I never thought I'd be in a situation like this before.

  I had fought monsters.

  Creatures that crawled out of portals and shadows. Twisted things with too many limbs and glowing eyes that looked like they belonged in nightmares.

  But I had never attacked another human.

  At least not someone who looked alive.

  The room was quiet except for the faint buzzing of a dying ceiling light. Every few seconds it flickered, throwing long shadows across the cracked wooden floor.

  Cameron sat in the corner of the room.

  Curled into himself.

  His knees were pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around them like he was trying to disappear. His shoulders trembled, and his face was red and swollen from crying.

  When he finally looked up at me, his eyes were empty.

  Like something inside him had already shattered.

  My chest tightened.

  "Cameron… it's me," I said carefully.

  My voice sounded strange in the room.

  Too loud.

  "William."

  He sniffled but didn't answer.

  I took a slow step closer.

  "It's okay," I said softly. "He's not going to hurt you anymore."

  The words felt weak the moment they left my mouth.

  Because we both knew they weren't entirely true yet.

  I crouched down so I wasn't standing over him.

  "I'm going to get you out of here," I told him.

  I hesitated before asking the next question.

  "Are you okay with that?"

  Cameron's voice was barely above a whisper.

  "…Yeah."

  Relief washed through me.

  But before I could say anything else—

  A sound came from behind us.

  A slow scraping noise.

  My head snapped around.

  Cameron's father was moving.

  He pushed himself off the ground, shaking violently as he stood. Blood ran from his split lip and down his chin. His eyes were wild and glassy, like a man who had already lost everything.

  "You…" he rasped.

  His voice sounded like broken glass grinding together.

  "You think you can take my son from me?"

  Cameron flinched behind me.

  And something inside my chest cracked.

  I stepped forward, putting myself between them.

  "You've done enough," I said coldly.

  But he laughed.

  A disgusting, hollow sound.

  "You think you're a hero?" he sneered. "You're just another monster."

  Monster.

  The word echoed in my head.

  Then—

  The world stopped.

  The flickering light froze mid-blink.

  The dust floating in the air hung perfectly still.

  Even Cameron's shaky breathing seemed to pause.

  Everything was silent.

  Except for a whisper.

  "Well now…"

  The voice slid into my ear like smoke.

  My shadow stretched across the floor, twisting unnaturally.

  And something stepped out of it.

  Not fully.

  Just a tall, distorted silhouette made of living darkness.

  Eclipse.

  I couldn't see its face clearly, but I could feel its presence behind me. Cold. Heavy. Watching.

  It leaned close to my shoulder.

  "He hurt the boy," Eclipse murmured.

  Its voice was calm.

  Almost curious.

  "You saw it."

  My fists slowly clenched.

  Eclipse's whisper grew softer.

  More intimate.

  "He made him cry."

  My breathing slowed.

  The darkness around my feet grew thicker.

  Eclipse leaned closer, its breath brushing against my ear.

  "Are you really going to let him walk away?"

  Something deep inside me stirred.

  A slow, burning anger.

  Eclipse chuckled quietly.

  "Go on, William."

  Its voice turned sharp.

  "Break him."

  Time snapped back into motion.

  The buzzing light flickered again.

  And I moved.

  I crossed the room in a single step.

  My foot slammed into Cameron's father's chest with all the force I had.

  He crashed into the wall with a loud crack.

  But I didn't stop.

  I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him down onto the floor.

  Again.

  And again.

  And again.

  Every hit echoed through the room.

  Every punch shook the floorboards beneath us.

  "YOU THINK YOU CAN TOUCH HIM?!" I shouted.

  My voice barely sounded human anymore.

  Blood spilled from his mouth as he tried to crawl away.

  But I kicked him again.

  Harder.

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  I didn't care.

  All I could hear was Eclipse.

  Kill him.

  Kill him.

  He deserves it.

  He's disgusting.

  He's a pig.

  The words kept repeating in my head like a drumbeat.

  I grabbed the belt lying on the floor beside him.

  The same belt he used earlier.

  My hands wrapped around it slowly.

  Then I climbed on top of him.

  Just like he had done to Cameron.

  I wrapped the belt around his neck.

  And pulled.

  His eyes widened in terror.

  "I'm sorry!" he choked out. "I won't do it again!"

  The words made something twist in my stomach.

  Because they were the exact same words Cameron had said earlier.

  Hearing them come from his mouth made my skin crawl.

  I pulled the belt tighter.

  And tighter.

  His hands clawed desperately at mine.

  His breathing became short, broken gasps.

  I watched the life slowly draining from his eyes.

  And the worst part?

  I didn't hate it.

  I didn't feel disgusted.

  Part of me enjoyed it.

  Eclipse laughed quietly behind me.

  "That's it…"

  "Finish it."

  My grip tightened even more.

  Then—

  A hand tapped my shoulder.

  I froze.

  I slowly turned my head.

  Cameron stood behind me.

  The tears were gone from his eyes.

  But his voice trembled.

  "That's enough," he said.

  "William… we can leave."

  The words snapped something inside me.

  The voice in my head disappeared instantly.

  Eclipse's presence vanished like smoke.

  I looked down at what I was doing.

  The belt around his neck.

  My hands shaking.

  I was about to kill him.

  In cold blood.

  And for a moment…

  I wanted to.

  My stomach twisted.

  I slowly loosened my grip and dropped the belt.

  "I'm sorry," I whispered.

  Cameron didn't respond.

  Neither of us said another word.

  We just walked out of the house the same way we came in.

  The wooden floors creaked under our feet.

  Creak.

  Creak.

  Creak.

  Each step echoing through the empty hallway like the house itself was remembering what just happened.

  Eventually the front door appeared.

  We stepped outside.

  And the world went black.

  The house disappeared behind us like it had never existed.

  The silence returned.

  Then suddenly—

  The maze spit us out.

  Hard.

  Both of us slammed against the glass walls with a loud thud before collapsing onto the ground.

  For a while neither of us moved.

  We just sat there.

  Like two broken machines trying to restart.

  Eventually I forced myself to stand.

  We still had to find Jordan.

  And Maya.

  I held my hand out to Cameron.

  He hesitated for a moment.

  I couldn't tell if he was scared of me.

  Or if he thought what I did was justified.

  But after a second, he took it.

  The tears in his eyes were gone.

  But something else was missing too.

  Cameron always had a spark in his eyes.

  A small light that never went away.

  But now…

  It was gone.

  Replaced by something empty.

  Something broken.

  As we started walking through the glass maze again, I tried to speak.

  "So… is that still—"

  "You know," Cameron said quietly, cutting me off.

  "My mom left my dad a few years ago."

  His voice was calm.

  Too calm.

  "And after that… he started using drugs. Drinking more. Getting angry over small things."

  We walked in silence as he continued.

  "He wasn't always like that. Before my mom left… he was actually a good dad."

  His eyes stayed on the ground.

  "But after she left… he became someone I didn't recognize."

  I swallowed.

  "I'm really sorry, Cameron."

  He shrugged slightly.

  "It's fine. I'm out of it now."

  He looked ahead at the endless maze walls.

  "I found a foster family that takes better care of me now."

  "That's good," I said quietly.

  But the words didn't make anything feel better.

  The maze stretched endlessly in front of us.

  Glass walls.

  Silent paths.

  And the heavy reminder of what had just happened.