He doesn't answer me, nor does he flicker or emit any light. He's just...there.

"Please, Nikki—" My words are interrupted by a piercing sound coming from behind me. I swivel, my eyes wide as I search through the unyielding darkness.

"You need to go, Nikki. Now!" I tell him, this time more pronounced.

I step backward, my arm thrust back to find the metal stair. But I don't reach it when I feel another presence with me in the tunnel. The same foul smell as before lingers in the air, becoming more potent by the second. Loud, thudding steps echo before an inhuman howl physically thrusts me back.

Fear clogs my throat, but my thoughts are all centered on Nikki. Scanning the area the best I can, I manage to make out Nikki's shadowy self and the outline of the other entity present. My mind is blank as I jump up from my spot, placing myself in front of Nikki in one last attempt to protect him.

"Go, Nikki. I'll hold him back. Please leave," I beg him.

He gives me a shimmery signal to mean yes before the mist dissipates, in its place remaining only faint rays of light coming from up above.

I release a sigh of relief. At least he's safe...

The sound of wet lips smacking together brings me back to the present. Now that Nikki's gone, I need to find a way to get back to the dressing room too.

The pungent smell becomes stronger, to the point that I have to stop myself from bending over to retch. I swallow hard, taking one step back at a time so I don't set the demon off by any chance.

Another roar explodes in the tunnel, causing me to stumble and almost fall. Grabbing onto the wall, I quickly stabilize myself, only to feel a sticky hand grab me by the throat. In no time, my hands stop touching the ground as he lifts me in the air, his fingers tightening over my flesh.

He brings his snout to my face, sniffing me.

"Lora re," he hisses in a strange tongue. His voice holds two layers. A broken, sinister one that is the most clear, but also a second layer that sounds like a choir of a thousand people.

His breath wafts directly into my face now, the smell so putrid I can barely breathe. This is the smell of rot, of decaying flesh that's been forgotten in the sun. The fact that I've seen and tended to dead bodies before at the hacienda is the only thing that's keeping me from casting my accounts in that very moment. That and the fact that with Nikki out of the way, my self-preservation makes its belated appearance.

"Let me go," I barely get the words out.