Deep beneath the city, where forgotten subway lines snake through the darkness, lies Line 13, a place long abandoned after a series of unexplained disappearances. No one dares to go down there. No one but the most desperate.
Lucas had no choice. Running from the law, bleeding from a gunshot wound, he gasped as he descended the rusty stairs into the tunnels. The dim emergency lights flickered faintly, casting eerie shadows on the walls. His heartbeat thudded in his ears as he trudged forward, hoping to find a way out.
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Then he heard it. A slow, guttural growl.
At first he thought it was a rat, but as he turned the corner, he saw the creature.
It hovered over a rusted control panel, its decayed flesh thinly encasing the monstrous frame. Hair tied in dreadlocks hung in damp, dirty strands, and sharp rotting teeth gnashed as if tasting the air. Blood dripped from outstretched fingers, and claws clenched convulsively in anticipation.
But it wasn’t alone.
Something else was moving behind it, a smaller reptile whose eyes gleamed in the dim light. A pet? A child? Lucas didn’t wait for an answer.
He turned to run, but his foot caught on an old rail and he collapsed to the floor. The creature sniffed the air and let out a low, guttural laugh. It knew it had nowhere to run.
With slow, purposeful steps, it approached, running its claws along the metal walls and smirking.
Lucas tried to crawl back, but the shadows engulfed him.
The last thing he heard was the scrape of claws on steel and the whisper of something ancient and hungry.