Chapter 2: The Chase Begins

The museum shook.

Danny felt it in his bones—a deep, reverberating pulse that wasn’t just in the air but in everything around him. The lights flickered wildly, casting twisted shadows on the walls. The temperature seemed to drop, and for the first time, Danny noticed his breath misting in the cold air.

The object—no, the device—was still in his hands, its glow pulsing faster, more urgent.

RUN. NOW.

The voice in his head wasn’t a suggestion. It was a command.

His legs moved before his mind caught up. He sprinted down the hallway, his sneakers skidding against the polished floor. Behind him, something crashed. Something big. But he didn’t dare look back.

He turned a sharp corner, his breath coming in short gasps. The museum wasn’t supposed to be like this—it was just a building filled with old relics, quiet, lifeless. But now, it felt alive, shifting, rearranging itself like a living maze. The exhibits loomed over him, artifacts rattling in their cases as if something unseen was awakening them.

Another boom. Closer this time.

Danny pushed himself faster. His heart slammed against his ribs. The air was thick, charged with something he couldn’t explain. His mind screamed at him to stop, to figure out what was happening, but his instincts had already taken over.

Then—

A new sound. Footsteps. Fast ones.

Danny’s stomach twisted. Someone—or something—was chasing him.

He risked a glance over his shoulder.

At first, he saw nothing. Just shifting shadows and flickering lights. But then, something moved. A figure, tall and wrong, like a silhouette that didn’t belong in this world. It glided instead of ran, its form blurring at the edges, as if it wasn’t entirely solid.

Danny’s throat tightened. He had no idea what it was, but he knew one thing—it was coming for him.

His foot caught the edge of an old display case, and he nearly went sprawling, barely managing to stay upright. His mind raced. There had to be a way out. A door, a staircase, something.

The device pulsed again.

LEFT. NOW.

Danny obeyed without thinking, turning down another hallway. His lungs burned, but he couldn’t slow down. The air behind him felt heavier, like something vast was pressing against reality itself, trying to break through.

Then he saw it—a red EXIT sign glowing at the end of a corridor. Relief crashed over him.

He was almost there.

Another pulse from the device, but this time, it wasn’t a word. It was an image. A flash of something beyond the door. Something waiting.

Something worse.

Danny’s breath caught. He had to choose—keep running toward the exit or trust the feeling in his gut that told him the real danger wasn’t behind him.

He had seconds to decide.

A deafening crack split the air behind him. The ground trembled, and an unseen force rippled through the hallway, knocking paintings from the walls and sending shards of glass spraying across the floor. Danny barely managed to duck in time, his arm shielding his face as a display case shattered beside him.

Faster. Move. The device's voice slammed into his mind, more forceful now, almost panicked.

Danny’s chest heaved as he scrambled forward, his muscles burning. His sneakers squeaked against the tile as he pushed himself harder, dodging fallen artifacts and upturned stands. Whatever was following him wasn’t slowing down—it was gaining.

The figure behind him was clearer now. It wasn’t just a shadow; it had shape, movement, a presence that distorted the air around it. It pulsed, almost like the device in his hand, but instead of a comforting glow, its light was jagged, fractured, wrong.

Danny’s pulse pounded in his ears. His fingers clenched around the device as he lunged for the EXIT door, but the moment he touched it—

A blast of heat surged through him.

The doorframe twisted, warping into something unnatural. The metal handle melted under his grip, morphing into a spiraling vortex of shifting symbols and impossible shapes. The hallway behind him darkened, as if reality itself was breaking apart at the edges.

Danny recoiled, stumbling backward. His breath hitched. His only escape was gone.

He spun around, chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. The figure was closer now, its form flickering between something human and something… ancient. The air around it crackled, and when it moved, the very fabric of space seemed to ripple, bending in unnatural ways.

It sees you.

The words struck Danny like ice down his spine. His hands trembled as he tightened his grip on the device. The figure lifted what might have been an arm, and a sound, deep and resonant, filled the corridor—a hum, a pulse, like the heartbeat of a thing that had been waiting too long.

Danny had to move. Now.

His mind scrambled for an escape. The door was gone. The hallway was collapsing around him. The only way out was—

The ceiling.

A metal vent, just above a toppled bookcase. His best shot. Maybe his only shot.

He didn’t think—he just moved. Sprinting toward the bookcase, he planted his foot against one of the fallen artifacts, launching himself upward. His fingers barely caught the ledge of the vent, his muscles screaming as he dangled for a second.

Behind him, the figure shifted. The hum intensified. Something was about to happen—something he couldn’t afford to let reach him.

With a final desperate pull, Danny yanked himself into the vent. He didn’t stop. He scrambled forward, deeper into the air ducts, crawling as fast as his shaking limbs would allow. The walls around him rattled. The air behind him warped.

And then—

A piercing, otherworldly shriek filled the museum, rattling through the metal ducts, vibrating down into his bones. Danny clamped his hands over his ears, his body pressing against the cold steel as his breath came in quick, panicked bursts.

Then silence.

Danny stayed frozen, his heart pounding so loud he thought it might give him away. He waited—seconds, minutes, he couldn’t tell—until finally, the air around him settled.

He had escaped.

For now.

He swallowed hard, trying to calm his racing heart. The vent stretched ahead, a dark tunnel leading who-knew-where. But one thing was certain—

He couldn’t go back.

Gripping the device tightly, Danny crawled forward, deeper into the unknown.