The sun had barely begun its descent behind the horizon as Daniel, Dina, Maya, and Liam stood before the old, crumbling house. The wind howled through the trees surrounding it, but the house itself seemed to stand in an unnatural silence, as if holding its breath. Daniel's unease was palpable.
"This feels wrong," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder as if expecting someone—or something—to be following them.
Dina, however, was already stepping forward, her eyes wide with determination. "We have to figure out what's going on. We can't just leave it like this."
Liam, always the adventurer, nudged Daniel. "What's the worst that can happen?"
Daniel's gaze darted to the house, his mind flashing back to the strange events since they had found the journal—the way it seemed to watch them, almost as if it knew something they didn't.
"It's not about the house," Daniel said, his voice strained. "It's about that thing." He glanced toward the journal, still tucked in Dina's bag, though the weight of it seemed to grow with each passing minute.
Maya, walking up beside Dina, shot Daniel a reassuring smile. "We'll be fine. We're just looking, right? No harm in that."
Daniel reluctantly followed, his heart pounding. The house loomed before them like a forgotten relic, its windows dark and hollow, the air around it heavy with the scent of decay. The door, creaking on its hinges, was wide open.
Inside, the darkness swallowed them. The floorboards groaned under their weight, the air thick with dust and the remnants of long-forgotten memories. But it wasn't just the smell of decay that unsettled them—it was the feeling that something else lingered in the house with them.
"Do you hear that?" Maya whispered, her voice tight. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide.
The others paused, straining their ears. A faint whisper, like a breath caught in the walls, filled the air. It was almost too soft to make out.
"Stop messing around," Liam said with a nervous chuckle. But even he seemed unsettled.
Daniel pulled Dina closer. "Let's just leave. This is too much."
Dina shook her head. "No, we're here now. I need to know more about this place. About the journal."
They continued forward, creeping down the hallway toward the attic stairs. But then, Dina froze. A door, one she swore had been closed before, was now ajar.
"Was that... open before?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Liam glanced at the others. "Maybe someone else is here?"
Maya shook her head. "It's been abandoned for years. No one's been here."
Dina stepped forward, pushing the door wide open. Inside, the attic was shrouded in shadow, filled with old trunks and broken furniture, but one thing stood out: the journal. It sat on a dusty table, its cover slightly cracked. It was as if it had been waiting for them.
Dina's fingers hovered over it for a moment before she carefully set the journal down in the middle of the table. The moment it touched the wood, a strange sensation rippled through the room—a faint, almost imperceptible shudder, as if the house itself reacted to the journal's presence.
Daniel stepped back. "This isn't right."
But Dina didn't listen. She opened the journal, flipping to the most recent entry. Her breath caught in her throat as the words seemed to shift before her eyes, scrawled hastily across the page.
They shouldn't be here. Too late to turn back now.
The room went still, as if the house itself had gone silent. The wind outside no longer howled; the whispering voices from before had disappeared. Only the sound of Dina's heartbeat seemed to echo in her ears.
"What is this?" Liam asked, his voice sharp. "What does it mean?"
Dina hesitated. "It's like it knows we're here… It's reacting to us."
Daniel's face turned pale. "We have to leave. Now."
But Dina didn't move. She scanned the rest of the journal, her eyes widening as she read aloud another passage:
The house hides secrets, but not for long. If you are reading this, the journal has found you. There is no turning back now.
"Okay, that's enough!" Daniel exclaimed, grabbing the journal from Dina's hands. But as his fingers touched it, a violent tremor passed through the house, rattling the walls. The journal seemed to pulse with a life of its own, its pages flipping rapidly as though it was trying to show them something.
Suddenly, the door slammed shut with a deafening crash.
Everyone froze. The air grew colder, and shadows seemed to stretch unnaturally across the walls. The faint whispers from earlier returned, now louder, clearer.
"We're not alone," Maya whispered, her voice shaking. "We need to get out. Now."
But it was too late. A soft scraping sound came from the stairs above, followed by the slow, deliberate creak of footsteps. The door was locked from the other side, and no one was there.
Daniel's heart raced. "The journal… It's connected to the house. We're trapped."
(Dream Sequence)
As the air in the room thickened and the shadows stretched, Dina felt the ground beneath her shift, the cold creeping into her bones. Her vision blurred, and her knees buckled beneath her. Her hand reached for the table to steady herself, but everything spun too fast. The world around her seemed to distort—everything growing darker until, finally, she collapsed onto the floor.
The last thing she remembered before everything went black was the faint sound of the journal's pages turning... like it was calling to her.
---
When she opens her eyes, she's no longer in the attic. Instead, she finds herself standing in a vast, empty space—the void. There are no walls, no floor, just an endless stretch of darkness in every direction. The air is thick with a cold, whispering presence. The journal appears before her, floating in the middle of the emptiness, its pages wide open.
Dina steps forward, her heartbeat loud in her ears.
"Hello, Dina," a voice echoes, but it doesn't come from anywhere. It is the void, speaking to her. She feels the words deep within her chest, as though they are her own thoughts, but they're not.
The journal's pages flicker again, and Dina's breath catches as the words appear—her name written on the first line.
I've been waiting for you.
Dina reaches for the journal, her fingers trembling. The voice continues, each word resonating through her like a pulsing beat.
You've woken me, child. You have unlocked my power... but the price is high.
The pages turn rapidly, as if urging her to understand. The dream world shifts, and images flash by: her house, the abandoned one, the moment she touched the journal, her family's faces, all twisted and warped by an unseen force.
You cannot escape what you have started.
A loud crash echoes through the emptiness, and Dina spins around, but there's nothing. Only the voice remains.
There is no turning back. You and your brother are bound to me now. Bound to the house. To the curse.
Dina feels the pressure building around her, a suffocating weight that presses against her chest. The journal opens to a new page, showing a drawing of her and Daniel—but their faces are different, their eyes dark and hollow.
Together, you will decide the fate of Cedarvale. But you must choose...
The dream starts to twist, pulling her in different directions, and the words on the page shift into symbols she can't understand. Everything starts to crumble around her, as if the dream itself is falling apart.
The choice is yours, Dina. Choose wisely, or the town... will fall.
---
Dina jerks awake with a sharp gasp, her hands clutching the cold floor beneath her. Her eyes snap open, and the dark attic comes back into focus. Her breath is ragged, and she's drenched in sweat. The journal, still resting on the table, is open to a new page.
But now, the writing is different.
You've seen it. Haven't you?
----------
Dina's eyes fluttered open, but everything around her was blurry. The cold wooden floor pressed against her palms as she gasped for breath, trying to steady herself. Her heart raced, and the lingering sensation of the dream—the journal's voice—echoed in her mind.
She blinked rapidly, the remnants of the dream swirling in her head. The room came into focus again, but something was different. The air felt heavier, and the journal… it sat there, open, its pages waiting.
Before she could gather herself, the sound of footsteps approached.
"Dina?" Maya's voice was full of worry, and Dina felt hands pulling her up into a sitting position.
"Hey, are you okay?" Liam asked, his voice shaky. But Dina barely registered his words.
Daniel was the last to reach her. His face was pale, eyes wide with panic. "What did you do?" he hissed, his voice sharp. "What happened? Why did you—"
"Daniel, stop!" Maya interjected, holding him back as he tried to approach his sister. "She's not herself. Don't blame her."
But Daniel wasn't listening. His gaze flickered to the journal on the table, the dark energy still swirling around it. He looked at Dina, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and anger.
"This is your fault! Ever since we found that thing, things have been getting worse!" His words hit Dina like a slap, and she recoiled as though physically wounded.
Maya stepped between them, her hand on Daniel's chest. "That's not fair, Daniel. You're scaring her."
But Daniel couldn't contain his anger. "You don't get it! She's the one who's been messing with it!" His eyes shot back to Dina. "Look what happened! Look at the dream, the way the house changed, the way you changed! That thing—" He gestured toward the journal. "It's not just a book, Dina. It's dangerous."
Dina opened her mouth, but the words stuck in her throat. She wanted to explain the dream—the journal's warning—but the truth felt too heavy. And worse, part of her knew that the danger was only just beginning.
"I didn't mean for any of this to happen," Dina whispered, her voice barely audible. But Daniel didn't seem to hear.
The room fell into a heavy silence, the tension thick enough to suffocate them. Maya, clearly shaken, turned to look at the journal.
"I don't care what it is," Maya said, her voice steady, "we need to get rid of it. Now."
But Dina couldn't bring herself to agree. Something about the journal, something about the dream, tugged at her. She couldn't explain it, but she knew—it was calling to her.
"No," Dina finally spoke, her voice firm despite the fear gnawing at her. "We need to figure this out. There's more to this than we know. We can't just destroy it."
Daniel's expression darkened. "Are you seriously saying that? After everything that's happened?"
Dina nodded slowly, her gaze locked on the journal. "We can't run from it, Daniel. We have to understand it."
For a moment, Daniel just stared at her, his eyes filled with a mix of disbelief and hurt. Then, he turned away, shaking his head.
"You're not the same. None of us are," he muttered, his voice distant. He moved toward the door. "I'm done here."
Dina's breath was shaky, her heart pounding in her chest as the words from her dream echoed in her mind. She could still hear the journal's voice—You cannot escape what you have started. The dream felt like a distant memory, but it was still fresh, still pulling her, like an invisible thread wrapped tightly around her.
She stared at the journal. The room seemed to close in on her as if the very walls were listening, waiting. She could feel the energy in the house shifting, coiling around her like smoke. It was as if the house itself had come alive, drawn to the journal's power—and now, to her.
Her fingers twitched, the air crackling with a strange force, and for a moment, Dina didn't recognize the voice that left her lips. "Let us go."
The words weren't hers—not really. They were too firm, too commanding, as though they came from the journal itself, speaking through her.
The house groaned in response. The walls creaked and the floor beneath them began to tremble, the air growing thick with a strange energy. The windows rattled violently, as if the building itself was struggling against an invisible force.
"Dina!" Maya shouted, her voice panicked as the house began to shake. "What are you doing?!"
Dina barely heard her. The journal, open on the table, seemed to pulse with life, the pages turning faster, faster, as if it were feeding off her words. Dina stepped forward, compelled, drawn to the book like a magnet pulling her in.
The house moaned, the wood beneath their feet groaning as if in pain. Dina's gaze was locked on the journal, her mind swirling with its power. She felt an overwhelming urge to make it stop, to control the house, but it wasn't her anymore. The journal was in control.
A deep voice reverberated in her mind, louder now. You are mine now, Dina.
The journal's pages flickered violently, the words growing more frantic with each passing second. The air grew colder, and the shadows in the room stretched unnaturally long.
"Dina, stop!" Daniel yelled, but his words felt distant, as though the space between them had expanded.
For a moment, Dina couldn't hear anything but the journal's voice, like a siren call in her mind. You cannot resist me. You are part of me now. All of you.
The house rumbled again, louder this time, as if the very foundation of Cedarvale was shaking beneath their feet. Dina's hands shook, but she couldn't pull herself away. The journal wanted her.
And then, something in her snapped. The words escaped her lips, more forceful now. "I command you, house, to release us."
The house stopped.
The air settled, the ground beneath their feet ceasing its tremor. The walls, which had been groaning and bending, now stood still. The windows, once rattling violently, fell silent. The only sound left was the frantic fluttering of the journal's pages, now turning with a speed that was almost unnatural.
Dina staggered back, feeling lightheaded, as though a part of her had been ripped away. She could feel the weight of the journal's power, heavy in her hands, and she knew with a sinking feeling that it wasn't finished with her yet.
Her gaze flickered up to the others. Daniel looked furious, his eyes burning with a mix of fear and anger. Maya and Liam were silent, wide-eyed, still processing what had just happened.
And the journal… it was drawn to her. It was waiting for her to open it again.