Don't Look At the Rooftops by Lucas Fenwick & Lucas Fenwick

Author:Lucas Fenwick & Lucas Fenwick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: urban cosmic horror, modern lovecraftian horror, skyscraper horror novel, liminal space horror, psychological urban horror, reflected space entities, existential horror fiction
Publisher: Black Lantern Publishing
Published: 2025-12-16T00:00:00+00:00

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Word count: 3,241

​CHAPTER 10 - Singh's Encounter

The spotlight beam cut through the darkness of the observation deck, and for a moment - less than a second - Singh saw it clearly.

The entity hung suspended in the center of the room, impossibly balanced in midair without support. Its segmented limbs were folded close to its central body, creating a compact form roughly eight feet tall. The diamond head was angled downward, and in the spotlight's beam, Singh could see the patterns on its surface - symbols or circuitry that pulsed with faint bioluminescence.

Then the entity recoiled from the light, its limbs extending outward to grip the ceiling and walls simultaneously. It pulled itself upward and sideways in a motion that violated every law of physics Singh had ever learned, flowing across the observation deck's ceiling like liquid shadow.

"OUT!" Rodriguez shouted. "Everyone to the elevators NOW!"

They ran.

Singh grabbed his equipment bag, not bothering to collect the spotlights they'd set up. Behind him, he could hear the entity moving across the ceiling - the scrape of its limbs on concrete and glass, the sound like metal on metal but with organic undertones that set his teeth on edge.

Leah was ahead of him, still clutching her laptop and one camera. Jace and Rodriguez had the emergency stairwell door open, waving them through.

"Elevators might not be working!" Jace shouted. "Power's out!"

They piled into the stairwell, Rodriguez slamming the door behind them. Emergency lighting flickered in the concrete shaft, barely enough to see by. Singh could hear his own breath echoing, harsh and rapid.

"Down," he managed. "As fast as we can. Don't stop until we're at street level."

They descended in a controlled fall, taking stairs three at a time, hands on the railings for balance. Singh's legs burned by the tenth floor. By the twentieth, his lungs were screaming. But the alternative - stopping, being caught by what was hunting them - drove him onward.

Behind them, above them, something moved in the stairwell.

Singh looked up - couldn't help it, pure instinct - and saw a shape descending from far above. It wasn't using the stairs. It was moving along the walls and ceiling, its segmented limbs finding impossible purchase on the vertical surfaces, its body reconfigured into something optimized for pursuit.

And it was fast. Much faster than they were.

"It's following us!" Singh gasped. "Move faster!"

Fiftieth floor. Forty-fifth. Fortieth. Singh's heart hammered against his ribs, adrenaline overriding exhaustion. Leah stumbled, caught herself on the railing, kept moving. Jace was pulling ahead, his window-washer's conditioning giving him an edge.

Thirty-fifth floor.

The entity was closing the gap. Singh could hear it clearly now - the rhythm of its movement, multiple limbs striking surfaces in rapid succession, creating a sound like industrial machinery operating at high speed.

"Lights!" Singh pulled out his flashlight, twisted, aimed it upward.

The beam caught the entity mid-descent. It was three floors above them, its limbs spread across the stairwell's full width, its diamond head oriented directly toward Singh.

Directly at him.

Their eyes met - or whatever passed for eye contact with something that had a void where its face should be.

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