Steven’s POV

  Where was Fang?

  Did he make it out?

  I can’t believe I forgot about my best bud.

  Sirens reached me first—faint down the hill, then louder, climbing fast. Red lights flashed behind the trees along the road below, strobing through branches like a warning. By the time the trucks curved up the path, firefighters were already jumping out, moving like they’d done this a thousand times—dragging hoses, shouting directions over the roar.

  Paramedics were by Katie’s side in an instant too. She sat in the back of the ambulance wrapped in a blanket, soaked through and shivering in the wind, but upright. Alive.

  The house… what was left of it… was half gone now.

  This side of the house wasn’t actively burning anymore—just coughing up smoke and dripping with hose water. I rounded the corner—and my eyes landed on the thick forest beside the property.

  Somehow, I hoped I’d find Fang there.

  He was a smart snake. Sometimes I’d let him roam around this area and catch his own prey. I didn’t want him depending on me for everything. He knew how to survive.

  I called his name until my throat stung.

  “Fang!”

  Nothing.

  Then two small yellow eyes flashed back at me from a low bush.

  My chest loosened so fast it almost hurt.

  “Fang!”

  I dropped down closer to his level, reaching out slowly. “You’re okay, buddy. I—” My voice cracked. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you too.”

  I held my hand out, the usual signal for him to climb up my arm and curl around my neck like he always did.

  He didn’t move.

  He stared at my hand… then flicked his gaze past me into the forest.

  Like he was deciding.

  I straightened, confused. “Fang?”

  He looked me dead in the eyes—steady, focused—then bolted… in his own way… deeper into the trees.

  My heart dropped.

  I can’t lose him. But… Katie.

  I looked back once. Katie was still in the ambulance, bundled tight, paramedics leaning in and talking to her. She was shaken… but she wasn’t alone.

  Seeing that—seeing she wasn’t alone—I turned back toward the woods.

  “Where is he going?” I muttered, then took off after him.

  Fang moved like he wasn’t even thinking—just going, weaving through brush with purpose. I hurried after him, and weirdly… the deeper we got, the more the forest started to look like someplace I’d been before.

  He was leading me toward the cluster of rocks I used to climb when I was younger—back when the forest still felt like an adventure instead of a threat.

  The biggest rocks still wore thick vines like scars, just as I remembered. I used to climb them for fun while I waited for Fang to explore. If he disappeared for a while, I never panicked—because he always came back.

  Fang knew how to find his way to me.

  He stopped at the largest rock—the one wrapped in the thickest vines.

  “What is it, buddy?” I asked under my breath.

  Fang kept looking from me to the rock, then back again. Over and over.

  “Do you want me to… examine it?” I said, feeling ridiculous.

  Fang shifted aside, like he was making room for me.

  I stepped closer and started pulling the ivy away.

  What I saw underneath made my stomach twist.

  A snake in the shape of an “S” was carved into the stone.

  And the strangest part wasn’t even the carving.

  It felt… familiar.

  “Why is this symbol here?” I whispered.

  It took me a second—then my memory snapped.

  Dad had a folder with that same symbol on it. I’d seen it once as he was leaving the house. Back then, I’d assumed it was just some company logo.

  So why was it here?

  The longer I stared at it, the more my hand itched to reach out—like the symbol was pulling on me. Like touching it would make something click.

  “This is stupid,” I muttered… and touched it anyway.

  The carving flared blood-red beneath my palm.

  I stumbled back. “What the—”

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Stone groaned.

  The entire rock shuddered… then began to sink into the ground, slow and deliberate, as if it had been waiting for my touch.

  A passage opened.

  Stone steps descended into darkness like a throat.

  And Fang didn’t hesitate. He slid down the staircase like he’d done it a hundred times.

  “Fang—wait!”

  The thing was, I wasn’t going to lose him.

  So I had to follow.

  I stepped onto the stairs, and the world above started to vanish behind me. The path went deeper than it had any right to. The air grew colder with every step, like I was walking underground into a place the sun had never touched.

  When I reached the bottom, I froze.

  A long hallway stretched ahead— the walls black stone, smooth, and almost glossy.

  Obsidian?

  How could that be?

  Red crystals jutted from the walls in uneven clusters, glowing faintly—not bright, but enough to light the way. Their glow painted everything with a low, blood-warm shimmer that didn’t feel comforting. It felt… watchful.

  The farther I went, the colder it got. Not night-air cold. Basement cold. The kind that crawls into your bones.

  “Fang…” I whispered, trying to keep my breathing steady. “Where are you leading me, buddy?”

  Panic started to rise in my chest. Fight-or-flight fluttered at the edge of my ribs, like my body was warning me to turn around.

  But Fang kept going.

  And at the end of the hallway—

  I stopped so hard I almost tripped.

  “What…”

  A door of real gold.

  Not gold-colored. Not brass. Gold.

  It was split down the middle like twin panels, and each side held a carved snake rising from the base and arcing inward. They didn’t just decorate the door— they locked it.

  The snakes intertwined at the seam, coils woven tight together, their heads meeting where a handle should’ve been. Their mouths were open around the same S-shaped symbol—like they were biting down on it to keep it sealed.

  My skin prickled.

  Fang stopped at the base of the door and looked up at me with that same steady certainty.

  He wanted me to do it again.

  I stared at the symbol.

  My flight instincts screamed.

  I looked at Fang. “You seriously want me to touch that?”

  Fang didn’t move.

  He just waited.

  Strangely… I trusted Fang more than my internal warning signs. He wouldn’t lead me into something that would hurt me.

  Right?

  My hand hovered. My body fought me like the air itself was pushing back.

  Then I forced my arm forward and touched the S.

  The symbol glowed red.

  The gold snakes shuddered.

  Then the coils began to slide apart—slowly, deliberately—like living latches releasing.

  The snakes unthreaded from each other, and the door opened.

  A chamber waited beyond.

  Not just a room.

  A temple.

  Giant columns rose to the ceiling, each engraved with a snake coiled around it. Red crystals—like the ones in the hall—were placed around the temple in clusters, lighting the space with that same unnatural glow. At the far back sat a fire pit built into the wall.

  And in front of it—

  a massive obsidian snake statue with ruby-red eyes.

  It looked like it was watching.

  In front of the statue was a pedestal.

  And on it sat a necklace.

  Obsidian, like the walls. Like the statue.

  And when my eyes found the pendant’s shape, my stomach rolled.

  It was the same symbol.

  An S formed from a coiled serpent, sleek and intentional, with tiny ruby eyes that mirrored the statue above—like the pendant was a miniature version of the thing guarding it.

  “What is this place, Fang?” I whispered. “Where did you bring me?”

  Fang didn’t answer—because snake.

  He just headed straight for the pedestal.

  I followed slower, taking the whole place in as if staring hard enough would make it make sense.

  This felt unreal. Like I’d fallen out of my life and into someone else’s.

  The closer I got to the necklace, the heavier everything became.

  Not in a tired way—more like the air itself thickened, pressing against my shoulders.

  I slowed without meaning to. My lungs worked harder. My heartbeat got loud enough to drown the silence.

  Adrenaline crash, I told myself. Smoke. Shock.

  Then I took one more step toward the pedestal—

  and my knees dipped, like something unseen had grabbed hold of my body and decided I didn’t get to move freely anymore.

  That’s when it hit me.

  It wasn’t happening everywhere.

  It was happening here.

  “Fang…” I whispered, throat dry. “What did you bring me to?”

  Fang stayed at the base of the pedestal like this was the only place in the world he was willing to exist.

  I stared at the necklace again. “You… you want me to take that?”

  Fang lifted his head, gaze fixed on mine. Not frantic. Not pleading.

  Just certain.

  “Okay,” I breathed, half laugh, half panic. “So let me get this straight. You led me through the woods. Into a hidden temple. Past a glowing door. So I could… steal jewelry?”

  Fang didn’t blink.

  My throat tightened. “This is a trap,” I muttered. “This is absolutely a trap.”

  I took one step back anyway. “Nope. We’re leaving.”

  I waited for Fang to follow.

  He didn’t.

  He stayed there, staring at me like I was the one being stubborn.

  “Seriously?”

  Fang’s tail barely shifted. His head tilted a fraction.

  A yes.

  I exhaled, shaky. “Why do I trust you more than my instincts right now?”

  Because my instincts were screaming to run… and Fang had never lied to me.

  Because tonight had already proven I could lose everything in a second, and I couldn’t handle one more unknown without grabbing onto something that felt certain.

  I dragged a hand over my face, then looked back at the pedestal.

  “Fine,” I whispered. “Fine. If you brought me here for this… then I’m not walking away without knowing why.”

  I stepped forward. The heaviness deepened—one more invisible push—like the room trying to make me earn it.

  Then I reached out and closed my fingers around the pendant.

  Cold snapped into my skin so sharply I sucked in a breath. Not normal cold. Not “metal in a basement” cold.

  This was ice—like the necklace had never been touched by anything alive.

  “Oh—” I hissed under my breath.

  Fang didn’t flinch.

  For a second, I swore the pendant pulsed—just once—subtle as a heartbeat under my fingertips.

  I froze.

  The temple stayed silent. The crystals didn’t flicker. The statue didn’t move.

  Nothing happened.

  Which should’ve been comforting.

  It wasn’t.

  I lifted the chain slowly, like I expected it to bite. “So… I’m supposed to put it on.”

  Fang stared at me, unblinking.

  “Okay,” I whispered, more to myself than him. “Okay. Here goes nothing.”

  I slipped it over my head.

  The pendant settled against my chest—cold, sharp, real.

  I waited for… something. A jolt. A voice. The kind of obvious warning you get in movies right before the main character does something stupid.

  Nothing happened.

  “See,” I murmured, and the word sounded too small in here. “I’m fine.”

  Then a strange warmth spread under my sternum.

  Not the normal kind. Not I’m running and my heart is working warm. More like… someone had set a heating pad inside my ribs and forgotten to tell me.

  I froze. Pressed my palm to my chest through my shirt like I could find a logical explanation by touch alone.

  Adrenaline, my brain offered immediately.

  That’s what adrenaline does. It makes you hot. It makes you shake. It makes you feel… weird.

  Except adrenaline didn’t usually feel this… steady.

  My throat went dry. “Okay. Cool. So I’m either having a stress reaction… or I’m dying.”

  Fang stared at me like I was the dumbest person alive.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” I muttered. “I have had a long night.”

  The warmth pulsed again—soft, almost rhythmic—and I hated that my brain noticed it.

  Heartburn. That’s what this is.

  That’s it.

  I clung to that explanation like it was a life raft. Because the other possibilities were not options. Not tonight.

  I didn’t give myself time to keep thinking. I scooped Fang up before he could decide to explore another cursed corner of the room and looped him around my neck like a living scarf. He settled instantly—quiet, heavy, warm. Too calm for a place that felt this wrong.

  I zipped my hoodie all the way up until it brushed my chin, then pulled the hood over my head. The fabric shadowed my face… and it shadowed Fang too. Like if I couldn’t see the temple, the temple couldn’t see me.

  Stupid logic.

  My feet didn’t care. They moved anyway—fast, straight for the exit.

  “Okay,” I whispered, more to myself than to him. “Okay. We’re leaving. We’re fine.”

  I didn’t look back.