The Depths of Nightfall
Lena felt like she was falling forever. Her body plummeted through an endless blackness, the cold air biting into her skin, the darkness swallowing everything around her. It was as if she had been thrown into a pit that had no bottom, only a bottomless void that reached out and claimed her soul. She couldn't breathe. Her lungs burned, her chest constricted, and her mind scrambled for a way out—any way out.
But there was no escape. The ground had given way, and now she was descending into the abyss of something she couldn't comprehend.
Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, the fall stopped.
The force of it snapped her head back, and her breath came out in ragged gasps, as though she had just surfaced from underwater. She blinked hard, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkened surroundings. But the moment her feet hit solid ground, the feeling of vertigo—of falling—didn't fade. It was still there, pressing in on her, like she was trapped in the belly of some great beast. The air was thick with the metallic scent of damp earth and decay.
Lena looked around, her vision still hazy, but gradually, shapes began to emerge from the darkness. The walls around her seemed made of stone, ancient and weathered, covered with symbols that seemed to pulse faintly, like veins of light running beneath the surface. A low, guttural growl echoed from somewhere deep within the cavern, and Lena's skin prickled with a sense of unease.
"Where am I?" she whispered, her voice barely audible in the vast silence that enveloped her. Her hands were trembling as she pushed herself to her feet, heart racing. The ground was cold under her boots, the air thick with a feeling of something ancient watching her.
In the distance, she noticed a faint glow coming from an archway at the far side of the cavern. The glow wasn't warm, wasn't comforting—it was cold and unnatural, like the last remnants of a dying fire. With no other choice, Lena started to move toward it, her footsteps echoing through the eerie silence.
As she neared the archway, she realized it wasn't just a simple passage. It was a doorway, carved into the very rock, covered in strange, intricate patterns. The symbols were like nothing she had ever seen before—twisting, shifting, changing the moment she tried to focus on them. It was as though they were alive.
She reached for the stone frame, her fingers brushing the cold surface, and the moment she did, the air around her seemed to tighten. The walls groaned. The ground trembled.
And then, the voice came again.
"Lena…"
This time, the voice was different. It wasn't the hollow whisper she had heard before, the one that had promised her doom. It was colder. More familiar.
Lena spun around, her breath caught in her throat. There, standing in the doorway of the cavern, was Ethan—but he wasn't the Ethan she knew. His eyes were hollow and dark, his skin unnaturally pale. His mouth was twisted in a strange half-smile that didn't reach his eyes. He stepped forward, and his footfalls sounded like a death knell in the cavern.
"Ethan?" Lena's voice cracked as she took a tentative step toward him. "What happened to you?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he raised a hand, his fingers trembling, and gestured toward the archway.
"The town belongs to them now," he said, his voice low and eerie. "They were waiting for you."
Lena took a step back, the words settling over her like a heavy fog. "Who… who are you talking about?"
Before he could respond, the ground trembled again, harder this time, and the cavern seemed to shudder, as though it were alive. The symbols on the walls flared bright red, burning into the stone, as though the very earth was reacting to their presence. The glow in the distance grew brighter, and with it, Lena could hear the unmistakable sound of… voices. Many voices, layered upon one another. A chorus of whispers, like a thousand souls screaming in unison.
Lena's heart began to race. "Ethan, what have you done? What are they?"
Ethan's face twisted, and his eyes—those hollow, empty eyes—locked onto hers. "They are the Silent Ones," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "And they will take everything. They have already taken me."
The realization hit her like a wave crashing into the shore. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach. The curse wasn't just tied to the town. It was tied to her, to her bloodline, to everything that had ever happened here. She was the key to unlocking it, and now she was trapped in the heart of it.
Ethan's voice grew weaker, almost pleading. "Lena, you have to stop them. They're already inside you."
But Lena didn't have time to ask what he meant. The ground shook again, and this time, the stones beneath her feet cracked open. A blinding light flared from the archway, and Lena barely had time to react before she was thrust forward, into the light.