Eli's legs refused to move, yet his whole world collapsed into his eyes. His brother was being pulled away and Eli stood there like a useless stone, drenched in sweat, trembling still.
Elias lowered his gaze, giving in to the Eye. His tears burned down his face, yet he laughed wild, broken, like a man who had long lost control of his own life.
"Eli…" his voice cracked, half-mocking, half-tender. "Make sure you save her. She is inside… and pregnant."
Eli staggered, his bloody face lifting, confusion etched deep in his eyes. He choked on his own breath, his voice trembling.
"Who? Elias who is pregnant? And whose child… whose father"
"Wait," Elias cut him off, sadness bleeding through his crooked grin. "You will know." He never once looked Eli in the eyes.
The silence thickened until even the air seemed to hold its breath. Eli's arms shook violently, his whole body rebelling against the truth his mind could not bear. His head whipped side to side, frantic, slowing… until at last he froze, taking a stance that shattered the stillness.
A voice tore through the Eye, loud and brutal:
"Eli! Don't you dare take my place!!!"
"No!" Eli's scream ripped raw from his throat, final and desperate.
The Eye ceased its gaze. Its surface rippled back at Eli, its laughter scraping like blades. Elias stepped forward, his body melting into the vile threads that bound him. The force that once chained Eli broke apart, but his chest still heaved with the weight of grief.
"Know your place…" the Eye hissed.
Then Elias's face emerged from the black mass threads of blood sprouting like fingers, peeling back the last strands of his hair.
For the first time, Eli saw his little brother's true face.
Not the shadow. Not the mask.
Elias stood revealed a stunning young man, his features sharp but trembling with exhaustion, his skin pale as bone. His eyes burned with hunger and sorrow, gold glimmer threading through the black of his irises like veins of fire in stone. His smile was crooked, too wide, a mask of madness stretched over unbearable grief. He looked both alive and dying, beautiful and terrifying.
Then a crack broke the silence.
A fall.
Elias faltered, his final gaze falling on Eli. And he smiled warmly, painfully accepting his end. The blood that clung to him dragged backward into the threads that pinned his hair like a crown of thorns.
"Elias!" Eli's scream tore through the spiral, his whole body shaking with grief as he watched his little brother vanish before him, powerless to stop it.
But Elias's voice lingered, mocking and desperate all at once:
"Don't look at me like I'm a ghost. I'm still alive… you could at least laugh, hahahaha, brother!"
His laughter cracked, unraveling into bitterness.
"When our mother said sorry to me while calling your name… she passed a spell. She exchanged me for you. You became me… and I became you. Hahaha! A good move, wasn't it? Impressive!"
The chamber roared as a violent gust ripped through, blowing Elias's hair upward, revealing a shadow beneath him. His shadow stepped forward to take its place, fury twisting the air.
"Why didn't you call me sooner?" Elias spat. "You surround me like a commander, yet you're still a fool!"
Elias raised his hand, and with one sweep the threads of the Eye froze in place. Then with a sickening crash, they shattered.
His false face dissolved entirely. What remained was raw and undeniable: a young man in his twenties, terrible in his beauty, eyes blazing with a hunger that made the Eye itself tremble. His presence warped the very spiral around him.
He tilted his head toward Eli, his smile jagged.
"Wait… did you say you have a wife? Pregnant?" His grin twisted into fury. "And you dare put yourself in the mouth of hell? You're not just crazy, Eli. You're a fool."
Eli's chest heaved, every breath shallow, burning. His knees wavered beneath him, yet he forced them forward. His arms opened wide, trembling, desperate. Tears streaked through the blood on his face as he cried out:
"I only wanted to save you, brother… Elias…"
His voice broke, yearning for only one thing his brother's embrace. Even if it was their last. Even if the Eye tore them apart the next second.
"Please," Eli whispered, raw, "just let me hold you."
The silence stretched, suffocating. Elias bowed his head, his body trembling like a candle flame ready to die out. For a heartbeat, it seemed he would vanish, slip forever into the choking dark.
Then, suddenly, his arms snapped forward.
He pulled Eli into him. Hard.
Their chests collided. Eli gasped at the warmth of his brother's body against his own. Elias's hands clawed into his back, trembling, desperate, as if letting go meant death itself.
Eli's face broke. His arms locked tight around his little brother, pressing his cheek against Elias's shoulder. He sobbed openly, breathless.
"Elias… oh God, Elias…"
Elias lowered his head, lips to his brother's ear, whispering like a dying ember:
"Hey… we'll be together. From today… and onwards."
Eli froze, the words cutting into his chest like a blade. His tears flooded, but he clung tighter, unwilling to let go.
But Elias shivered. His breath rattled, his smile was crooked, broken, almost relieved.
The Eye stirred. Its walls pulsed, shadows writhed, the air growing colder. Black threads slithered across the floor, circling like predators.
Eli buried his face into Elias's shoulder. "I don't care what it takes. I'll save you. I swear it."
Elias only shook his head slowly. His grip crushed tighter for one last moment. Then, his whisper carved into Eli's soul:
"You're too late, brother."
The shadows screamed.
Threads surged, coiling around Elias's legs, dragging him toward the Eye's pit. Eli roared, arms locked, muscles tearing as he fought the pull. "NO! I won't let you go! Elias, don't leave me!"
Elias lifted his head at last. His eyes shimmered with warmth and sorrow. He pressed his forehead against Eli's, smiling faintly.
"This hug… it's enough. Don't forget it."
And with a violent jerk, the Eye tore him away, ripping Elias from Eli's arms, jealous of their embrace.
Eli's scream ripped through the spiral, his arms closing around nothing but shadows, the warmth gone.
The Eye whispered from every corner, low and chilling:
"Together… but not in the way you hope."
Eli collapsed to his knees, chest heaving, sobbing until his breath broke. The memory of his brother's embrace lingered like fire fading into ash.
Then came the hum. Deep. Relentless. Inside his skull.
Out of the hum, a voice, Elias's voice.
But it wasn't Elias anymore.
It was inside the Eye.
"Don't cry, Eli. You'll see me again… when you finally belong here."
The spiral shuddered. The ground split, shadows bleeding upward, clutching for his throat.
Eli lifted his head, tears burning like fire.
"I'll follow you, Elias. Even if it kills me."
The Eye laughed. A laugh that rattled glass and bone alike.
And then, everything went black.