The underground hall pulsed around Jason, its walls dripping like they were sweating grease, the air so sweet it stuck in his throat like bad cough syrup. The tables, piled high with rotting food bread gone green, meat curling black seemed to breathe, their smell hitting him like a punch. The three Eli figures stood ahead, their eyes glinting with his dead friend's face, each holding a platter that pulsed like a heartbeat. "You should pay," they said in unison, voices sharp like broken glass, accusing him of stealing Eli's life. The horse pressed close, its coat dull, eyes wild, like it felt the city's hunger too. Jason's chest tightened, his breath short, the city's heartbeat thumping under his boots. This wasn't a fight he could win. It was a trap, and he was already caught.
He backed up, boots slipping on the slick floor, but the figures moved closer, slow, like they had all the time in the world. The hall's fog thickened, curling like cigarette smoke, turning the air grey and heavy. The first Eli figure stepped forward, its teeth too many, its platter dripping something thick, not wine, not blood, but alive. "You took my share," it said, voice Eli's but colder, like he was speaking from a grave. "You ate while I starved." Jason's stomach twisted, a memory hitting hard: him at twelve, shoving apples in his mouth, laughing as Eli watched, skinny and quiet, with nothing but a bruised one.
"I was a kid," Jason said, voice rough, barely loud enough to hear. The horse snorted, nudging him, its warmth the only thing keeping him from bolting. The figure tilted its head, Eli's eyes boring into him. What did you take that you can't give back?
Jason's mind spun, his hands shaking. The other two figures stayed back, watching, their platters pulsing louder. He saw Eli again, not just the apples but later, when Jason nabbed a job Eli needed, a chance to get out of that dusty town. Jason had bragged, eaten well, while Eli faded, too weak to keep up. "Your life," Jason whispered, the words like spitting out glass. "I took your life." The wall cracked, the fog clearing just enough to show a path deeper into the city, but the first figure lunged, shoving its platter at him, the smell so sweet it burned.
He stumbled backward. The horse let out this awful scream, hooves slamming down and cracking the floor just before he vanished. The platter dropped, food turning to ash before it even hit the ground, but the figure kept coming. It grabbed his arm. Not claws exactly, but close enough digging in, not cutting through but heavy, like the weight of every shitty thing he'd ever done. "Eat," it hissed. Its breath was freezing cold, like sticking your face in a freezer. Jason ripped his arm free, heart going crazy in his chest, but the fog got thicker around them. The path started twisting, turning into this narrow tunnel with walls that seemed to pulse. Like being inside something's throat. The other figures came after him, moving quiet, eyes stuck on him the whole time. He took off running, horse right beside him, but the tunnel felt wrong. Alive. Getting tighter around them, like it was trying to swallow him down.
The tunnel opened into a new chamber, darker, the air so thick it felt like breathing syrup. The walls were red, wet, like the inside of a stomach, and the floor was littered with bones, not human but close enough to make his skin crawl. The tables were back, sagging under food that looked fresh but smelled like death, oozing black, fruit bursting with worms. The second Eli figure stepped forward, its face more Eli's now, but wrong, like a photo left in the rain. "You didn't stop," it said, voice soft but cutting. "face me now jason!." It held out a cup, liquid shimmering like it could fix everything
He stared, mind racing,. The figure stepped closer, cup raised, liquid spilling over the edge, smelling like every meal he'd ever wanted. He saw Eli's face again, fading in that town, while Jason took jobs, food, anything to feel bigger.The second figure lunged, faster than the first, shoving the cup at his mouth.
Jason dodged, the liquid splashing his arm, burning like ice.The chamber's walls pulsed faster, like a heartbeat, the fog curling around his legs like hands. The third figure stayed back, watching, its platter bigger, heavier, pulsing louder. The tunnel twisted, narrower now, the air so sweet it made his eyes water. He ran and ran trying to run away from the two entities but they were just faster.
The tunnel spat them into a new space not a hall but a pit, round and deep, walls slick like they were coated in oil. The fog was thicker here, grey like ash, and the air felt like it was chewing on his skin. The tables were gone, replaced by a huge statue of a broken fist. There was something written on the plaque... a question maybe? Another riddle? Jason leaned forward to read what was on it while still being cautious about the entities he'd apparently outrun. It wasn't a riddle. "According to your opinion... did Eli hate you in his last moments? Did he wish it was you rotting in that bed?" Jason felt conflicted. Him and Eli were great friends, or so Eli thought. "I was a sadist... a sick one, but I was just a kid. All kids were like me, right?" "wrong" replied the entity who suddenly attacked him with a knife cutting his chest slightly.
Jason's legs shook, his breath coming short. He wanted to scream, to fight, but his hands were empty, his body felt heavy. Blood was spilling on the floor. The figure stepped closer, their platters pulsing. "It was just you... people change. You, on the other hand, you loved every second of it..." The entity said as it vanished and reappeared suddenly behind Jason and cutting him again this time his forearm. More blood spilled on the ground. "Tell me, Jason... do you like hurting people?",The question felt like a slap. Jason felt like the answer was obvious. NO, right? No sane person loves harming other people, right? Then why did it feel like the wrong answer?
"I'm sorry," Jason said, voice barely a whisper, but the figure didn't stop, unsatisfied with his answer...it sought no false pardon or lies, only the quiet dignity of what is true "wrong answer Jason" replied the entity, suddenly the 2nd entity appeared and kicked Jason so far behind he could swear that he journeyed through many places at once, the pain was like never felt before be he managed to stand up just to be welcomed by a huge portrait of a two figures standing before a mirror but the reflection was showing only one of them... the 2nd figure looked confused while the first one looked happy as if this was the natural thing to happen...again there was a plaque "The next battle will be the last...winning isn't only achieved with fighting....if there was something Eli never received is " the spotlight he always wanted"
The moment Jason blinked...the place became a maze,this time all the 3 figure of Eli appeared determined to kill....they launched at Jason and all he did was running away going through each path all leading to each other, fear was clear in Jason's eyes. The figures were fast but he still managed to outsmart them inside the maze but he can tell they're getting angrier...."if there was something Eli never received is the spotlight he always wanted".