Contract Marriage with My Secret Partner in Crime-Chapter 14: The Fight for Survival

Eclipse clenched her teeth as the rows of mannequins stirred to life. Their movements were unnatural—jerky, yet disturbingly synchronized. Hollow eyes flickered with an eerie glow, and the air crackled with an invisible force binding them together.

Obscura stood tense, baton raised, scanning the shifting room. "We're at a disadvantage," he muttered.

Eclipse tightened her grip on her shock baton. "No kidding."

From the shadows, the Watcher chuckled, his voice smooth and mocking. "You should feel honored. No one has made it this far before."

With a slow flick of his hand, the mannequins surged forward.

Eclipse barely dodged the first attack, swinging her baton at the nearest one. The electrical surge sent it flickering, but it didn't vanish. Instead, it wavered for a second before stabilizing again.

Damn it. They're adapting.

Obscura, however, moved with precision. Each strike of his baton sent a mannequin crumbling into static.

Eclipse narrowed her eyes. "What's the trick?"

"No time," Obscura replied, sidestepping a clawed swipe before delivering a precise blow to a mannequin's neck. It dissolved instantly. "Just follow my lead."

Eclipse scowled but mimicked his movements. She struck a mannequin's head first, then its core.

This time—it shattered completely.

Got it.

But more mannequins emerged.

Glass cases slid open along the walls, releasing dozens more.

The Watcher sighed dramatically. "You're doing well, but you're fighting a losing battle. The Erasers never lose."

Obscura ignored him, his focus elsewhere—the power nodes.

Three left.

"Eclipse—cover me," he ordered.

Eclipse exhaled sharply. "Just hurry up."

Obscura darted toward the console, weaving through the oncoming mannequins while Eclipse fought to hold them back.

Watcher tilted his head, observing. "Interesting. You're not trying to escape... you're still trying to restore the power."

A slow smirk spread across his face. "Let's make this more fun."

He snapped his fingers.

Instantly, a deep metallic groan reverberated through the room.

Eclipse barely had time to react before the ground beneath them began to shift.

No—

The entire space tilted.

The floor split apart.

They were falling.

Eclipse lunged for a railing, barely managing to grab hold before she could plummet into the abyss below.

Obscura landed in a crouch, gripping the broken floor's edge with one hand.

The mannequins didn't fall.

Instead, they flickered—vanishing mid-air, only to reappear, standing as if gravity didn't apply to them.

Eclipse's stomach twisted. "They can teleport!?"

Obscura's expression darkened. "No. They're not bound to physical space."

She really didn't like the sound of that.

They had to finish this. Fast.

"Obscura," she growled, gripping the rail tightly. "I really hope you have a plan."

Obscura's gaze flicked to the Watcher. Then, he smirked.

"I do."

He looked at Eclipse. "Do you trust me?"

"What the hell kind of question is that? Of course I—"

Obscura grabbed her wrist—and pulled her down.

"What?! This is your plan!?"

Her voice echoed as they plummeted into the abyss.

"We're not going to die, right!?"

"Ahhh! Nooo! I still want to live!"

The Watcher's silver eyes widened slightly.

For the first time, he was silent.

He stared at them as they fell, his expression unreadable.

Then, slowly, he started clapping.

"...Impressive."

And with that, he vanished.

—

Eclipse's eyes snapped open.

She gasped, lungs desperate for air.

Her body was freezing.

Cold metal pressed against her back. Her fingers twitched, weakly grasping at nothing.

Alarms blared.

Beside her, monitors flickered erratically. Wires detached from her skin, falling to the ground with soft clinks.

She wasn't underground.

She wasn't falling.

She was lying in a dimly lit room, bathed in the eerie glow of malfunctioning monitors.

They had made it out.

They had won.

But—what exactly had just happened?

Eclipse turned her head, locking eyes with Obscura. He was awake too, chest rising and falling in sharp breaths.

Neither of them spoke at first.

Because the truth was sinking in.

Everything—the mannequins, the shifting walls, the chase, the fight—

It wasn't real.

Of course it wasn't real.

The idea that holograms could have physical form? That they could touch, strike, or even kill?

That was beyond the limits of current technology.

And the most terrifying part—the thing that made Eclipse's stomach churn—

If the Watcher had been telling the truth... then those mannequins weren't just projections. They were once real people.

No. That was absurd.

There was no way something like that could exist.

...Right?

Eclipse swallowed, her throat dry. "It was all a dream."

Obscura exhaled. "Not just any dream."

Someone had manipulated them. Controlled their minds. Forced them into that false reality.

They had been tricked.

Not into fighting to survive—but into believing survival was their only goal.

When in reality, the only way out...

Was waking up.

But—since when?

A memory flickered in her mind.

The performer.

The one who had tried to scare them earlier.

The needles on his costume—

The slight sting when they brushed against her skin—

A slow realization dawned.

It had been laced with something.

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Something to make them fall asleep.

Eclipse's eyes widened. "The needles... they drugged us."

Obscura's expression darkened. "Which means the moment we walked down those stairs, when the door locked behind us—"

That was when it happened.

Eclipse clenched her fists. She had known something was wrong back then. She had even said it.

"We're trapped."

And that was the last real thing she remembered.

Everything after that...

Was an illusion.

Eclipse exhaled sharply, reaching up to touch her face—then froze.

Her fingers brushed against something familiar.

The mask.

Her disguise as the young technician.

Still intact.

Thank God.

She turned to Obscura. "How did you figure it out?"

Obscura looked at her for a moment, then simply said, "You were scared. And you stayed behind me."

Eclipse blinked. "That's it?"

Obscura didn't answer right away.

Inside his mind, he continued his thought.

You're not the type to hesitate. You never back down from a fight. You're impatient, reckless—you always move first, never waiting for my orders. But back there, you weren't yourself. You let fear dictate your actions.

And I knew.

That wasn't you.

Eclipse stared at him, waiting for more, but that was all he said.

She understood anyway.

Because, yeah. She might be afraid of ghosts, but not to that extent.

Back there, her emotions had felt wrong.

Not just fear—something else.

Like something was controlling her.

And she was right.

Because someone had been controlling them.

Using a highly advanced neural interface—

A device that intercepts and manipulates brain waves, making dreams indistinguishable from reality.

Someone—The Erasers—had orchestrated all of it.

And yet, they had escaped.

This time.

Eclipse exhaled, forcing herself to sit up. "We're not done yet."

Obscura nodded. "No."

Because the Watcher—The Erasers—

Were far from finished.

And Eclipse had a terrible feeling...

This was only the beginning.