The trees finally thinned out, and the three of them stepped into another old town swallowed by forest.
The buildings leaned to the side like they were tired of standing. Moss crawled over cracked windows, and the thick mist covered the entire streets.
Noah slowed down, breathing hard.
"Finally… somewhere that doesn't look like it wants to eat us."
Emma tapped his shoulder. "Everything here wants to eat us."
"Valid," Noah replied.
Amy didn't say anything. She clung to Emma's sleeve like a scared kid.
They walked slowly through the empty town.Broken lanterns swung even though there was no wind. A strange voice echo around them.
A little girl sat by a stone fountain, combing her hair with a wooden comb. Her dress was white and clean. And her long black hair covered her face.
Noah stepped forward. "Hello?"
The girl stopped combing.
Her head turned.
she had no face.
No eyes.
No mouth.
Not even a nose.
Just smooth skin.
Emma grabbed Noah's shirt instantly.
"NOPE. NOAH. NO. TURN AROUND."
Amy whispered, "That's not normal… right?"
Noah shook his head. "I'm pretty sure this is maximum-level abnormal."
The faceless girl lifted one hand and pointed at them. Her fingers bent the wrong way, cracking as they moved.
"Okay, goodbye" Noah turned around.
The faceless girl dashed forward without moving her legs. She slid across the ground like a puppet being dragged by strings.
"RUN!" Noah shouts.
The three of them bolted down the street as the girl glided after them, her neck stretching unnaturally long, head tilting sideways like it was broken.
"She's getting closer!" Amy cried.
"Don't look back!" Emma yelled.
"I ALREADY DID!" Amy screamed.
Noah took a sharp turn. "This way!"
They dodged between trees, jumped over broken walls and ran until the girl's eerie sound faded behind them.
Noah finally stopped. "Okay… That was fun."
Amy sat on a tree stump and hugged her knees. "I want a refund for this island."
Emma shook her head fast. "This place sucks."
" You have a point," Noah replied.
They caught their breath, then continued walking. The forest swallowed the town behind them.
A few minutes later, they reached a massive mansion, Hidden behind some tall trees.
The gates swung open like the place was expecting them.
Emma stared. "We're not going in there."
Noah walked forward. "We're definitely going in there."
Amy sighed. "My life choices are terrible."
They stepped through the gates. The mansion's doors opened on their own with a long creak. Inside was a long hallway with dusty portraits of people with scratched-out faces.
Amy whispered, "Why does everyone here hate faces?"
"Maybe no face was a think on this island," Noah said.
Emma elbowed him. "Not the time!"
At the end of the hallway, the floor opened into a huge chamber. The walls were covered in drawings, carvings, and giant cracked murals. Strange candles lit themselves as the trio entered.
Emma looked around slowly. "Okay… this is creepy. Very creepy."
Noah wiped dust from one mural. "These drawings… they're old. Really old."
The first picture was a woman being sealed inside a large stone.
Amy leaned closer. "Who is she?"
"No idea," Noah said, stepping beside her.
The second picture showed four fruits. With strange swirling patterns around them, one of them had the question mark symbol. The patterns turned into tendrils wrapping around the people in the carving.
The third mural showed a strange world with tall buildings, flying ships, giant metal towers.
The fourth mural showed a man laughing. The word NIKA was carved beside him in large letters.
Emma whispered, "What does Nika mean…"
What does all of this mean?" Amy muttered to herself.
The last mural was the darkest.
A tall black figure wearing a crown. His body was just a silhouette, but countless hands stretched out from behind him.
The walls were filled with ancient writings.
Emma traced her fingers across it.
The text read:
"Λαισϕα η'ρεσϝα τιλ σ'ορa θενα.
Ευτρα μολιγαν πρεστα α'τιν.
Σορα κινναι θεμαρε κυνν αρι."
Amy shivered. "What does that mean?"
Noah turned to Emma. "Do you know what it says?"
Emma shook her head. "No… I don't. But it feels like a warning."
The carvings continued along the wall like a story:
"Τελαριν θε'να μωγα ενδρα.
Καλιστε να'υν τυρασι.
Εττα με'ν καραστ ημα."
Noah frowned.
Amy hugged Emma's arm.
Emma stepped back and look at all the carvings at once.
"These drawings are telling a story," Emma said.
"What kind of story." Noah asked.
"I'm not sure," Emma replied.
Emma takes out a piece of paper and a pen from her back pocket.
Without saying anything, she begins copying the strange writing line by line.
Her hands shake a little, but she keeps going.
Noah watched her. "You can read that?"
Emma shook her head quickly. "No. Not at all. I just… feel like we'll need it."
Amy frowned. "Need it for what?"
Emma didn't answer. She just kept writing.
Emma finished the last line on the paper and let out a shaky breath.
Noah walked up beside her. "You done?"
"Yeah…" Emma folded the paper carefully. "Whatever this is, it feels important."
Amy frowned. "Important? Emma, this whole place screams run away."
Emma nodded. "I know. But if someone wrote all this, they wanted someone to find it."
Noah tilted his head. "Us?"
Emma shrugged. "I don't know. But… it feels like it."
Amy stepped closer, whispering, "I hate that answer."
Noah sighed. "Me too. But we might need this later."
Emma tucked the paper into her pocket. "Let's just hope we don't."
They walked deeper into the chamber. The murals continued.
A crowd of people bowing to the woman.
The woman smiling at them.
The people turning on her.
The woman screaming as chains appeared around her.
Amy whispered, "So she got betrayed… then cursed everyone?"
Noah shrugged. "I mean… maybe? We don't actually know."
Emma studied another line of carvings:
"Αριεν τo κιννα.
Μαρε τo φαιλεν.
Τερα στιν'κρυ."
"What does that mean?"Amy asked.
Emma shook her head again. "No clue. I've never seen a language like this before."
Noah nodded. "Yeah… it doesn't look like anything I know."
Amy sighed in relief. "Good."
Emma moved to the last Cravings.
The text:
"Εντρα'μι λοσκινα.
Νακ κα'σιρ τo κρελ.
Ο'μαρα θε'ρυν απα."
Noah stepped back. "Okay… yeah, that one feels cursed."
Emma swallowed hard. "I can't even guess what any of this means…"
Amy hugged her own arms. "Then why is it here? I feel like those ghost lead us hete on purpose."
The candles all went out at once.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Emma immediately grabbed Noah's shirt.
Amy grabbed Emma.
Noah didn't know who to grab, so he just stood there awkwardly.
Then.
A voice whispered behind them.
"The goddess remembers her betrayal."
Amy nearly screamed. "NOPE. NOPE. WHO SAID THAT—NOPE."
Emma trembled against Noah. "It wasn't me… it came from the wall…"
Noah stepped backward. "Okay. We need to leave. Right now."
Another whisper filled the room, crawling across the walls:
"Her curse walks with you."
Noah's heart dropped.
Emma froze.
Amy hid behind both of them.
Noah forced himself to speak. "Okay… let's calmly walk away—"
The walls lit up again.
But the murals were different.
The sealed woman's eyes were now open.
The shadow figure's crown glowed faintly.
And the faceless girl from earlier?
She was drawn directly behind them.
Amy screamed. "RUN!"
They bolted out of the chamber, down the hallway, through the doors, and back into the forest.
They didn't stop running until the mansion disappeared behind the trees.
Noah leaned on a trunk. "Okay… new rule. No more creepy buildings."
Emma nodded fast. "Agreed."
Amy looked exhausted. "I just want one normal day…"
Noah exhaled. "Whatever that writing was… it wanted us to see it."
Emma looked at the copied paper in her hand.
"Yeah… but we still have no idea what it means."
Amy shivered. "Let's hurry before anything else wakes up."
The three walked deeper into the forest.