The fire crackled, sending flickering shadows across the ground as Elias ran his fingers over the rotting gun, lost in thought.
Then within ten minutes of settling down and putting strategies to destroy the hollows
Sarah suddenly let out a choked gasp.
She jerked violently, clutching her arms as her breath came out in sharp, ragged bursts.
Her skin glowed red-hot, as if something inside her was boiling, burning—trying to break free.
"Sarah?" Aaron's voice was laced with panic.
Sarah let out a piercing scream, falling to her knees, her fingers clawing at her flesh as black veins spread beneath her skin.
Elias's face twisted in rage.
"No,no,no....You fools!" he roared, stepping back.
Everyone turned to him in confusion.
"You brought one who was Hollowed into my sanctuary?!" His voice was venomous, his hands tightening on the gun.
Matthias's face paled.
"She's been exorcised—"
"You don't understand!" Elias's voice was filled with fury. "The Hollow One never leaves! Not until your last breath!"
Sarah let out a guttural cry, her body contorting unnaturally, her nails digging into the dirt as her limbs spasmed.
Elias lifted the gun, pointing it directly at Sarah's writhing form.
"She's already dead."
Aaron's blood ran cold" Hey,hey hey! What do you think you're doing?".
" What a reasonable man would do dummy... I'm putting her out."
"Put the gun down, Elias...She is still in there".Graves cautioned.
"No. You don't get it. The demon knows we're here now. She's a beacon. They will come." Elias's hands were shaking. "You have no idea what you've done! We are all going to die if I don't put her out".He said loading the ancient rotting gun with bullets, shaking in the process.
Graves stepped forward, his hand hovering near his sidearm.
"We're not killing her."Aaron declared as he stood before Sarah;who was slowing giving in to the demon.
Elias scoffed. "Then tie her down, because if you don't, you'll all die before the we would glimpse the night."
Sarah's body twisted unnaturally, her head jerking backward in a way that wasn't human.
Her lips curled into a bloodthirsty smile.
"I can still hear them," she whispered, voice raw. "They're calling me back."
The surviving soldiers, shaken and terrified, grabbed Sarah, forcing her to the ground.
She thrashed violently, screeching like a cornered animal.
Aaron and Graves rushed to grab the heavy chains from their supplies, their fingers trembling as they secured her against a tree.
Elias stared at them, his eyes burning with anger.
"You should have let me end this."
The sun was setting.
And the night was coming.
Sarah sobbed against the cold iron of the chains, her voice hoarse, pleading.
"Aaron… please… just end this,I can't keep it out of my head."
Aaron's fingers tightened into a fist.
He couldn't.
He wouldn't.
His throat was dry as he turned to Elias. "Tell me there's another way."
Elias's gaze was stone. "There isn't, it always end with the host's death."
"You don't know that!" Aaron snapped, desperation creeping into his voice.
Elias stepped closer, his face inches from Aaron's.
"I've seen this before,she has succumbed to her fears damnit" His voice was like gravel. "She won't make it. She'll turn. You'll hesitate, and she'll kill you before you can blink."
Aaron turned away, his heart hammering.
Graves took a deep breath. "Aaron… we can't risk it."
Aaron felt his stomach twist as he looked at Sarah—her face drenched in sweat, her pupils shrunken to tiny dots.
"Please..." she whispered.
Aaron exhaled sharply, then turned to the three remaining soldiers.
"Take her out. Make it quick."
The soldiers hesitated.
"Do it." Elias ordered coldly.
The three men moved forward, raising their weapons—
And then—just then
A hand gripped a rifle barrel.
A soldier yelped as David suddenly yanked the gun away.
Everyone whirled around.
David stood at the edge of the firelight, his breath shallow, eyes unfocused.
His hands twitched.
His skin glistened with sweat.
"David?" Matthias called cautiously.
David's head turned slightly—his hollowed-out gaze flickering toward the priest.
Aaron felt a shiver crawl up his spine.
Something was wrong.
"David?" Graves took a step forward. "What the hell are you doing?"
David blinked slowly.
A shudder ran through his body. His fingers twitched. His lips parted slightly—like he was about to speak.
But no words came.
Only…
A low, wet gasp.
Like someone trying to breathe through rotting lungs.
Elias's face darkened.
"No ....not another one.Did you purposely bring in demons here. We're doomed with this."
" We....weren't aware he was possessed too"Aaron claimed.
David's shoulders jerked unnaturally.
Then, he smiled.
Unnatural.
And then—
His body twisted violently.
A loud crack echoed through the night as his spine arched backward at an impossible angle.
His mouth stretched unnaturally wide, his eyes rolling back.
The Hollow was here.
A heavy silence hung in the air.
David stood before Sarah, his body unnaturally stiff. His fingers twitched as his head moved in slow, erratic motions.
His breath came in short, rasping gasps.
"Do not kill me… do not kill me…" David fearing for his life but the darkness was taking over him every second until he was no more.
His voice was barely human.
Aaron gritted his teeth, raising his gun. "David, step away from her."
David didn't move.
Instead—
He sniffed her.
A slow, deliberate inhale as if confirming something.
Sarah's eyes twitched.
Her lips parted slightly—her breath slow, hollow.
Elias's face went pale.
"Get ready!" he barked, bolting inside to grab his reserved ammunition.
The others followed, grabbing every weapon they could.
Graves stood firm, a combat knife in one hand, a gun in the other. His muscles tensed like a predator preparing to strike.
Father Matthias clutched his cross, his other hand gripping an iron rod heated by the flames.
Aaron cocked his shotgun, sweat trickling down his forehead.
Then—
The sun dipped.
Night fell.
And Sarah moved.
A low, cracking sound echoed as she snapped the chains binding her.
Metal groaned, then shattered.
And in the next moment—
She embraced David.
Their hollow eyes gleamed in unison.
Aaron's stomach twisted.
"Shit."
David's breathing stabilized. His trembling stopped. His body moved smoothly now—like he had finally surrendered.
"She's one of us now…" David murmured.
Then—he turned, his empty gaze locking onto Aaron.
"And soon… you will be too."
Elias reappeared, his arms full of ammunition. He froze at the sight before him.
"Oh… fuck no."
Father Matthias lifted his cross high. "May the Lord purge the darkness—"
Sarah lunged.
David followed.
And the first shot rang out.
The Birth of Horror
A deep, guttural groan echoed through the air.
David and Sarah's bodies twisted, melted, and reformed.
Their skin stretched like burning wax, bones snapping and reshaping.
Their screams turned into something inhuman.
Elias emptied an entire magazine into them.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
But the bullets sank into their flesh—
And disappeared.
"What the hell—" Graves took a step back.
Then—
It opened its eyes.
No longer Sarah. No longer David.
Something else.
Something worse.
Its form was twisted, barely human, with hollowed-out eyes and a gaping mouth that stretched too wide.
The air grew heavy.
Then—
It spoke.
Not with its own voice—
But with another.
A voice that was ancient, layered, and wrong.
The sound vibrated in their bones.
Aaron clutched his ears—it was unbearable.
But Father Matthias—his face turned pale.
He understood.
His lips trembled as he whispered the translation—
"You cannot escape."
Then—
The light of the ancient symbols shattered.
And the Hollow Ones swarmed in.
Gunfire roared through the night, but it was useless.
The Hollowed horror—David and Sarah combined—moved like smoke, like shadows.
Every bullet sank into its flesh—only for the wounds to close instantly.
Matthias clutched his cross, whispering prayers—his voice shaking.
The two remaining soldiers—already paralyzed by fear—made a fatal mistake.
They ran.
"NO—DON'T SPLIT UP!" Graves shouted.
Too late.
The moment they broke away—the darkness swallowed them.
Screams.
Brief. Sharp. Gone.
Aaron gritted his teeth, rage overpowering his fear.
"We can't kill them!" Elias snapped. "But we CAN still escape!"
Aaron's hands shook on his gun.
"How?!"
Elias hesitated. Then—his expression hardened.
"There's one way—" he said grimly. "But it's suicidal."
The horror of Sarah-David loomed at the edge of the ruined street, its hollow eyes fixated on them.
It knew.
It sensed their desperation.
It was toying with them.
Graves took a step forward, knife in hand. "Then we don't have a choice."
The plan was set.
They had one last fight before they could even attempt to escape—
And the Hollow One wasn't going to let them go easily.