The crypt was unnervingly still, the only sound coming from their shallow breathing and the occasional creak of the ancient stone walls. Kyle stood frozen, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling as he tried to make sense of the soft noises coming from behind the hidden wall.
Kyle's heart started racing, his breath quickening. Something wasn't right. What was behind that wall? Who was down there?
"What is that?" Kyle whispered under his breath, but Elise just shook her head, the faintest of tremors running through her. She didn't respond to his question, but instead stepped back, her eyes wide as she stared at the gap in the wall. There was an eerie silence for a few seconds.
And then, as if on cue, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
Kyle gasped, his chest tightening. A cold sweat broke out along his back as he saw who it was.
"Elise?" Kyle breathed, his voice trembling.
Maria stepped forward into the dim light, her face pale, her expression blank as she looked around. Her movements were slow, measured, as if she were in some sort of trance. She didn't even seem to notice Kyle's shock, or Maria's uneasy presence.
"Elise…" Kyle began again, his voice shaking, his stomach twisting. "What… what are you doing here?"
Elise didn't respond immediately. She just stared at the floor, her eyes unfocused. When she did look up, her eyes met Kyle's, but there was no warmth in them. Nothing that suggested she was happy to see him.
"I had to come," she said finally, her voice small and hollow, almost as if the words were coming from somewhere deep inside her. "I had to come and see him. My father."
"What's going on, Maria?" Kyle asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He couldn't understand what was happening. Elise didn't answer immediately, her eyes still trained on the space where the wall had once stood.
Elise's fingers twitched at her sides as she seemed to fight against her own nerves. "I just… I miss him," she muttered, her voice distant and soft. Kyle frowned. He didn't understand what she meant by that, but he didn't push her, as the silence grew heavier.
He could feel the unease settling over him like a heavy fog, the tension in the air so thick it felt like he was suffocating. "Miss who?" he asked, his voice shaky despite his attempt to keep it steady.
Elise didn't respond, but her eyes flicked briefly towards the shadows in the crypt before darting back to the open space in front of her. Her fingers gripped the cold stone wall, and for a moment, Kyle wondered if she was going to collapse.
Kyle's mind spun, trying to piece things together. Elise was here, at her father's crypt. But why? And why now? There had to be more to this. The air around them felt cold and oppressive, like the walls themselves were closing in.
"Elise," Maria spoke up, her voice shaky but determined, "what the hell are you doing here?"
Elise didn't answer her right away. She just stood there, her gaze flickering between Elise, Isaac and Kyle, her hands clasped together tightly. The silence stretched on, heavy and suffocating. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Elise spoke again, in a low voice barely a whisper.
"I… I thought I could feel him. You know? Just for a moment, I thought if I came down here, it would feel like he was still here with me. Still watching over me."
Her eyes glazed over as she spoke, and Kyle couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine. There was something wrong about the way she was talking. It wasn't like grief. It was like obsession.
"I can't let go," Elise whispered, her voice barely audible now. "I can't. I won't."
Kyle didn't know what to say to that. How could he? He felt a deep unease, like something was very, very wrong.
Issac landed on Elise, then Elise, and finally settling on Kyle. His gaze was calculating, wary, like he was trying to read the situation without saying a word.
"What's going on here? Coming down here, you know your grandmother forbade you" Issac's voice was calm, but there was an edge to it. He wasn't asking out of concern. He was asking out of suspicion.
Elise finally turned to face him. Her lips parted as though she wanted to say something, but for a long moment, she didn't. Her gaze dropped again, almost as if she were ashamed, or perhaps reluctant to speak at all.
Issac took a step forward, his tone softening just slightly. "Elise, why are you down here?"
Maria looked up at him with wide eyes, and her voice was barely a whisper when she finally spoke. "I had to come. To see him... my father."
Issac's jaw tightened as he looked at her. "Elise, you need to stop coming down here. You know it's not healthy for you." His voice was gentle, but firm, as if he had said this many times before.
Maria didn't respond. Instead, she turned her gaze back to the stone crypt wall, where her father's remains were buried. "I can't just forget about him," she said, almost to herself. "I can't."
Issac's face softened, but there was a slight frustration in his eyes. He glanced over at Elise before looking back at Maria. "You need to move on. You have to let him go."
There was a long pause. Then, for the first time, Elise looked directly at Kyle. Her gaze was intense, almost too intense, and there was a strange, unsettling glint in her eyes.
"You wouldn't understand," Maria said quietly, her voice full of something Kyle couldn't place, resentment, maybe? "You think you know what it's like, but you don't."
Kyle didn't know how to respond. Something about the way she looked at him made him feel uneasy, like he was somehow involved in something much darker than he could comprehend.
Kyle wanted to speak up but Elise glares at him.
Elise seemed to sense the same thing. "Kyle, just don't," she whispered, her voice strained. "Just stay out of it."
Suddenly, the silence was broken by a loud noise, a banging sound that echoed through the crypt, as if something heavy had fallen over. The three of them froze, their gazes snapping toward the noise.
"What was that?" Kyle asked, his voice trembling. He felt a cold wave of fear wash over him as his heart beat faster in his chest.
"You know what? I think it time we all leave" Issac said firmly like he didnt want Kyle in here anymore.
"But...but..bu" Kyle tried to interject.
"Kyle we are leaving now" Issac said firmly leaving no room for objection.
As Kyle left he wondered what all the secrecy they keep trying to hide.