Unwelcome Guests
The staircase seemed determined to outlive the universe.
It just...
kept...
going.
Aiden had counted three hundred and forty-eight steps before giving up.
Not because he was tired.
Because he realized the stairs were cheating.
"I'm fairly certain," he muttered between breaths, "gravity wasn't designed for this."
His voice echoed downward.
Then...
a second echo answered.
Not his.
Aiden froze.
"...Hello?"
Silence.
He frowned.
"Great."
"I'm hearing things already."
He took another step.
Tap.
Another.
Tap.
Then—
Tap.
One extra footstep.
Behind him.
Aiden stopped.
The sound stopped.
Slowly...
very slowly...
he looked over his shoulder.
Nothing.
Only darkness stretching endlessly upward.
"...Okay."
He laughed nervously.
"I'm officially blaming sleep deprivation."
He turned back around.
Continued walking.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Again.
Three footsteps.
He had only taken two.
This time he didn't turn around.
"Nope."
"I've seen enough horror movies to know how this goes."
He kept walking.
"If you're an ancient alien ghost..."
"...I'm respectfully unavailable."
Nothing answered.
Ten minutes later...
the stairs finally ended.
Aiden stepped into an enormous underground cavern.
His flashlight swept across the darkness.
The beam disappeared long before reaching the opposite wall.
"That's..."
"...unnecessarily large."
The cavern wasn't natural.
Gigantic pillars supported the ceiling.
Each pillar had been carved directly from the surrounding stone.
Ancient murals spiraled around them, depicting stars, strange creatures, and towering cities floating above oceans of light.
Most had eroded beyond recognition.
Some looked...
scratched.
Not by time.
By claws.
Aiden walked closer.
Four long grooves ran across the stone.
Each groove was nearly as long as his arm.
He crouched.
Ran a finger along one of them.
Fresh dust.
Old marks.
"Well..."
He stood.
"...whatever made these definitely skipped manicure day."
His scanner chirped.
For once.
Not an error.
A life-sign.
Aiden blinked.
"No."
He tapped the screen.
One signal.
Weak.
Moving.
About forty meters away.
His heartbeat quickened.
Another survivor?
A member of another expedition?
Corporate scouts?
He raised his flashlight.
"Hello?"
His voice echoed through the cavern.
Nothing.
Then—
A tiny blue light flickered between two pillars.
Aiden smiled.
"Oh thank goodness."
"Another intelligent lifeform."
The blue light disappeared.
"...Or an unintelligent one."
He started toward it.
The scanner beeped again.
Distance:
Thirty-five meters.
Thirty.
Twenty-eight.
Twenty-two.
"It's moving."
Eighteen.
Fifteen.
"...Towards me."
Aiden stopped walking.
"So..."
"We're both having the same terrible idea."
The signal stopped too.
The cavern became silent.
Painfully silent.
Even the dripping water had stopped.
Aiden slowly lowered the scanner.
"...I don't like this."
Something clicked.
Directly above him.
His flashlight snapped upward.
Nothing.
Stone ceiling.
Pillars.
Darkness.
He exhaled.
Then his flashlight beam caught two tiny reflections.
Eyes.
Not human eyes.
Too far apart.
Watching him from the ceiling.
The beam lingered for only a second.
The eyes vanished.
Aiden immediately took three steps backward.
"Nope."
"Nope."
"Nope."
"I'm leaving."
He turned.
Walked exactly two steps.
The staircase...
was gone.
He blinked.
"..."
He looked again.
The staircase had become a solid stone wall.
Completely seamless.
"No."
He pressed both hands against the rock.
"No, no, no..."
He searched frantically for the hidden doorway.
Nothing.
"I would very much appreciate an exit."
Silence.
Then—
A low clicking sound echoed through the cavern.
Not mechanical.
Organic.
Another click answered it.
Then another.
Then another.
Until dozens of clicks surrounded him from every direction.
Aiden slowly turned in a circle.
His flashlight caught movement.
Something darted behind a pillar.
Too fast to identify.
Another shape crossed between two columns.
Low to the ground.
Long limbs.
Impossible angles.
His breathing became shallow.
"...Okay."
He swallowed.
"There are definitely more of you than there are of me."
One shape stepped into the edge of the light.
Not fully.
Just enough.
A long skeletal arm.
Covered in smooth black plates that looked more like polished stone than flesh.
Its hand...
had six fingers.
Each ending in a curved white claw.
The creature slowly withdrew back into darkness.
Aiden didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
His brain was trying very hard to convince him that he had imagined the entire thing.
Then his scanner screamed.
MULTIPLE LIFE SIGNS DETECTED
The number kept climbing.
7...
12...
19...
31...
58...
Aiden stared at the screen.
"...That..."
"...feels excessive."
Every light on the scanner suddenly went out.
The cavern fell into absolute darkness.
For one heartbeat...
there was only silence.
Then, all around him—
Dozens of pairs of pale blue eyes opened in the dark.
