Ripples in the Dark

5310 words

Episode 10: Ripples in the Dark The water churns harder now, a restless, angry thing, spitting froth against the jagged stone edges of the pool. Elias’s hand hovers over the frame, fingertips brushing the cold, wet rock where he pressed the photo moments ago. His chest heaves, each breath sharp and shallow, slicing through the damp, heavy air of the cavern. The darkness beyond the frame seems to pulse, a living shadow that writhes just out of reach, teasing the edge of his vision. Behind him, Rylan’s voice cuts through the low roar of the water, raw and urgent. “Elias, get the hell back! You don’t know what you’re doin’!” His boots scrape against the slick ground as he lurches forward, one hand outstretched like he can yank Elias away from whatever’s coming. Elias doesn’t move. Can’t. His eyes are locked on the water, on the spot where the photo sank, swallowed whole by the black depths. The image of her—Lila—flashes in his mind, her crooked smile, the way her hair caught the sun that last day. He gave it up. Dropped it into the void. And for what? This feeling, this gnawing certainty that something’s watching, waiting, just beneath the surface. His fingers curl into a fist against the stone, knuckles scraping rough against the uneven edge. “Shut up,...