Chloe and her group moved through the black gate. It opened like the ground swallowing its surroundings, slow and deliberate, as if the earth itself had grown tired of holding the secret and decided to spit it out.
Chloe stepped forward first, Linda's hand clutched in hers, tight and desperate. Linda's palm was damp with sweat but her grip didn't slip. The rest of the small crowd came after, quieter now. No cheering. No bravado.
Up close, the gate wasn't metal. It looked like it from far away, all dark and solid, but now Chloe saw it was bone. Black bone, polished until it gleamed with a greasy sheen. The arch curved like a ribcage, wide and terrible. The air around it tasted stale, like something dead had been left in the sun too long and then sealed away where the wind couldn't reach it.
