"Y-you think you got me…" Tyler said weakly, a small smirk forming on his face.
"Aren't you the vessel?" Wednesday asked coldly.
"Vessel?" Tyler gave a weak, bitter laugh. "A cultist fed you that nonsense, didn't they?"
Wednesday's gaze didn't waver. "Then tell us what you know of the cult. Now."
He sneered. "Or what?"
Wednesday slowly drew her dagger, the steel glinting faintly in the flashlight. Her tone never rose, calm as if she were discussing the weather. "Or I introduce you to an Addams interrogation. I can assure you, hell is unimaginative compared to us. And I have a thousand methods to make even silence scream."
Tyler gulped.
Viktor squatted beside him and decided to speak to him as he asked, "Tyler… do you know your mother was used as a sacrifice?"
Tyler's eyes widened. "Sacrifice? My mother… no!"
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand, but Viktor held him down.
"Yes," Viktor said sharply. "I saw your mother screaming in pain, in desperation. They killed her, Tyler!"
"No! There's no way they did that! That wasn't part of the deal!" Tyler snarled, but he couldn't break free of Viktor's grip.
"Judging by how angry you are," Viktor said, "you didn't expect this to happen, did you?"
Wednesday turned her dark eyes toward Tyler. "Viktor is right. You bargained with lunatics, and now you're choking on the consequences. So, be useful for once, what is their plan?"
"No…" Tyler whispered weakly.
Viktor pressed against his wound, making Tyler groan in pain. "If you don't tell us. I'll kill you."
Tyler went silent for a moment. Then, turning his head toward the shadows, he spat out, "Damn you! You weren't supposed to kill my mother!"
Viktor, Wednesday, and Enid all turned their heads at the same time, toward the darkness.
Slow, mocking clapping echoed through the woods. A man stepped out from the shadows, wearing glasses and a yellow robe, a cultist mark burned into his neck.
He kept clapping until he finally stopped, smiling and saying smoothly. "Indeed. Because your mother was… annoying."
"You!" Tyler snarled, baring his teeth, but the man merely flicked his fingers.
Tyler's mouth vanished instantly.
Viktor froze, taking a step back. Enid instinctively hid behind him. Wednesday's face turned grim, her posture tense.
"You just need to shut up," the man said with a sinister smile. "Tyler was only bait, a trap to draw you out, Child of Dusk."
"Who are you?" Viktor asked.
"Oh, I almost forgot." The man tilted his head, still smiling, and bowed slightly. "I am the Priest of the Cult of Shadow. My task was simple: lure you here so you wouldn't interfere with our real ritual."
"Real ritual…?" Viktor muttered, frowning. He didn't like where this was going.
"Indeed," the Priest said, his grin widening. "Everything so far, the attacks, the sacrifices, all of it, was just a trap. We spent time, effort, blood, and sweat preparing for this moment."
He gazed up at the moon, laughing softly. "And now we wait for our god, my savior, to descend from the abyss. I want to feel its gaze… its arms wrapping around me…"
No one spoke. No one moved. The man danced in place, laughing like a madman. Then his smile disappeared. His voice dropped to a calm tone.
"Viktor, I want to tell you something before I can't anymore. You are so, so stupid."
He began to laugh again, louder and sharper. "You really believed those messages?" Then his voice dropped into an almost pitying tone, "But Viktor… I actually feel sorry for you."
Something about the man, his mannerisms, his madness, reminded Viktor of a Dream Walker. Dream Walkers were Outcasts plagued by emotions that drove them to the edge of sanity. He normally avoided them because it was too painful to deal with their broken minds.
But this man… this Priest… was exactly like one.
While the man was busy yapping, Enid tugged on Viktor's shirt and whispered, "We need to leave right now…"
Suddenly, the man flicked his fingers. The darkness around them began to compress, forming a prison.
"You can't leave," he said with a twisted smile. "No one leaves."
Viktor slammed his fists against the dark prison. "What the hell do you want?! You already planned to summon your god, you're about to succeed! So why are you keeping us here?!"
"Just shut up…" the man muttered, his gaze blank as he stared at the sky. His words were quiet, but they could still hear him. "The sacrifices… they seem so happy… partying, laughing, enjoying themselves. Poor creatures. They remain ignorant. I don't want to become like them… pitiful… pathetic…"
"Partying…" Viktor's heart sank. For a moment, it felt like he could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. His voice cracked as he shouted, teeth grinding together, "Who are the sacrifices?! Who are they!?"
"What?" The man flicked his gaze toward Viktor, smirking. "Oh, you don't need to worry about them. Just a bunch of Outcast kids partying at their school. By the way, where are their teachers? Why are they letting the students party like that, don't you think?"
Viktor froze. Cold sweat poured down his face.
"It's Nevermore, isn't it?" Wednesday asked sharply.
"Oh? You guessed it." The man's eyes widened with excitement. "You three are Nevermore students, aren't you? What a pity. You won't be there to witness the grand event that will rewrite history."
He laughed, spinning around like a madman.
"Damn you!" Viktor roared. He punched the prison wall over and over. His face twisted with rage as blood began to drip from his fists, only for the wounds to heal so he could punch harder.
"You have no humanity! You're sacrificing a bunch of kids just to summon your god!" Enid screamed, her voice breaking.
"Damn it! Damn it! Get me out of here!" Viktor's eyes were bloodshot, wild with fury. His fists became raw and torn, but they kept healing as he smashed the prison again and again. "My sister… she's there…"
"Viktor! Calm down, please, you're hurting yourself!" Tears welled up in Enid's eyes. Seeing him like this filled her with despair.
"Please…" Viktor gasped, falling to his knees, his tears streaming freely now. "My sister… Agnes… she's there. Sacrifice me instead. Just leave my sister alone… please…"
Enid's heart shook to the core. She shouted at the man, her voice trembling with rage, "You demon! I hope you rot in hell! Release us!"
The man walked right up to the prison wall, kneeling so he was level with Viktor. He stared into Viktor's eyes for a long, silent moment before speaking.
"No."
Then he stood and spun around, laughing as he twirled like a man possessed. "Why would we? Do you think your sister is special? Our god is coming, and your sister is one of the many who will welcome it."
"Fuck you!" Viktor screamed, his eyes burning with fury, tears mixing with blood that leaked from the corners of his eyes. He kept slamming his fists, desperate to break free, even as the prison held firm. "If I get out of here… I swear… I'll kill you all. Slowly. Painfully."
And then, suddenly, Viktor went still. The fury in his eyes didn't fade, but he sat down, leaned back against the wall, and closed his eyes.
The man tilted his head in confusion. "Hmmm… are you sleeping?" He laughed in disbelief, then dismissed Viktor entirely, going back to his muttering.
"Viktor…" Enid whispered, staring at him. She didn't know how to react. For a moment, Viktor looked like someone who had lost his mind, gone mad. But then he just sat there, closing his eyes as if he had already given up.
She turned to look at Wednesday, who just stood there silently. Wednesday hadn't said a word. Enid didn't know if Wednesday was also shaken by the situation.
"Wednesday?" Enid asked softly.
Wednesday slowly turned her head toward her. "We'll survive. I don't intend to die here, at least not today."
"Really?" Enid sat down and hugged her knees. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew they were probably going to die, and she couldn't stop crying. In her mind, she saw Nevermore burning, her friends screaming, everyone she cared about gone. She sobbed harder.
"You know, Wednesday… I kind of regret following you two." Enid said slowly. "But at the same time, you're my friends, my real friends. And if I hadn't come, I'd regret it even more, because I'd never stop worrying about what happened to you."
She sniffled, hugging her knees tighter. "I could've been at the party right now, laughing and dancing, pretending everything was fine. But I didn't. I chose to be here, with you. Because… I don't want to be a coward anymore."
Wednesday tilted her head slightly. "Regret is pointless. You made your choice, and now you'll see it through. If death finds us, at least you won't face it alone. That should comfort you… somewhat."
"Even now… you're still the same. I really do admire you." After that, she remained quiet, unable to say anything more.
Crack.
The sound split the air, sharp and grotesque, like hundreds of bones snapping all at once. Both Wednesday and Enid jerked their heads toward the source.
Viktor stood there, eyes closed. His body shuddered, limbs twisting unnaturally as if pulled by invisible strings. More cracks followed, spreading through him. Thin fissures crawled across his skin, glowing faintly, until with a sickening rip, fragments of flesh began to peel away.
His hair bled into white. From his eyes, a swirling mark slithered outward, weaving and curling until it crowned his head. What remained of his skin blackened, hardening into something like armor. Only his chest remained exposed.
Then came the glow. A sickly green light pulsed beneath the cracks, seeping into the air around him. Viktor opened his eyes, and their glow drowned out the dark.
The man before him didn't notice until Viktor reached down. A sword materialized in his grasp, its blade lengthening into a phantom green edge, spectral fire clinging to its form. He lifted it as though it weighed nothing, stepping out of the suffocating prison of shadows as if the bars were never there.
Only then did the man feel it, the crushing weight of the atmosphere. He spun around in panic, too late. Viktor's hand clamped around his throat, hoisting him effortlessly into the air.
The man kicked, choked, and clawed at Viktor's grip. Then Viktor's eyes flared.
The man's own eyes flew open, mouth gaping in silent terror as a shimmering figure, the very shape of his soul, was torn free. It writhed, screamed without sound, and was dragged helplessly into the phantom sword.
When Viktor let go, the body collapsed to the ground like a hollow husk.
The darkness shattered. The prison dissolved like mist at dawn.
"V-Viktor?" Enid whispered, her voice trembling.
Viktor glanced at her; his glowing eyes made her instinctively step back. Then, without a word, Viktor launched himself into the sky and disappeared into the night.e