Page 108 of Specters & Spotlights

She couldn’t move.

“Elise!”

Kevin’s voice came from somewhere far away—panicked, urgent. “Stay here. With us. Elise, listen to me. You need to leave. You have to protect yourself.”

Still, she didn’t move.

Graham saw it happening. He saw the terror in her eyes and the life draining out of her face. And he didn’t wait.

He wrapped both arms around her and pulled—hard—drawing her backward, away from the arm that was now almost fully through the veil.

And then⁠—

CRACK.

The barrier shattered.

The air snapped open like a sucked-in breath, and the shadow stepped forward into the fluorescent-lit hallway, shoulders rising, form solidifying.

He looked directly at Elise and smiled.

He was coming for her, and this time she wouldn’t get away.

“Run, Elise!” Kevin’s voice rang out like a battle cry.

Before she could process what he meant to do, he flung himself between her and the shadow, incorporeal arms wrapping around the creature with all the desperate strength he could muster.

The air shuddered.

The shadow reeled and snarled—but Kevin held on.

His shout must have echoed beyond the spiritual realm—because Lark flinched, then obeyed, spinning toward the exit. And Graham—Graham didn’t hesitate.

He grabbed Elise’s hand and her bag in one fluid motion. “No time—move!”

She couldn’t move. Not at first. Kevin was still there. Still fighting.

Still protecting her.

“Elise!” Graham’s voice snapped through the haze, and this time her feet obeyed.

They ran.

Away from the pulsing walls. Away from the heat and wrongness. Down the long hallway glowing with cheap fluorescent light.

“Elise, out!” Kevin’s voice was strained, muffled.

Lark threw open the exit door ahead of them. All three of them flew through it, the Specter clawing his way down the hallway toward them, Kevin still clinging to him like a disregarded barnacle.

From the alley, Elise turned to look through the still-open door behind them. For a split second, the Specter’s unwavering attention on her felt like a pressure so intense that her knees would buckle under the weight. And then⁠—

They winked out of existence.

Kevin. The Specter. Gone.

Elise blinked. Panting. Her heart beating like it was trying to break out of her chest.

The hallway was just a hallway. Graham was still holding her hand tightly, tensed.