Chasing Shadows

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Ashes to Ashes

The sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed in the small room as Ethan continued to rain blows on Callum's lifeless body, a whirlwind of rage and disbelief coursing through him. Each punch felt like a release of pent-up frustration, a cathartic escape from the darkness that had clouded his mind for far too long. Blood splattered across Ethan’s skin, warm and sticky, as he pounded away, a primal scream bubbling up from deep within him.

Finally, he stopped, chest heaving, and stared down at Callum’s lifeless form. The room was silent now, the echoes of their struggle replaced by an eerie stillness. Callum’s face was unrecognizable, marred by the brutality of their fight. The seriousness of the moment settled heavily on Ethan, his expression morphing into something almost terrifying—an emptiness masked by a façade of control.

With a shuddering breath, Ethan closed his eyes, drawing upon the power that surged within him. He felt the heat build up, a fire igniting in the pit of his stomach. In an instant, flames engulfed Callum’s body, consuming it in a blaze of orange and yellow. The fire danced around him, crackling and hissing as it devoured the remnants of what had once been a living, breathing person.

Ethan watched, transfixed, as the flames flickered and licked at the air, an unsettling calm washing over him. It was almost beautiful, the way the fire transformed Callum’s body into ash, leaving nothing but a charred outline on the cold concrete floor. The heat felt good against his skin, a reminder of the darkness that lingered within him—a darkness he had embraced, perhaps too willingly.

In the shadows of the room, Zane stood, a smirk playing on his lips, eyes gleaming with a mix of surprise and approval. He had anticipated this moment, knowing all along that Ethan would cross the line. “You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Ethan,” he thought “I knew you had it in you.”

Ethan gaze was still locked on the burning remnants of Callum. He felt a strange sense of satisfaction, mixed with a nagging guilt that threatened to claw its way to the surface. He had done what needed to be done—hadn’t he?

As the flames flickered and began to die down, the door creaked open, spilling light into the darkness. Ethan stepped through the threshold, the adrenaline of the fight still coursing through his veins, but the weight of what he had just done hung heavily on his shoulders.

“Ethan!” Asher’s voice rang out, breaking the silence like a gunshot. “Where’s Callum?”

Ethan kept his head down, avoiding Asher’s gaze, his heart racing at the thought of what had just transpired. He couldn’t tell him. He couldn’t admit what he had done.

“We need to get out of here,” Asher insisted, his voice filled with urgency. “It’s a trap. We need to move—now!”

Ethan felt Asher’s eyes on him, scrutinizing, searching for answers. “Where’s Callum?” Asher repeated, more forcefully this time, the tension thickening in the air.

“He… he’s not coming,” Ethan replied, his voice barely above a whisper. He could feel the blood still dripping from his hands, the metallic scent mixing with the smoke in the air.

Asher’s expression shifted from concern to confusion as he took a step back, horror dawning on his face as he processed the scene before him. “What do you mean he’s not coming? What happened in there?”

Ethan’s heart raced as he avoided Asher’s piercing gaze, the silence stretching between them like a taut wire ready to snap. He felt the weight of his actions pressing down on him, a heavy shroud of darkness that threatened to consume him whole.

Asher’s eyes narrowed as he took in the blood covering Ethan’s clothes, the remnants of their struggle stark against the backdrop of his pale skin. “Ethan… did you kill him?”

“I did what I had to do,” Ethan replied, his voice steady, though the tremor in his hands betrayed him. “He was a threat, Asher. You have to understand.”

“Understand?” Asher’s voice was a mixture of disbelief and anger, disbelief morphing into something more profound. “Ethan, you didn’t have to—”

“I did!” Ethan interrupted, his voice rising in frustration. “He was going to get us killed! You don’t understand what it’s like to be in there, to be forced to make that choice!”

Asher stared at him, hurt etched into his features, and for a moment, silence enveloped them, thick and suffocating. Then, with a shake of his head, Asher turned to leave, urgency propelling him forward. “We need to go. Now.”

As they hurried through the dilapidated building, Ethan couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that hung in the air, a weight that pressed heavily on his chest. Asher’s earlier anger had shifted to a quiet resignation, and Ethan felt a chasm open between them, widening with every step they took.

“Ethan, listen to me,” Asher said as they reached the exit. “We need to regroup and figure out our next move. You can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep—”

“I know what I’m doing!” Ethan snapped, frustration spilling over. “I had to protect you! To protect us!”

Asher’s eyes flashed with a mixture of pain and disbelief. “At what cost, Ethan? You’ve crossed a line you can’t uncross.”

The two of them stepped outside into the cool night air, the chaos of the building behind them. But as Ethan looked back at the burning structure, a sense of dread settled in his gut. He had thought that ending Callum would bring him peace, but now, all he felt was a gnawing emptiness—a darkness that threatened to swallow him whole.

Asher turned to him, his voice softer now. “We need to figure out what’s going on. I can’t lose you to this darkness, Ethan.”

Ethan swallowed hard, the weight of his actions crashing over him like a wave. He had killed Callum, and now the consequences loomed ahead, dark and inevitable. He couldn’t let Asher see the turmoil that roiled within him—the fear that maybe he was becoming something he never wanted to be.

“Let’s just get out of here,” Ethan murmured, feeling the sting of tears in his eyes. He couldn’t let them fall. Not now.

As they stepped away from the burning building, Ethan knew that the real battle was just beginning. The darkness within him stirred, and with it, the chilling realization that Zane had been watching, waiting for this moment. And he wasn’t done with Ethan yet.