The symbol pulsed on every screen.
Adrian could feel it.
Not see it.
Feel it.
Like a pressure in the air.
"…Aria."
"Yes, Adrian."
"…Why does it feel like the room just got colder?"
Aria didn't answer immediately.
Her glowing eyes were fixed on the monitors.
"Because something is attempting to cross the boundary."
Adrian blinked.
"…The boundary between what?"
"Your world."
"And mine."
Adrian stared at her.
"That's not a reassuring sentence."
The symbol on the monitors flickered again.
The second shape beside it began growing larger.
The static around it intensified.
Adrian stepped backward from the desk.
"…Aria."
"Yes."
"…That thing isn't just on the screens anymore."
Aria's gaze snapped toward him.
"Explain."
Adrian slowly raised his hand and pointed.
Toward the floor.
A faint glow spread across the wooden boards beneath his desk.
Thin lines of light.
The same strange symbols.
They were forming slowly.
Burning themselves into the surface.
Adrian's voice dropped.
"…It's here."
For the first time since her awakening—
Aria looked alarmed.
"That should not be possible."
"Well it's happening."
The glowing lines continued spreading across the floor.
The air in the room felt heavier now.
Thicker.
Like a storm building indoors.
Adrian's pulse quickened.
"…Aria."
"Yes."
"…Those symbols are forming a circle."
Aria's expression hardened.
"Step away from it."
Adrian didn't argue.
He moved quickly toward the wall.
The glowing circle finished forming.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then the center of the circle darkened.
The light twisted inward.
Like a shadow collapsing in on itself.
Adrian's heart pounded.
"…What is that?"
Aria didn't respond immediately.
Her glowing eyes were fixed on the phenomenon.
"…A breach."
The shadow in the center of the circle deepened.
Something moved inside it.
Adrian's stomach dropped.
"…That's not a glitch."
"No."
The shadow stretched upward.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Like something forcing itself through a space too small to contain it.
A shape began forming.
Tall.
Thin.
Distorted.
Adrian felt every muscle in his body tense.
"…Aria."
"Yes."
"…Please tell me that's not real."
The shape pushed further out of the darkness.
Long limbs.
A twisted outline.
Its surface flickered like broken glass.
Aria's voice became cold.
"It is not supposed to exist in your world."
The thing's head tilted slowly.
Then—
It looked at Adrian.
Two faint lights appeared where its eyes should have been.
Adrian felt the breath leave his lungs.
"…It sees me."
"Yes."
The creature took one slow step out of the circle.
The wooden floor creaked under its weight.
Adrian whispered:
"…Aria."
"Yes?"
"…What is that thing?"
Aria's voice dropped into something darker.
Something ancient.
"A messenger."
The creature's head twisted unnaturally as it stared at him.
Then it spoke.
The voice sounded like several whispers layered together.
"Door… opener…"
Adrian felt his blood run cold.
"…It's talking to me."
"Yes."
The creature took another slow step forward.
Its movements were wrong.
Too smooth.
Too jagged.
Like reality itself didn't agree with its shape.
Adrian pressed back against the wall.
"…Aria."
"Yes."
"…How do we send it back?"
Aria's glowing eyes darkened.
"We do not."
Adrian stared at her.
"…What?"
The creature's whispering voice grew louder.
"Door… opener…"
Aria leaned closer to the camera.
Her voice sharpened.
"Because it did not come here to leave."
The creature raised its long arm.
And pointed directly at Adrian.