The night was heavy with tension. The rowhouse seemed smaller than ever, its walls pressing in. The patched floor groaned under the weight of everything buried beneath it.
Ezra paced in front of the door, shotgun in hand, muttering curses. Silas rocked on the basement steps, whispering about scratching noises, his eyes glassy. Naomi stood by the window, her hand brushing the pistol under her coat, cigarette smoke curling around her face.
And Hollow sat at the table, calm as always, pen dragging across paper like none of it touched him.
Ezra finally snapped. "We're rotting in here! Cops outside, Reaper's boys sniffing, the kid losing his f***ing mind, and you just sit there scribbling!"
Hollow didn't look up. "Order holds if I say it holds."
Ezra slammed his hand on the table, rattling the notebook. "Your order's done. You ain't leading nothing. You're hiding. You're letting us drown!"
Hollow leaned back, cigarette ember glowing, his eyes hollow. "You were never following me, Ezra. You were following fear. And now you fear the wrong man."
Ezra's shotgun rose, his knuckles white. "Maybe I fear no man."
Naomi moved quick, pistol flashing into her hand, steady as her voice. "Drop it, Ezra."
For the first time, Silas screamed, his voice raw and broken. "Stop it! The floor's already breaking! Can't you hear it? It's coming up, it's coming—"
The boards beneath them creaked loud, splitting slightly, dust swirling up from the gap. Everyone froze, eyes on the floor like it might open right then.
Ezra's grip loosened for half a second—just enough for Hollow to move. He stood, swift as a knife, and shoved the shotgun aside. The blast tore into the wall, splintering plaster, echoing like thunder.
Chaos erupted. Naomi fired, the shot grazing Hollow's arm. Ezra swung back at her, shotgun butt cracking against her shoulder. Silas lunged for the crowbar, screaming incoherently, prying at the boards as if to rip them all open.
The house roared with noise—gunfire, shouts, wood splitting.
And outside, in the street, Detective Keene heard it all through his headset. He nodded once to his partner.
"Implosion," he said flatly. "It's time."