Contract Marriage with My Secret Partner in Crime-Chapter 11: They Shouldn’t Exist

Eclipse barely dodged as the figure lunged, its movement unnaturally fast. Her instincts took over, and she twisted to the side, feeling the air shift as the attacker's hand swiped past her face.

Obscura was already moving. In a split second, he grabbed Eclipse's arm and yanked her backward, putting distance between them and the unknown threat.

The lights flickered again, casting eerie, shifting shadows. The figure—no, figures—stood at the entrance now. More than one. Their outlines were distorted, as if their bodies flickered in and out of existence.

"Shit," Eclipse hissed. Her knife was gripped tightly in her hand, but something about this situation was wrong. There was no sound, no breathing—just the clicking. A rhythmic, unnatural sound that set her nerves on edge.

Obscura stayed still, his sharp eyes assessing the enemy. "They're not moving yet," he muttered.

Eclipse swallowed hard. "Any brilliant ideas before they do?"

Obscura exhaled slowly, reaching for his belt. "I count three. Maybe more in the hall. If we run, we don't know what's waiting outside."

Eclipse tightened her grip on her weapon. "So we fight?"

The moment the words left her mouth, the figures charged.

Eclipse barely had time to react before one of them closed the distance in an instant. She ducked, throwing herself to the side as a clawed hand sliced through the air where her head had been. She slashed upward with her knife, aiming for the creature's torso.

The blade met nothing.

It passed straight through the figure like cutting smoke.

Eclipse's heart pounded, her breath hitching. "No... no, this isn't real. Ghosts aren't real," she muttered, as if trying to convince herself. A wave of dizziness hit her, but then her father's face flashed in her mind. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to stand firm.

She had to be brave!

Obscura, meanwhile, had pulled out a small device from his belt—a compact flashlight with a faint blue glow. He clicked it on, and the beam shot across the room.

The second the light touched the creatures, they shrieked.

Eclipse flinched at the sound—high-pitched and distorted, like a recording played backward. The figures recoiled violently, their bodies flickering even more erratically.

"They react to light," Obscura said calmly. "That's good to know."

Eclipse let out a breath. "Great. And next time, maybe start with that instead of watching them try to kill us."

Obscura ignored the comment. "The generator room is two floors down. If we restore the power, we might have more control over this place."

Eclipse glanced at the creatures, still writhing under the flashlight's beam. "And what about them?"

The countdown on the screen continued to tick down.

00:27:45

"Survive," Obscura said simply. "That's our mission, isn't it?"

Eclipse let out a dry laugh. "Yeah. Easy for you to say."

Obscura switched his grip on the flashlight. "Move fast. Don't look back."

Then he sprinted for the door.

Eclipse cursed but followed. The creatures screamed again as they burst through the entrance, the blue light barely holding them back.

The real fight had just begun.

They sprinted through the dim corridor, the rhythmic clicking of their pursuers growing louder behind them. The flashlight's blue beam flickered as Obscura swung it back, forcing the creatures to hesitate for brief moments—but they never fully stopped.

"They're adapting!" Eclipse shouted, glancing back as the figures twitched and jerked, momentarily frozen under the light but slowly pressing forward.

Obscura didn't respond, his mind already calculating their next move. The layout of the underground structure had been vague in the Archive's files, but he remembered one crucial thing—the generator room was supposed to be on the lowest accessible floor.

They just had to get there alive.

Eclipse skidded to a stop at an intersection. "Which way!?"

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Obscura scanned the area. The hall split into three paths. The middle led further into darkness, the left had a faint green emergency light flickering above, and the right—

A low, distorted growl echoed from the right hallway.

"The left," Obscura decided instantly.

Eclipse stood still, her expression conflicted, as if deeply pondering—where the heck is left!?

She was good at many things, but not this. Her mind always felt dizzy, like the world was spinning, whenever she had to figure out left from right.

Obscura stared at her in disbelief. Don't tell me... is she actually trying to figure out where left is?

But something felt off.

Eclipse usually relied on instinct when choosing a direction—and more often than not, she ended up going the opposite way. It was rare for her to hesitate like this. She always had that carefree, happy-go-lucky attitude. But now... she seemed different.

With no other choice, he grabbed her hand and led the way.

They took off again, their feet pounding against the cold metal floor. The air smelled of rust and damp concrete. Pipes ran along the ceiling, some leaking condensation that dripped down like slow, steady rain.

The sound of pursuit didn't lessen.

A heavy metal door came into view at the end of the hall. A small panel was mounted beside it, its screen cracked but still glowing faintly.

"That's it!" Eclipse gasped.

Obscura didn't waste a second. He reached the panel and scanned the screen. Access Restricted – Security Code Required.

"Damn it," Eclipse swore. "We don't have time for this!"

The creatures were closing in. She could hear their erratic movements, the clicking intensifying like an approaching swarm.

Obscura pressed a few buttons, attempting to override the lock. The panel beeped in protest. ACCESS DENIED.