Chapter Seventy-Six

Ethan's eyes flickered open to nothing but void. His body felt weightless, suspended in an ocean of outright darkness. His heart dashed, looking for something, anything, to anchor himself to reality. But there was nothing, no light, no sound, just the perpetual abyss.

“Clara!” he called out, his voice scarcely more than a whisper within the choking silence. No reaction. Fear surged through him as he walked into the darkness, trusting to find her hand or probably following her presence.

A cold shudder ran down his spine as the memory of the shadowy figure lingered in his intellect. Was this the end? Had they been consumed by the abyss entirely?

But then, faintly, he heard it, a voice. Soft, like a distant echo. It was Clara.

“Ethan... Ethan, are you there?”

“I’m here!” he shouted, pushing against the invisible weight that pressed down on him. He stumbled forward, the ground or what passed for it, shifting beneath his feet. Each step felt like walking through thick mud, slow and labored