Dave slid his gun back into its holster.
"We still have one more person to find," he said. "But first—we hit the warehouse."
Elias nodded. "You said you made some calls?"
"They're looking," Dave confirmed, starting the car. "If he's out there, we'll find him. But right now, I need to see what the hell is in that warehouse."
Rain slicked the city streets as they drove.
Lucien sat in the back, silent, her fingers lightly tracing the edge of the photograph. The shadows under her eyes had deepened, her breath unnaturally calm.
Elias caught her in the rearview mirror.
"Something wrong?"
Lucien didn't answer. She flipped the photo over in her hands, her eyes narrowing. Her breath slowed.
Then—she stiffened.
Her eyes rolled back.
"Lucien?" Evelyn gasped.
Before anyone could react, Lucien let out a harsh breath—like something had yanked the air from her lungs.
Dave slammed the brakes.
The car screeched to a stop in the middle of an empty street.
"Shit!" he barked.
Elias spun around in his seat. "Lucien!"
Her body remained in place—tense, trembling—but her mind was no longer there.
Somewhere Beyond
Lucien stood in a place not made for the living.
The world was vast and empty. Shadows twisted at the edges like smoke with memory. The air was thick with whispers—layered, ancient, heavy with judgment.
Figures emerged—cloaked in robes, faces obscured by mist.
Her ancestors.
One stepped forward, lifting the photo from Lucien's hand. The voice that came was hollow, echoing across this unreal space.
"They've found it."
Lucien's voice barely came out. "Found what?"
The figure turned the photo toward her.
"A way to bring darkness into the world of the living."
Her chest tightened. "The thing in the photo… that's not Victor Crane, is it?"
The figures murmured in agreement.
"It is called a Shapeshifter," one said.
Lucien's blood ran cold.
"The first thing that came out of the book," she whispered.
They nodded again.
"It has no power of its own. Not yet. It feeds. Waits. Grows."
Lucien stepped forward, desperate. "How do we stop it?"
The figures' voices deepened.
"You must end this. At all costs."
The world trembled. A pull. A force dragging her back.
And just before she was gone, she heard them one last time:
"This is only the beginning."
Back in the Car
Lucien gasped, lurching forward.
Elias grabbed her shoulders. "Lucien! You with us?"
She blinked, breath ragged, eyes wide with something beyond fear.
Evelyn placed a hand on her back. "What just happened?"
Lucien didn't answer immediately. She stared out the windshield, at the city that suddenly felt smaller. More fragile.
When she finally spoke, her voice was raw.
"We're not just chasing a missing man."
Elias frowned. "Then what the hell are we chasing?"
Lucien turned to him slowly. Her eyes were haunted.
Her voice—quiet, certain.
"A monster."