The hollow ones

Ellie's mind drifted in darkness.

Weightless. Suspended.

She wasn't in Blackwood Manor anymore. Not in the real world.

The air around her throbbed, thick and heavy, like it was pressing into her skin. The darkness wasn't just absence—it was alive. Moving.

A whisper curled through the void.

"You belong here."

Ellie's eyes snapped open.

She was standing, though she didn't remember moving.

The Hollow stretched before her—an endless, shifting landscape of distorted shapes, the echoes of the real world bent and broken. Fragments of buildings floated, suspended in the gloom, twisting into impossible angles. The sky was nothing but swirling shadows, a storm without a source.

And in the distance—

They were watching.

Figures stood in the mist, their bodies tall and thin, their faces blank and featureless.

Ellie's heart slammed against her ribs.

The Hollow Ones.

They didn't move.

They didn't need to.

Because the whispers were already in her head.

"You feel it now, don't you?"

Her fingers twitched. The black veins pulsed, creeping higher up her arm.

Ellie clenched her fist. No.

She wouldn't let them take her.

She took a step back—

And the world shifted.

A mirror appeared before her, standing in the emptiness.

But it didn't show her reflection.

It showed Blackwood.

The Truth in the Reflection

The old man stood motionless, his face pale, his silver eyes hollow.

Ellie's breath caught. "You're dead."

His mouth moved, but the voice came from everywhere.

"No. Not dead. Trapped."

Ellie's hands trembled. "How do I get out?"

Blackwood's expression didn't change.

"You already know the answer."

The darkness around her tightened.

The Hollow Ones were closer now, their faceless heads tilting, as if listening.

Blackwood's voice lowered.

"They will not let you leave, child. Unless—"

Ellie's stomach dropped.

She knew what he was about to say.

"Unless you accept what you are becoming."

The darkness shuddered.

The Hollow Ones began to move.

Ellie's veins burned.

She had to choose.

Run—

Or embrace the Hollow.

---

The Hollow's Bargain

Ellie's breath came in short, uneven gasps. The Hollow Ones were closing in, moving in that unnatural, flickering way—there and not there, shifting through the mist like shadows unbound by form.

The mirror pulsed, the silver of Blackwood's eyes gleaming within it.

"They will not let you leave."

Ellie's fists clenched. "Then I'll make them."

A ripple passed through the air, like a warning.

The Hollow Ones stopped.

And then—one stepped forward.

It was different. Taller. Sharper. Its body flickered between human and void, its elongated limbs moving with slow, deliberate grace. The others lurched away, shrinking back.

This one was stronger. Older.

Ellie's pulse pounded.

It raised a hand—pale, withered, but somehow familiar.

And then it spoke.

"You resist the inevitable."

Its voice was like wind through dead leaves, brittle and soft, yet it carried weight.

Ellie swallowed hard. "I don't belong here."

The figure's head tilted.

"Don't you?"

Ellie's skin prickled. The Hollow's mark burned against her flesh, dark veins threading higher, reaching toward her elbow.

Her body—it wasn't fully hers anymore.

She forced herself to stand her ground. "I'm leaving."

The figure studied her. The Hollow Ones behind it were silent, unmoving.

Then—it laughed.

Not loud. Not harsh. Just a soft, knowing chuckle.

"There is no leaving, child. Not without a price."

Ellie's jaw tightened. "What price?"

The figure extended a bony hand.

"A choice."

The air shuddered around them.

Behind Ellie, the mirror flickered, shifting between Blackwood's reflection and—

She gasped.

Malcolm and Sam.

They were in the real world, standing over her motionless body. Sam's face was twisted with panic, his hands gripping her shoulders, shaking her.

Malcolm's expression was tight, his mouth moving—yelling her name.

"They fight for you."

Ellie's heart ached. She could see it in their faces. They thought she was dying.

She turned back to the Hollow figure. "Let me go."

It didn't move.

"A choice."

The darkness pressed closer, cold and consuming.

"Leave—and take the Hollow with you."

Ellie's throat tightened. "What?"

"The mark has already taken root. You feel it, don't you?"

She did.

The way her senses felt different, the whispers curling at the edges of her mind, the way her own touch had unraveled the house's locks—

The Hollow was part of her now.

"You are no longer just mortal."

A chill ran down Ellie's spine. "And if I refuse?"

The figure's hand lowered.

"Then you stay."

A wave of dread crashed over her.

Stay.

Become one of them.

Her breath hitched. "That's not a choice."

The figure smiled.

"Everything is a choice."

Ellie looked at the mirror again. Malcolm and Sam—still fighting to wake her.

Her friends.

Her family.

If she stayed, she lost them. Forever.

But if she left…

She wouldn't be the same.

She turned back to the Hollow figure, her hands fisting at her sides.

"I already know what I have to do."

The Hollow Ones stilled.

The darkness trembled.

Ellie took a step forward.

Her veins burned hotter, the mark shifting beneath her skin.

She reached out—

And placed her hand on the Hollow's chest.

The figure did not resist.

The shadows coiled around her, wrapping tight, sinking into her veins.

Ellie gasped.

Pain—cold and searing—ripped through her body.

But she held on.

She wasn't surrendering.

She was taking control.

The Hollow shuddered, its form twisting—and then—

Light.

Blinding, searing—real.

And Ellie—

Woke up.

Back in the Real World

A gasp tore from her lips.

She felt hands gripping her shoulders—a voice calling her name.

Ellie's eyes flew open.

Malcolm.

His face was inches from hers, his expression raw, tense.

Sam was next to him, looking half-terrified, half-relieved.

She was on the floor of Blackwood Manor.

The mirror was gone.

No—shattered.

Its remains were scattered across the wood, nothing but shards of broken glass.

Ellie sucked in a breath. The Hollow's presence was still there, curling in the back of her mind. The mark on her arm was darker now.

But she was back.

Malcolm's grip tightened. "Ellie?"

She blinked up at him.

And for the first time—

She wasn't sure if she was the same person who had left.

---

Changed

Ellie sat up slowly, her breath coming in sharp, uneven pulls. The world around her felt too solid, too bright after the suffocating void of the Hollow.

Sam let out a breath of relief. "You scared the hell out of us!"

Ellie barely heard him. Her skin was tingling—alive with something new.

Malcolm crouched in front of her, his dark eyes sharp. Watching.

"You were gone for too long," he said, voice steady but taut. "What happened in there?"

Ellie swallowed. What could she even say? That she'd been trapped in an endless void? That the Hollow had claimed her? That she wasn't sure if she had truly escaped—or just brought it back with her?

Her hands trembled as she looked down.

The mark on her arm had spread.

The veins were no longer just black—they pulsed silver, shifting like ink beneath her skin.

Malcolm saw it. His gaze darkened. "Ellie…"

Sam's face paled. "That—" He pointed, stepping back. "That wasn't like that before."

Ellie pressed her fingers against her arm. A pulse of cold surged through her, curling beneath her fingertips.

Not just a mark.

A connection.

She still felt the Hollow. Not as a distant presence, but as something inside her.

A whisper tickled the back of her mind.

"You carry us now."

Her breath hitched.

Malcolm touched her arm, careful, testing. "Does it hurt?"

Ellie shook her head. "No. It just…"

She exhaled. "It feels like it's waiting."

The House Knows

A creak echoed through the manor.

The three of them froze.

Ellie's heart pounded. The house wasn't supposed to be alive anymore—she had shattered the mirror, severed the connection, hadn't she?

But then—

The temperature dropped.

A whisper brushed through the air, barely a breath.

"She is not the same."

Ellie's stomach knotted.

Malcolm shot to his feet, pulling Ellie up with him. Sam's eyes darted around the room. "Tell me that was just—"

Another whisper.

"She carries the Hollow."

Ellie's veins burned. The house felt it—the same way the Hollow Ones had.

She wasn't just Ellie anymore.

Something had changed.

And the house knew.

The whispers slithered through the air, curling around them, unseen but present.

Malcolm tightened his grip on Ellie's wrist. "We need to go."

Ellie didn't argue.

They turned—rushing toward the nearest hallway.

But the shadows moved.

The First Change

Ellie barely had time to react before a door slammed shut ahead of them.

Sam cursed. "No, no, no—" He spun toward another path—another door slammed.

The house was locking them in.

Malcolm pulled Ellie back. "Ellie—"

But she already knew.

This was because of her.

She turned her gaze to the shadows gathering along the walls, the creeping tendrils that stretched along the ceiling like watchful eyes.

They weren't attacking.

They were testing.

Waiting for her to do something.

Ellie's chest tightened.

She clenched her fists. "Let us out."

The whispers stilled.

The air shifted.

And then—the doors creaked open.

Sam gaped. "…Did you just—?"

Ellie's pulse pounded. She had felt it—the moment the house recognized her.

Not as prey.

As something more.

Something like them.

Malcolm stared at her. He hadn't let go of her wrist. "Ellie…"

She swallowed. "We need to leave. Now."

Malcolm nodded, his face unreadable. But Ellie knew what he was thinking.

She had given the Hollow a way into the real world.

And it was already listening to her.

---

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