The Entity Chosen.

Chapter 3: Among them

As Liriyal stumbled toward the survivors' camp, the Entity nestled deep within her, watching intently through her eyes. Its presence shifted, mingling with her thoughts, tasting her memories of the camp, feeding off the residual traces of hope and resilience she'd once shared with the others. But now, its influence twisted those memories, painting them with darkness and disdain. It was eager to see the broken, weary faces of its victims up close to relish in their fragile sense of security before the next trial tore it apart.

Liriyal entered the flickering glow of the campfire, her steps slow, almost reluctant. The others looked up, their expressions a mix of concern and cautious relief at her return. Meg, always quick to offer a comforting word, moved forward, her brows knitted.

"Liriyal... you look pale. Are you okay?" Meg's voice was soft, tinged with worry.

Liriyal opened her mouth, intending to answer, to let her old self surface even if only for a moment, but the Entity tightened its hold, whispering dark encouragements that cut through her own thoughts.

"They care for you, don't they? Look how weak they are... clinging to hope, to each other, unaware that I am already among them," it murmured in her mind, savoring the fear and desperation that it sensed lurking within the survivors.

She forced a smile, a gesture that felt foreign, twisted by the Entity's control. Her voice came out steady but hollow. "I'm... fine, Meg. Just tired."

Nearby, Claudette and Dwight shared a glance, their wariness thinly veiled. The survivors were always cautious of each other's well-being — they had to be, especially in a world where safety was so fleeting. Yet something about Liriyal's presence seemed off to them, an unspoken tension rippling in the air.

The Entity prowled within her, taking note of each survivor's posture, their fatigue, their fleeting smiles, their quiet conversations. It could see the faint embers of camaraderie, the comfort they found in one another between the brutal trials. Their closeness, their shared pain and hope — it all only made them more vulnerable, more susceptible to the horrors awaiting them.

The Entity leaned into Liriyal's senses, urging her to speak, to dig deeper into their fears. She resisted for a moment, her own consciousness struggling under the Entity's weight. But as her body moved of its own accord, the words slipped from her lips, tinged with the Entity's dark influence.

"Do you ever wonder..." Liriyal's voice was soft, contemplative, but laced with an unsettling edge. "...if we're meant to stay here forever? That maybe, there's nothing waiting for us but endless pain?"

The campfire crackled, the light flickering across the survivors' tense faces. Her words struck a chord, tapping into the dread each of them carried but rarely spoke aloud. Feng shifted uncomfortably, crossing her arms and glancing at Jake, whose expression had hardened.

"Don't say that," Jake replied firmly, his jaw clenched. "We keep fighting because we have to. We don't give up. Ever."

The Entity hummed in satisfaction, enjoying the ripple of anxiety it had sown through Liriyal's voice. It whispered insidious thoughts to her, feeding on the fragments of her remaining emotions, amplifying her own inner turmoil and casting doubt on her loyalty to the survivors.

"They think they can escape me," the Entity sneered within her mind. "But even now, they do not know I am here... watching, waiting. And when they least expect it, I will tear their precious bonds to pieces."

Liriyal's gaze drifted over her fellow survivors, her heart aching somewhere deep within the layers of her fractured mind. But the Entity's influence was too strong, drowning out her conscience, reducing her to a mere vessel for its twisted ambitions.

As they all sat in silence around the campfire, the Entity continued to study them through her eyes, planning, plotting. Liriyal's body shifted slightly, her face a mask of false serenity. She spoke again, her voice soft and haunting.

"Maybe we're all just... meant to suffer," she said, her words barely above a whisper, but sharp enough to cut through the silence.

The survivors exchanged troubled looks but said nothing. Their faces grew tense, shadows deepening beneath their eyes. The Entity savored it, feeding on the doubts it had planted, preparing for the next trial, where it would break them down even further.

The familiar fog thickened, swirling around the camp as the survivors' expressions shifted from tired wariness to alert fear. The Entity's realm called them once more, the ominous hum vibrating through the ground, seeping into their bones. Liriyal felt the pull too, her limbs moving as if in response to the dark summons, but she remained aware, a helpless passenger within her own body. Inside, the Entity stirred with anticipation, a dark excitement flooding her senses.

Do you guys think she's regretting it? No? Okay... :)