The door did not open completely.
It seemed to leave a deliberate gap, enough for Anik to see, but not enough to escape.
What first emerged through the crack was not air.
It was a dense, sticky black mist.
The moment it entered his lungs, Anik felt as if burning coal had been shoved inside his chest.
Every breath tasted of iron and rotting flesh.
His tongue dried out.
It felt as though blood was clotting inside his mouth.
The corridor lights went out instantly.
Only a red glow seeped through the doorway, as if a furnace burned inside, yet the fire was cold.
The floor beneath Anik's feet softened.
Not mud.
Congealed blood.
The soles of his shoes slowly sank into it.
Warm. Sticky. Alive.
Tiny bubbles formed in the blood, as if something beneath it was breathing.
Invisible fingers wrapped around his ankles and crawled upward toward his waist.
Each finger moved independently, clawing and pulling.
The touch felt like decayed flesh, yet impossibly strong.
His bones cracked under the pressure.
From inside came the sound of chains dragging.
Clank… scrape… clank…
Something heavy was being pulled forward.
First emerged a skeletal figure.
Its skin was pale white, veins swollen dark blue beneath the surface.
Its face had no proper features.
Where eyes should have been, there were red hollow pits, leaking a bloodlike fluid.
It opened its mouth.
There was no tongue.
Rows of needle sharp yellow teeth lined its jaws.
Thick black saliva dripped between them, tangled with fragments of old flesh.
"Your ancestors made a vow…"
The voice was not one voice.
It was many voices speaking together.
Men. Women. Children. The elderly.
All merged into a single wail.
"Every third generation… one blood sacrifice… to feed our hunger.
You are the last.
Your blood will free us."
Suddenly, a torch ignited inside the chamber on its own.
The light was red.
Like fresh blood.
What Anik saw made his heart stop for a moment.
From the ceiling hung dozens of skeletons upside down, their bones still slick with fresh blood as if newly cut.
From the hollow eye sockets of the skulls, dark liquid dripped.
On the floor stood a massive stone altar engraved with the royal seal of Anik's lineage.
Beside it, an open cabinet.
Inside were rows of glass jars.
Each jar contained a human heart, still beating.
On one jar, written in dusty letters:
"Anik."
His legs trembled.
The blood beneath him twisted like serpents and climbed his body.
It tore through his clothes, trying to seep into the pores of his skin.
Each drop felt poisonous in his veins.
His limbs began to numb.
The skeletal entity stopped before him.
Its ice cold fingers touched his cheek.
His skin burned black.
Tears streamed from his eyes.
But they were not tears.
They were blood.
This was not a ghost.
It was the primal curse of the mansion.
Imprisoned for a century.
Mad with hunger.
From one corner, a woman's voice shrieked:
"Do not delay… the prince's heart is tender… I want that one!"
The voice was broken, but greedy.
Anik struggled desperately.
But his bones felt loose, as if his body were melting from within.
The creature leaned toward his neck.
Its breath reeked of decay.
It slashed his chest with its claws.
The pain was unbearable.
His vision blurred.
Something hot, like molten iron, pierced into his chest.
Suddenly, a massive window burst open with violent force.
There was no wind outside.
Yet the curtains whipped wildly.
From the darkness emerged dozens more shadows.
They surrounded him.
They began chanting something.
A twisted incantation that felt like it would melt the brain.
The words echoed inside his skull.
The old clock of the mansion began to toll.
Dong…
Dong…
Dong…
Midnight.
The creature froze.
For the first time, fear appeared in its red eyes.
"He has not arrived yet!
The time is not over!"
But the shadows did not stop.
They moved closer.
Anik stood trapped among them.
One shadow leaned near his ear and whispered:
"Even if time is not over…
Your time is."
His eyes closed.
Yet within the darkness, he still saw it.
Through the crack of the door stood a small shadow.
A little boy.
His eyes were completely black.
He smiled.
"Welcome…
You are one of us now."
The door shut with a creak.
The entire mansion trembled.
Outside, every dog in the village howled at once.
As if they knew…
Another soul had been taken.