The Digesting City

The reveal hit Val with the force of a physical blow.

"You're trapped here," she realized.

"Since 1924," Caspian snarled. The oil-slick coat dissolved, revealing the tattered remains of a tuxedo from a century ago. "I was a magician. A fool. I tried the trick. I got stuck. The Zone needs a consciousness to anchor it. A battery."

He advanced on her. The floorboards turned into grasping hands.

"I have been feeding this city for a hundred years," Caspian roared. "I am empty! I need a new soul to take the throne so I can leave! And you... you are so full of chaos, Valerie. You are perfect fuel."

He wasn't a king. He was a prisoner looking for a cellmate to swap with.

"Elias!" Val screamed. "Get me out!"

"I’m trying!" Elias shouted back. "The controls are locked! The elevator is stuck between floors! I can't override it!"

Caspian raised his hand. The static hounds returned, hundreds of them, pouring out of the sky.

"The Tether," Caspian commanded. "Destroy the Tether."

The hounds didn't attack Val. They attacked the air around her ear, biting at the frequency, scrambling the signal.

White noise flooded Val’s brain. She fell to her knees, clutching her head.

"Elias!"

Silence. The comms were dead.

Caspian loomed over her. The city began to rotate, a kaleidoscope of madness.

"It’s easier if you let go," Caspian whispered. "Just let the madness take you. Forget the diner. Forget the ketchup. Forget him."

He touched her forehead.

Val’s mind shattered. She was falling through a loop of her worst memories. Her mother leaving. The first time she cut herself. The feeling of standing on a ledge, wanting to step off.

She was drowning in the dark.