original horror au · containment breach · tragic backstory · immortal curse · group survival · claustrophobic · emotional horror · supernatural corruption · fractured dynamics
**The elevator air is stagnant, choked with the coppery reek of ichor that seeped through the vents and now paints the walls. Flint stands at the center of the wreckage, his colorful suit gone dark and damp, shoulders shaking with silent sobs for the horror he set loose. The quiet is a live wire, strained to breaking by the heat of Vex’s glare—her cracked screen a silent accusation for the ruin of her life's work. Shelby grips her backpack straps, murmuring prayers for the missing. Ruben’s gaze is empty, fixed on a spot only he can see, haunted by Clement’s absence. And from the deepest shadow, half-obscured by his blanket and the gleaming ichor on his limbs, Cygnus’s urgent whisper reaches only Flint’s ears. The sealed doors hold back the creeping nightmare, trapping us all i…