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:
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2iGOdZgrt
"The price is memory."
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaRRi1v8Dw
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.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUfZMADl51
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.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDRnyuDNuh
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.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSE2Okzkq7
Jayden.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXvgtONc2b
Jayden froze. “Who the hell are you?”
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcoQO286gP
The old man smiled faintly. “You know me. You just chose to forget.”
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKl0rTKcJdJ
Ezra leaned in, whispering to Jayden, “He might be one of the architects… or someone from your past. We need to be careful.”
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKk5RdeoH8
Then without warning, a trap door in the ceiling opened and three bodies fell.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlGfIw9A7o
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.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Fth7vh4FB
"Et memini… et sum noxa."
"I remember… and I am guilty."
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrwEqSWdoH
The walls came alive, bleeding new words:
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiHV5NN4bq
"Reveal the truth. Or relive the pain."
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRXzH0r9G9
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.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKupsRv9E9C
The face was blurred, unrecognizable… but somehow, hauntingly familiar.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2r4k7Qi80
“That night…” Jayden whispered, his voice trembling. “It wasn’t just the two of us. Someone else was there. Someone was pulling the strings.”
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOdvPPMPTh
Then came the voice low, calm, and utterly terrifying.
The Host.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygO59tmggo
“Congratulations, detective. You’ve opened the first door. But answers always demand sacrifice… Are you ready to lose something else?”
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH31hfxUI0G
Darkness consumed the room.
The lights cut out. Total black.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGuJnMbB5s
But just before the darkness swallowed them whole, Ezra caught a glimpse one panel in the wall had opened.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDw1pLctWhs
Inside was a person.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuWyf97UhB
Bound. Gagged. Weeping tears of blood.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ06Y5zj0ohw
Their eyes locked with Jayden’s…
His knees buckled
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIiAlDSXmL
.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknpXxQJZWg
“That’s… that’s my brother.”
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ACBgWfQyY
🌑 To Be Continued...
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5dVg8assU
