat, ignored her entirely.
Finally, the Black woman, seeing no one else respond, spoke up.
"Maybe some passenger left it behind. I'd advise you not to touch it."
"Who'd leave a bag like this under a seat? I'd sooner believe it's some kind of deal than a lost item."
As Nidi reached to check the bag, a strange noise came from the front.
"What's that sound?"
Alert, Ashley followed the noise toward the front.
Car 1 was connected to the driver's cabin, but when Ashley reached the door, she found it empty.
"What the hell? Why's there no driver?"
Her words startled everyone in the car, even the drunkard, who sat up.
Turns out, he'd been faking sleep, not actually drunk.
Subways in this era weren't advanced enough for remote control—they relied on manual operation.
No driver meant the train would just keep going.
The drunkard suggested a ridiculous possibility.
"What if the driver went to the bathroom and missed the train?"
Round-Face shot that down.
"No way! If the driver had to leave, someone would've covered for them!"
Bald Guy rolled his eyes.
"Is this really the time for that? We need to get into the driver's cabin and use the radio to contact the subway company!"
He was right—that was the priority. But when Ashley tried the door, she found the handle missing.
"Where's the handle? Why's there no handle?"
At this point, all six passengers sensed something was seriously wrong.
Bald Guy marched to the door.
"Let me break it down!"
The Black woman headed toward Car 2.
"I'll find a subway employee. Hopefully, they can help."
But when she reached the connection between Car 1 and Car 2, she found they'd been disconnected.
Without the weight of the other cars, the train's speed surged, throwing all six off balance.
Nidi, with her poor balance, fell hard, dropping the bag. A metal object resembling a door handle spilled out.
"The handle's here!"
But before she could pass it to Ashley, the train accelerated again and veered into a pitch-black tunnel.
Ashley, just regaining her footing, saw a concrete pillar through the window—the track was ending.
"Hold on! The train's gonna crash!"
Everyone grabbed the nearest handrail or fixed object, but the impact's force still sent them sprawling.
Luckily, Ashley's warning gave them enough time to avoid serious injury.
"What the hell is going on?"
Bald Guy cursed as he got up, trying to open the door, only to find it sealed shut.
Car 1 was like a giant iron cage, trapping the six passengers in a dark, abandoned station.
Frustrated, Bald Guy pounded the window, but the glass—made of some unknown material—wouldn't budge.
The Black woman tried to calm him, but they nearly came to blows, and the others had to intervene.
Then, the car's intercom crackled.
"Dear passengers, please keep an eye on your belongings. If you find any suspicious packages or luggage, immediately notify the nearest Los Angeles Metro employee."
Everyone stared at the speaker. An abandoned subway wouldn't have a working intercom—this was clearly a pre-recorded message.
Nidi's eyes lit up.
"I get it! This is one of those 'escape room' games! A dangerous, puzzle-filled environment where you escape by solving clues!"
Round-Face turned to Nidi.
"Do you know something about this?"
"I got an invitation to join an 'escape room' game designed by someone called the Cartographer. Didn't you all get one?"
The term "escape room" seemed unfamiliar to the other four, but the mention of "Cartographer" changed their expressions.
"Cartographer? I should've known! Damn it, that bastard again!"
The drunkard grew agitated, puzzling Nidi and Ashley. Ashley spoke up.
"What's the deal with this Cartographer?"
The Black woman hesitated but answered.
"I was forced into one of the Cartographer's games before. I was the only one who survived."
Round-Face looked at her.
"You've played the Cartographer's game too?"
"You too?"
"You're all survivors?"
The four exchanged glances, realizing they were all second-loop players, while Nidi and Ashley were complete newbies.
Bald Guy angrily kicked the door.
"That damn Cartographer's why I need this hearing aid!"
"So, this Cartographer guy specializes in deadly games? Sounds like something the dark web would pull!"
The Black woman nodded.
"You're right. After surviving, I looked into him. The Cartographer's tied to the dark web."
Nidi and Clary exchanged a glance.
That explained it!
"Nidi, this must be the dark web targeting Roy!"
"We'll deal with that later! The intercom mentioned watching out for packages. I found this door handle in the bag—maybe we can use it to open the driver's cabin!"
Seeing the handle in Nidi's hand, Bald Guy, still fuming, perked up.
"Great! Let's try it!"
Suddenly, the car shook, and the lights flickered, as if the voltage was unstable.
The drunkard, gripping a handrail, yelped and yanked his hand back.
"Ow! The handrail's electrified!"
Round-Face tested a nearby rail and felt a shock too.
"Damn it! Something's electrified the whole car!"
Now, touching any metal in the car would deliver a shock.
Bald Guy looked at the others, lost.
"So, how do we get out?"
Adapted from Escape Room 2
(End of Chapter)