Where Shadows Wait

Part 4

That night, Mara waited, knowing the alarm would go off. Lying wide awake and her heart pounding, knowing at 3:32 a.m., the night filled with the blaring of the alarm. She rose-but not out of fear this time, rather determination.

Her flat faded away, and she was again whisked to the place of the dark chapel: Rosa and Eva were there for this vision, standing at the altar. Rosa's face was lined with sorrow, but there was a newfound intensity in her gaze.

"I'm here to help," Mara said, clutching Eva's bracelet. "To free you both."

But Rosa only shook her head, very slowly, her eyes black and knowing. "There is no freedom here, only silence and shadows. The place collects us, one after another. Long ago I got trapped here, then Eva followed.

Mara sucked in a breath. The weight of her actions, her own connection with this curse, weighed down on her. "So... this curse—it's not just yours, is it?

Rosa's eyes were unyielding. "No. It's ancient, older than any of us. It feeds on souls who wander too far, who search too deeply. I was one of them, and now it is you.

Mara retreated, but the shadows folded in around her as if thickening, like fog. She tried to scream, but there was nothing to break out of her lips. The chapel so empty and foreboding just a moment before was suddenly alive with dark, predator energy.

Eva reached out, her tiny fingers brushing Mara's hand. There was no malice in the child's eyes, only resignation, as though she'd known all along that Mara would be the next to join them. Rosa's expression was solemn, her gaze fixed on Mara as though to say, Welcome to eternity.

The last thing Mara saw was the flicker of the candle on the altar, casting long shadows that swallowed her whole.