Darkness swallowed everything.
Not normal darkness —thick, heavy, alive.
Lina froze as the whisper echoed through the pitch-black room:
"Welcome back, Lina…"
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
"Kai," she gasped, reaching blindly.
His hand found hers instantly. "I'm here. I've got you."
Reyon fumbled beside them. "Where—where is that voice coming from?!"
Seren whimpered, clutching Reyon's sleeve. "It's not one voice… it's many. Layered. Wrong."
Then —
SCRAPE.
Something dragged against the floor near the doorway.
Kai pushed Lina behind him, Shadowsteel forming in a trembling black aura.
"Show yourself," he growled into the dark.
A low, distorted whisper answered:
"You came back. Just like last time."
Lina stiffened. "What do you mean last time?! I've never—"
Her words cut off as the lantern flickered back to life for a split second.
And Lina saw—
herself.
Standing in the corner.
Same uniform.Same flame mark.But her eyes…
Her eyes were hollow.Empty.Dead.
The lantern died again.
Lina choked on air. "That wasn't— That— That wasn't—"
Reyon grabbed her other hand, voice shaking. "It's an illusion. It HAS to be—"
"No," Seren whispered. "Reyon… that was real. The room is showing her echoes. Echoes from people who died here."
Lina's knees buckled.
Kai caught her, pulling her close. "Look at me. Not the shadows. Me."
She nodded, trembling.
Something slammed into the door behind them — hard enough to rattle the wood.
"THUD!"
Reyon inhaled sharply. "Okay, someone definitely wants in."
The whisper drifted again:
"Open the notebook, Lina."
Lina stared into the dark. "No."
"Open it."
"No!"
The lantern flickered again — and this time the notebook sat open on the floor.
A single page glowed.
Kai pulled Lina behind him again. "Don't look."
But the notebook turned its pages on its own.
flapflapflap
Until it stopped at a page with neat, elegant handwriting.
Lina's.
Her own handwriting.
But she had never written any of this.
Kai's voice dropped. "Lina… don't read it."
Too late.
The glowing words burned into her vision:
I forget more every time.If I lose myself completely, I hope someone saves me.If you find this — I'm sorry.Don't trust the voice.Don't trust—The last line was smeared.Like someone had tried to wipe it away using trembling hands.
Lina's breath broke. "I didn't write this. I didn't—I didn't—"
Seren shook her head rapidly. "No. No, no, no. This isn't yours. This is from the last flameborn. She left her memories here."
But Lina wasn't convinced.
She had been forgetting things.Losing seconds.Seeing things that shouldn't be real.
Her hands shook violently. "What if… what if I'm already—"
Kai grabbed her face, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"You're not her," he said firmly. "You're not repeating her fate. I won't let that happen."
Lina swallowed hard. "But the notebook—"
"Is lying," he said. "The Archives lie. They show what they want you to fear."
Reyon threw up an illusion shield, though it flickered. "This place is designed to break people, okay? None of this is stable reality."
Seren whimpered. "Something is coming…"
The air grew colder.
The darkness shifted—
And a figure stepped into the light of the flickering lantern.
A girl.
The flameborn Lina had seen in the shard memory.
But her body was wrong —fadedtransparentflickering between alive and dead.
Her mouth opened—
But the voice didn't match her lips.
"Lina… don't… trust… him…"
Lina froze.
Kai's eyes widened. "Who is she talking about?"
But the girl's head twitched unnaturally — like invisible hands were puppeteering her.
Her jaw cracked open further.
"He betrays you… in the end…"
The lantern dimmed.
Kai grabbed Lina, pulling her close. "Don't listen to it!"
But the voice wasn't finished.
The flameborn girl pointed one shaking finger toward them—
At Kai.
Lina's breath died.
"No…"
Kai's whole body went rigid.
Reyon shouted, "This place is lying to us! Don't believe anything it shows!"
But Lina couldn't breathe.
Seren screamed suddenly, collapsing to her knees.
"STOP! Stop using the dead! Stop twisting them!"
A wave of pressure rippled through the room—the flameborn apparition shrieked—the lantern exploded—
Darkness fell again.
When light returned—
The girl was gone.The chalk circle was broken.The notebook was closed.
And in the blank spot on the floor where the apparition had stood—
A new message was written in black ash:
"The traitor stands beside her."
Reyon inhaled sharply. "Okay—THAT'S enough."
Seren started crying. "It's lying. It's lying. It's lying."
Kai turned to Lina slowly.
Not defensive.Not scared.
Just… hurting.
"Lina," he whispered. "I would never betray you."
Her flame pulsed painfully.
She wanted to believe him.
She did believe him.
But the Archives whispered—
Lies or prophecy?
She didn't know.
And that frightened her more than anything.
To be Continued© Kishtika., 2025All rights reserved.