Logan froze when he saw her, and Lexie...

Well.

It felt like her insides burst into flames.

The torturous wave of emotions was worse than when she met Mickie.

So much worse.

She was flayed by the incomprehensible tornado that she couldn't sort through. It also felt like flames licking her skin.

Memories pushed to the forefront of her mind, bitter, yet addictive at the same time.

This Logan looked almost exactly like the one in her memories, except his hair was longer, there were eye bags underneath his eyes, and he was maybe an inch taller than he should be.

He looked tired and panicked, and the worst part was that he could see her.

When he did, his expression folded into itself, and he whispered, "Lexie?"

She was hit by another wave so strong that it felt like it was ripping her soul out of her body. She clutched her chest, wondering why it felt like her heart was being crushed into pieces.

Did she still have a heart? A real one? Had Ryn managed to weave that back together again?

Also, why did it feel like her soul was fighting with itself?

I'll always be here, even if you refuse to acknowledge me. I'm still there even when you cannot see me. I still fight even when you cannot hear me.

The other's Lexie's words echoed in her brain, on repeat. Lexie felt like she was going crazy.

"Lexie?" Logan was walking closer, quickly, trying to touch her. Lexie couldn't take it anymore. She turned around and ran.

She heard people calling her name, Logan and Mickie, who'd turned the corner in enough time to see Lexie bolt. But she didn't care. She needed to get away from them. They would destroy her.

She could already feel it. The things they were awakening in her would make her weak and useless again, and when she was weak, they would eventually break her.

She would never be broken again.

She found a closet and swung it open, entering and closing the door. It was a janitor's closet. She shoved the mop bucket, a large bottle of industrial bleach, and a few other things against the door to block it.

Then she backed up. Her breath was coming fast. Her hands were shaking. She dropped to sit down and drew her knees up against her face.

She needed to get out of here. They would find her soon.

Or would they?

The invisibility card. Could she use it on herself? It was never meant to be used on living creatures, and it would be painful to transform her own skin to transparent material, to say the least. But she didn't care about the pain right now. She just wanted to be alone, and she didn't want anyone to find her.

She heard footsteps getting closer, and she panicked. She had to think fast. The door. Could she lock it?

She went closer. There was no key. Did it work like a regular door? Maybe she could use windkiller to turn the lock.

But her powers hadn't worked on the environment earlier. Would it work now?

"Wait," she thought she heard Tate say as the footsteps stopped right in front of the door.

"Let me go," Logan countered.

"You don't know what she is," Tate said.

"I know who she is. She's my sister."

"Maybe not. Maybe she's only a demon who looks like your sister."

"A demon? Are you being serious? That's ridiculous."

"This whole thing is ridiculous," Tate said. "What are we even doing here? None of this feels real. This feels like a weird, realistic fever dream that we can't wake up from."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Let me go."

"How did you get in here? Because I know for a fact it wasn't through the front door."

That rendered Logan silent for a few minutes. "I…." His words faltered, and then he frowned. "I don't remember. I think I came through…" He couldn't finish his sentence.

"Exactly. Neither do I. Something weird is going on here, too, and we seem to be the only ones aware of it."

"So what do you think this is?" Mickie asked quietly. "And why are you so sure it's a demon?"

"That's…" he faltered in his speech. "That's kind of personal."

"Why? Do you talk to demons?"

Tate choked, and Lexie listened for the answer. At the same time, she wondered what to do. Her magic wasn't working in this plane for whatever reason. Or rather, it worked, but it didn't affect the props and the setting. But it would probably affect the players and activators who were on the other side of the door.

If they come in here, I'm going to kill them.

The thought brought her light, but it also brought her unspeakable agony. It was a confusing and painful experience, and Lexie wanted it to stop. She had to escape.

First of all, she put away the buzzing cell phone. She would deal with that later.

Maybe if she went through the doorway again, she would be taken somewhere else.

It was a risk. She didn't exactly know how the magic worked, and she might not understand what was going on, or exactly what the dungeon wanted from her right now.

GET OUT.

Once again, she was happy to oblige.

She ran to the door and activated Windbreaker. As she threw it, the door opened, and all three of the people there jumped back. Lexie targeted and blasted them with wind, pushing them even further back.

But, for some strange reason, she gave them a soft landing.

It bothered her. Why did she do that? Why did she care whether or not they landed softly?

Never mind. She just had to go.

She stood in the doorway and closed her eyes, reaching for the buzzing sensation. It felt familiar, like the soul of the dungeon she'd touched, but different. It was a darker essence, deeper than the core, ancient.

The voice that growled in her mind was an ancient rumble, like the sound of thunder or mountains being shifted.

Get out.

I am trying, Lexie responded mentally. I am desperately trying to get out. Show me the way.

I will show you nothing, spawn of Nabrycht.

Lexie tried to force the matter, tried to shove herself into the mind of the dungeon, but she couldn't. All she noticed was that the sensation was different than when she'd stood in the doorway of the classroom.

Hmm.

Maybe she could try getting to the soul with her soul card.

Before she could try, she got hit in the face by something cold and frothy. She coughed and fought back, but when she opened her eyes, she saw that Tate was holding the extinguisher out to her, but Logan had twisted his arm away.

"Stop," Logan said. "I don't think she was trying to hurt us. I think she's just as scared and confused as we are."

"No," Lexie said. "I have no fear and I am not confused." She didn't want to let three puny humans think she was scared of them. That would be …humiliating.

Yes, that was the word. Humiliating. She was finally able to pick that emotion out of the cacophony of general unpleasantness.

Maybe if she paid enough attention, she would be able to pick out the other emotions, too.

But did she want to? That was the question.

"See? It's not afraid and confused," Tate said. "So we should kill it before it kills us."

"It's not going to kill us."

"Did you see what it just did?"

"Yes, which does not kill us. If it wanted to kill us, it would have already."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

That wasn't true. Lexie certainly wanted to kill them to stop the riotous emotions she was feeling, but for some reason, she didn't. Or she couldn't.

Can't I? Maybe she should test it out with VOID. Killing them would probably feel good and relieve the itch.

"Lexie," Mickie spoke up as the boys continued arguing. She took another step toward her. "What's going on? Why did you run?"

Lexie pointed at Logan. "Because of him."

Logan stopped arguing with Tate long enough to stare at Lexie. "Me? What did I do?"

"You exist," she said. "You are not supposed to exist anymore. Not here."

"I don't understand."

"Yes, because you're human and I am not."

"See?" Tate said. "She's a demon!"

"Oh shut up, Tate," Mickie said, finally getting annoyed with him. "Even if she is a demon, I never took you as a religious type."

"Okay." Logan took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Let me get things straight here. We're in this weird place that feels like we're asleep, but we're really not. And Lexie is asleep, but her body is back home." He thought about it. "Was that real? Or was that fake?"

"I don't know," Micie responded.

"But something had to have happened before you all ended up here," Lexie said. Naem had mentioned once that Eldritch found it difficult to operate in dimensions without magic. It didn't seem like Tate's dimension had magic…except for maybe the fact that Tate was apparently conversing with demons. But still.

Yasycht and Naem could not just pull people from other worlds simply because they went through a doorway; otherwise, all of humanity would be trapped here. There had to be something else. "You had to have done something else to end up here. Did you remember reciting a ritual before sleeping?"

When they shook their head one by one, Lexie sighed, putting her hand to her face.

"I must leave this place." She glanced around for Ryn, Little Fae, and the V'Sala, and when she didn't see them, she was even more convinced that the dungeon did not want the humans to see the others. Which confirmed this was Lexie's game, and she once again had to play and win by herself.

"We need to activate the other loopers," Lexie told the group.

"The what?"

"The other loopers. We must finish the story so that we can get out of here."

"What's she talking about?"

But Lexie had already begun walking.

"Hey, wait."

Just as she planned, they followed her. They soon passed by a teacher who was coming out of class and said, "Hey, shouldn't you two be in class?"

Another looper.

"Um..." Tate started.

"I don't want to hear it from you again, young man. And don't think I don't see that there's an unauthorized visitor on campus right now. To the Principal's office. All of you. Follow me."

Lexie and the others shared a look. She guessed that was where the game was leading her.

As they walked, they heard whispers. People were staring at them in the classroom. Lexie spotted the next looper, a boy who kept running in place until they passed him, and then he snatched the fire extinguisher out of Tate's hand and ran off, ignoring the yelling teacher.

They went to the principal's office and once again, Lexie tested the strength of the doorway before she passed through.

The power there was even weaker than the one in the closet.

Lexie paused.

"Wait," Lexie said.

All four of them stopped, including the teacher, although she wasn't looking at Lexie. Instead, she was frowning at the others.

Lexie sensed the doorway again, confirming the signal was weaker. They were farther away from the source.

Was this the way out? Or was it a trap?

Why would the dungeon want to trap them?

"You three go in," she said. "I will wait here."

"Why?" Tate asked.

"In case it is a trap."

"You think it's a trap?"

"Possibly. Maybe."

"Then why should we go in?"

"I don't think you have a choice."

"Who on earth are you talking to, Tate Reynolds?" the teacher said. "I swear you get stranger by the day. Now chop, chop, no more dilly-dallying."

Tate, Logan, and Mickie hesitated. The teacher grabbed Mickie and Tate's hands and dragged them in, complaining the entire way.

Logan, reluctantly followed.

Lexie turned.

She noticed something.

More loopers had sprouted.

Ryn had said there were four, but Lexie counted at least five, even excluding the two they had encountered already. Strange.

It was possible that Ryn had missed them. But it was also possible that the dungeon was creating more, an endless amount of loopers, keeping the story going.

To what end?

If the dungeon was tricking them, giving them an illusion of productivity to keep them in place, it meant that it wanted them to stay here for as long as possible. And that contradicted its central message, "Get out."

Unless...

Was this 'out'? Were they currently out of the dungeon? Were all the tests and levels a way to keep them out?

Hm.

Reworking that theory, what if it was the other way around? What if she was being instructed to get out of this level? Did that mean that every level technically had an 'out' from the dungeon?

Therefore, the trick wasn't necessarily defeating that level; it was finding the 'out'.

But why did the dungeon not just show them the way out, instead of playing endless games with them?

Perhaps the dungeon enjoyed the deadly game. Maybe that's how it got strengthened. Maybe their despair, their confusion, their struggle, it was its light. Though it had a driving force trying to keep them out, it rewarded the strongest players by allowing them into the next level, so they would keep playing the game.

It was a game they were going to lose either way. Eventually, they would run out of levels or encounter one with a monster they couldn't defeat. Eventually, they would die.

And the dungeon would win.

In other words, there were three things going on. The dungeon was trying to kill them. The dungeon was also trying to keep them playing its deadly games. And the dungeon was trying to get them out.

And all of that corresponded with the order, Get out.

At least that was what Lexie thought, for now.

As the three humans came out, Lexie asked, "What did the Principal say?"

"He asked us to get back to class," Mickie said. "And told Logan to leave, too. But he didn't believe us when we told him the front door was locked."

"Now what?" Logan said.

Tate sighed. "I guess we just keep following the–"

"No," Lexie said. "It is a trap."

"A trap?"

Lexie nodded. "I think this is a game that you will play forever."

"What?"

"It's a trap. And I'm the reason for it. The reason you people are here. I'm the only one who can fix it." Lexie had a refined theory of how they got here, but she didn't want to spook them out even more. "I will fix it now."

"How?" Logan asked. "Will it be dangerous?"

She thought about it and nodded. "Possible. I cannot tell, but I may not survive it."

"No," Logan said stubbornly. "I'm not letting you do that."

"I do not seek your permission." Lexie was confused as to why he thought he could tell her what to do.

Logan looked hurt. "I'm your brother."

She shook her head. "Not anymore."

She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her hands.

A sharp bolt of energy shot through her, and just when she was about to hit him with the VOID, he pulled her into a hug.

Oh.

No.

Wait.

"Get off," Lexie said, holding herself stiff.

That only made him tighten it more.

"Don't leave me," he said.

She didn't know what he was talking about. She wanted him to get off her.

But for some reason, she never pushed him off.

She let him hold her ghostly body as tears pricked her eyes. She swallowed. She wanted to...cry.

Sadness. That was what she was feeling.

It swelled in her, and slowly her hands moved. She brought it up higher and higher, and before she knew it, she rested them on his lower back.

She didn't know why. She didn't know what was controlling her, but it didn't make sense.

Tears were coming from her eyes. Her breath hitched, once, twice. Her throat was knotted and her chest tight until she couldn't breathe.

But there was something almost pleasant about it, too. Something relieving. Something that reminded her of that cottage she'd seen in her visions.

"I…" The words were strangled as they came out of her mouth. "I missed you."

She didn't know what she was saying, where the words were coming from. This was not even the Logan she'd left behind. He was from another microdimension. Yet, she felt the need to say the words. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Logan said. "You didn't do anything wrong. I should have done more to get Mom off your back."

Lexie didn't respond to that. She didn't know how to.

After Logan let her go, Mickie also walked forward and hugged her. Lexie stood there and ignored the unpleasantness, noting more outpouring of that strange warmth.

Lexie was both relieved and sad when Mickie backed away.

Tate still stared at her steadily, but Lexie ignored him.

Then she turned and walked away. She went looking for Ryn first and turned the corner to find her there with the V'Sala, who was glaring at Little Fae while Ryn was holding him at dagger's point.

Lexie didn't even bother to ask what happened. She simply said, "I think I have figured out the level."

"How?"

"Those three, the activators, I believe they're here because of me. Because someone opened a door, through the dreams, using Yasycht's power to bring them here."

"Who?"

"Naem." Lexie shook her head. "I don't know why he's doing this, but it has to do with me. I am his soul spawn. I was a human and he trapped me in this dungeon, and I had to fight and fight and fight, and now I'm…this."

Ryn hesitated, then nodded. "Why do you think he did that?"

"I don't know. Maybe he wants me dead."

"I don't think so. There are easier ways to kill you. And this dungeon might not kill you."

"Then maybe it's for his own amusement."

"Is he amused by your suffering?"

No. It had never seemed like that in the past. "What other reason could there be?"

Ryn cocked her head. "An Old teacher, one that I've had since fifty human years after my birth, when the third moon descended in Ishta at a slower rate and–"

"Ryn."

"Yes? Oh right. He told me that Eldritch evolve through adversity. It is often why the more an Eldritch suffers, the more powerful they become."

"I see."

"Yes. Even the test to become an Eldritch Lord is said to be particularly contentious. You will have to fight and prove yourself to the other Lords in your position. Perhaps this is the reason Naem sent you here. To get you ready."

Lexie paused. The explanation sounded reasonable, but incomplete.

"If that is the case, then he is succeeding," Ryn continued. "For you are already evolving faster than any Eldritch I've seen."

Lexie frowned. "I don't feel that much stronger."

"It is not always about strength. Eldritch weakness is how obvious they often are. Younger Eldritch are the most obvious. They are only capable of processing and expressing their core emotions, and they do not hide their desires well. It makes them easier to control. The older, more powerful Eldritch have learned that being so open can be used against them, so they have learned to mask their wants behind other things."

Lexie stewed on that. Could that be the truth? Was that why Naem had sent her here?

She would ask him later. Maybe right before she killed him.

"I shall use my soul card to access Yasycht and try to use his power to get us out of here. But note, you may need to stitch my body back again."

"I am at your service," Ryn said, inclining her head.

Lexie went to around, standing in doorways to find the one with the strongest connection.

After she found it, she activated her soul card.

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