Chapter 70
Into the Unknown
The air inside the old cabin was thick with the weight of unspoken truths. The pages of the ancient book lay open before them, its faded script a doorway to secrets long buried. Elena traced her fingers over the brittle parchment, the strange symbols twisting in her mind like echoes of something she almost understood.
“The ruins,” she murmured. “Where are they?”
The old man leaned back in his chair, his gaze dark and distant. “Deep in the Black Hollow. A place forgotten by time. It’s where the first rift was opened… where it all began.”
Mateo scoffed. “Great. So, just a simple trip into an abandoned ruin filled with unspeakable horrors. Sounds like a vacation.”
Richard ignored him. “How do we get there?”
The old man exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face. “There’s an old road—barely more than a path now. You’ll have to follow it for miles, past the dead trees. If you hear whispers, don’t stop. Don’t look back.”
Naomi crossed her arms. “And if we do?”
The man’s expression hardened. “Then you won’t make it.”
Silence hung in the air.
Elena closed the book gently, her decision already made. “We don’t have a choice.”
The others nodded, even Mateo, who looked like he regretted every life decision that had led him to this moment.
“Fine,” Naomi said, grabbing her bag. “Let’s get this over with.”
A Road with No Return
The drive toward Black Hollow felt endless. The trees grew denser, their skeletal branches clawing at the sky like twisted fingers. The further they went, the more unnatural everything felt.
No wind. No animals. Just an overwhelming silence.
Elena gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles white. “Anyone else feel like we’re driving straight into a horror movie?”
Amira glanced at the map on her phone. “We’re close. A few more miles.”
Mateo leaned against the window, watching the trees blur past. “Anyone else hear that?”
Richard tensed. “Hear what?”
Mateo’s voice dropped. “Whispers.”
Elena’s blood ran cold. She turned the volume up on the radio, static filling the car. “Ignore it.”
Outside, the shadows shifted. Something unseen moved between the trees, just beyond the reach of their headlights.
Then, the road abruptly ended.
The trees loomed ahead, blocking any further passage. A narrow, overgrown trail stretched forward, swallowed by darkness.
Richard checked his gun. “Guess we’re walking from here.”
Into Black Hollow
They moved cautiously through the underbrush, their flashlights barely cutting through the thick mist that curled around their ankles.
Every step felt heavier. The deeper they went, the harder it became to breathe, as if the air itself resisted their presence.
Elena’s pulse quickened. Something was wrong.
Then, up ahead, a clearing.
The ruins stood before them—tall, crumbling stone structures covered in moss, half-buried by time. The remains of an ancient temple, long forgotten.
Naomi exhaled. “We made it.”
Elena wasn’t so sure. The place felt alive—as if it had been waiting for them.
Richard took a cautious step forward. “Let’s find that name and get out of here.”
But before they could move, the ground beneath them shifted.
A cold wind rushed through the ruins. The whispers grew louder, forming words they couldn’t understand.
Then, from the shadows, something emerged.
A figure—tall, unnatural, its shape flickering like a dying flame.
It had been waiting for them.
And now, it was awake.
