Maximus

The Hollow was quiet in the way that made your teeth itch.

No birds. No wind. No prey. Just a stillness that didn’t feel natural. Like something old was holding its breath.

“We shouldn’t be here,” Rebecca said behind me, voice low but sharp. “This place is wrong.”

She wasn’t wrong. But I couldn’t leave either.

There was something under the earth. Calling.

“I just need to see it,” I muttered, barely hearing myself.

We ...