x
The cameras were silent, but it felt as if the entire world was holding its breath. Darkness cloaked the newly uncovered chamber, and on one wall, scrawled in fresh blood, were just four chilling words:
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQG79Xbxw8
"The price is memory."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcZ6sxIDr1
Jayden stepped in cautiously. The floor was strangely soft like it had been woven from human skin. Each step he took felt heavier, like some invisible force was trying to drag him backward… back into the shadows of memories he had spent years burying.
Rhea followed closely, while Ezra scanned the room, searching for signs of an internal communication grid within the security cameras.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgSJllsh7H
Suddenly, the rear door slammed shut with a thunderous bang. A blinding spotlight snapped on from above illuminating a man standing against the far wall.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDxTHbjiQ6
He was old. His face worn, hollowed by time. But his eyes… they burned like emergency flares, fierce and unblinking.
He didn’t speak. Instead, he held a torn notebook in one hand, and on the first page scrawled in blood was a name.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbVuvQh16r
Jayden.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMoJam4wAe
Jayden froze. “Who the hell are you?”
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHpKN03MK2
The old man smiled faintly. “You know me. You just chose to forget.”
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpzDpoDUKQ
Ezra leaned in, whispering to Jayden, “He might be one of the architects… or someone from your past. We need to be careful.”
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAWNl0sj4v
Then without warning, a trap door in the ceiling opened and three bodies fell.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jGJvCdwst
Two hit the ground hard. One was already dead before impact. Another was barely breathing, intestines exposed from a cruel slash to the abdomen.
But the third… the third one stirred, whispering something in Latin through blood-stained lips.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxyl3lMoiJf
"Et memini… et sum noxa."
"I remember… and I am guilty."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhUjTlUrXP
The walls came alive, bleeding new words:
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiOTegYn3J
"Reveal the truth. Or relive the pain."
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbheHnvyEJn
Jayden stood paralyzed.
To his left, a wall began projecting images fragments of his past. He saw himself with the woman he once loved… arguing on a rainy night. A moment later, a flash of gunfire. A scream. Blood.
But in the corner of the footage, obscured in shadow there was a third figure. Unmoving. Watching.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6qSTk4RTz
The face was blurred, unrecognizable… but somehow, hauntingly familiar.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoM2zipsilv
“That night…” Jayden whispered, his voice trembling. “It wasn’t just the two of us. Someone else was there. Someone was pulling the strings.”
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftjKoUqYHN
Then came the voice low, calm, and utterly terrifying.
The Host.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsx6bBGyhs
“Congratulations, detective. You’ve opened the first door. But answers always demand sacrifice… Are you ready to lose something else?”
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSdGQkJDQm
Darkness consumed the room.
The lights cut out. Total black.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbznsIHEeh
But just before the darkness swallowed them whole, Ezra caught a glimpse one panel in the wall had opened.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXd9R2qBzS
Inside was a person.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVWLlsv1lZ
Bound. Gagged. Weeping tears of blood.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7SauATm6k
Their eyes locked with Jayden’s…
His knees buckled
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZudfC6LXV
.
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVoZ5Zh879
“That’s… that’s my brother.”
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMu6KofXBHH
🌑 To Be Continued...
40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTn8ZdrTuD
