The castle breathes.
Arden hears it. Feels it. Walls expanding. Contracting. Alive.
Blood chandeliers hang overhead. Dripping. The drops fall upward. Wrong physics. Wrong reality.
The floor is marble. Polished. Reflective. She sees herself. Sees Kael. Sees corridors stretching behind them. Endless. Impossible.
"Welcome." A voice. Female. Silk over razors. "Welcome home, Arden Vale."
Arden turns. Sees her.
Lady Crimson.
Tall. Pale. Beautiful in a way that hurts to look at. Red dress. Dark hair. Eyes that reflect nothing.
"You wrote me," Lady Crimson says. Walking closer. Heels clicking on marble. "Your first novel. Castle of Blood. I was your villain. Your monster. Your nightmare made flesh."
"You're not real."
"I'm realer than you." She stops. Close enough to touch. "You created me. Gave me form. Gave me hunger. And now I'm going to show you what it feels like. To be consumed by your own creation."
She moves. Fast. Impossibly fast.
Arden dodges. Barely. Lady Crimson's hand where her throat was.
Kael grabs Arden. Pulls her back. "Run."
They run.
Through corridors. Past portraits that turn to watch. Past doors that breathe. Past walls that bleed.
Behind them. Lady Crimson. Not running. Just. Following. Inevitable.
"You can't escape," her voice echoes. "This is my castle. Your castle. Our castle. Every room. Every hall. Every shadow. I know them all."
Arden's lungs burn. Legs aching. But she keeps running.
They reach a gallery. Long room. Portraits lining both walls. Hundreds of them.
Kael stops. Stares.
"These are. These are the victims. Everyone Lady Crimson killed. In your novel."
Arden looks. Sees them. Painted faces. Dead eyes. Some she remembers writing. Some she doesn't.
Then sees the portrait at the end.
Her mother.
The air leaves her lungs.
Her mother. Smiling. In the portrait. Wearing the dress she died in. The dress from the accident. Blood on the collar. Glass in her hair.
"No." Arden's voice cracks. "That's not. She's not supposed to be here."
"But she is," Lady Crimson's voice. Behind them. Close. "Because you put her here. In your mind. In your guilt. In every horror you write. She's there. Watching. Judging."
Arden can't move. Can't look away.
Her mother's portrait. The eyes. Moving. Tracking her.
Then the mouth opens.
"Twelve seconds," her mother's voice says. From the painting. From memory. From guilt. "You sat there for twelve seconds. Watching me bleed. Watching me die. Could have called 911 sooner. Could have saved me."
"I was in shock. I couldn't—"
"You could have tried."
"I did try!"
"Not hard enough."
The words hit like fists. Like truth. Like forty-seven seconds at the lake all over again.
Arden sinks to her knees. Can't breathe. Can't think.
Lady Crimson appears in front of her. Kneels. Eye level.
"This is what I do. I consume guilt. Feed on it. Grow stronger from it. And you? You're a feast."
Her hand reaches for Arden's throat.
Then stops.
Kael's knife at Lady Crimson's neck. "Back. Away."
Lady Crimson laughs. Sound like breaking glass.
"You can't kill me with that. I'm not flesh. I'm concept. I'm story. I'm the horror Arden created. And as long as she feels guilty. As long as she believes she's a monster. I'm immortal."
"Then we make her stop believing." Kael pulls Arden up. Forces her to look at him. Not at the portrait. At him.
"Listen to me. That's not your mother. That's the Entity. Using your guilt. Using your trauma. Don't listen. Don't believe."
"But I failed her. I failed Lira. I fail everyone."
"No. You survived. You're surviving right now. That's not failure. That's strength."
Lady Crimson moves. Fast. Kael intercepts. They collide. Roll. Fighting.
Arden stands there. Frozen. Counting. One. Two. Three.
Always counting. Always hesitating.
Then her mother's voice again. From the portrait.
"Move, Arden. Stop counting. MOVE."
Not accusation. Not judgment.
Command. Hope. Permission.
Arden moves.
Grabs a fallen chandelier piece. Blood-soaked crystal. Sharp.
Runs at Lady Crimson. The vampire turning. Too late.
Arden stabs. Deep. Into the vampire's chest.
Lady Crimson screams. Not pain. Surprise.
"You. You can't—"
"I just did."
The vampire staggers. Bleeding. Not blood. Light. Pure light leaking from the wound.
"This isn't. This isn't how it works. You're supposed to. To hesitate. To count. To freeze."
"Not anymore." Arden pulls the crystal out. Stabs again.
Again.
Again.
Lady Crimson collapses. Fading. Dissolving into light and shadow.
"Impressive," she whispers. Last words. "Maybe you're not such a coward after all."
Then gone. Just. Gone.
The castle shudders. Walls cracking. Portraits falling.
"Exit!" Kael points. Door appearing. Glowing. Safe.
They run. Through collapsing corridors. Through falling chandeliers. Through breaking reality.
Dive through the door.
Land in Terminal Zero.
Alive.
Arden lies on the marble floor. Breathing. Shaking.
Kael beside her. "You okay?"
"I killed her. I actually. I killed her."
"You did."
"I didn't hesitate."
"No. You didn't."
Arden starts laughing. Not joy. Just. Relief. Hysteria. Release.
She stopped counting. For forty-seven seconds. She stopped counting.
Maybe. Maybe she can survive this.
Maybe.