The flame in Evelyn's lantern shrank—
Then flared violently, as if it was trying to escape.
"No…" Alex whispered, backing away. "No, there were four of us. There were only four—"
"Don't say it," Leo snapped. His voice was shaking. "Don't make it real."
But it already was.
Evelyn couldn't tear her eyes away from the frozen wall.
Five shadows.
One stood slightly apart from the others.
Taller.
Wrong.
Its shape… didn't match any of them.
And it was the only one that was moving.
Slowly.
Breathing.
Inside the ice.
Sophie stepped forward.
Or… whatever was pretending to be Sophie.
Her head tilted unnaturally, eyes locked onto the fifth shadow.
"It's been waiting," she said softly.
Her voice layered.
Two tones at once.
One hers.
One… not.
Leo grabbed Evelyn's arm. "That's not her anymore."
Evelyn didn't respond.
Because something inside her mind—
slipped.
A thought… gone.
Like a page ripped clean out.
"…Leo," she said slowly, "how long have we been here?"
"I don't know!"
"No," she whispered. "I mean… before this."
He froze.
"I—" His expression faltered. "We were… we were…"
Nothing.
The answer wasn't there.
The room creaked again.
Louder this time.
The ice cracked—
And the words on the wall shifted, carving deeper:
WE KEEP WHAT YOU LOSE
Alex clutched his head. "It's taking pieces of us. Not just memories—us."
A sharp sound cut through the air.
CRACK.
All of them turned.
The fifth shadow—
Pressed its hand against the inside of the ice.
And the ice…
Pressed back.
Like it was trying to let it out.
Evelyn's breath hitched. "If that thing gets out—"
"It already is," Leo said.
He pointed.
Sophie.
Her shadow on the ground—
Wasn't hers anymore.
It stretched too long.
Its fingers split into thin, twitching shapes that lagged behind her movements.
Like it was learning how to be human.
Alex stumbled back. "We need to leave. NOW."
"There's nowhere to go," Evelyn said.
But even as she said it—
The room responded.
A low groan echoed—
And a door began to form on the far wall.
Not appearing.
Growing.
Like bone pushing through skin.
Leo didn't hesitate. "We run."
Sophie laughed.
Soft.
Broken.
"You can't outrun something that remembers every version of you."
Evelyn stepped in front of the others, gripping the lantern tighter. "You're not taking her."
Sophie's head snapped toward her.
For a second—
Just a second—
Something flickered behind her eyes.
Fear.
"Sophie?" Evelyn breathed.
The room trembled violently.
The fifth shadow slammed against the ice—
And this time—
It cracked.
A long fracture split across the frozen wall.
From top…
To bottom.
The temperature dropped instantly.
So cold it burned.
And from inside the crack—
A whisper slipped out.
Not loud.
Not a scream.
But right next to Evelyn's ear.
"I remember you best."
She froze.
Because the voice—
Was hers.
The lantern went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
And in that pitch black—
Something stepped out of the ice.