Blood Ties

Ghost pt.2

The room seemed to contract, the weight of her words pressing down on them. Eve's eyes darted to the overturned letters on the floor, fragments of stories that might hold the answers they needed. She dropped to her knees and scooped up another letter, scanning the first lines.

"In the winter of 1883, two families forged a pact in blood, a union meant to protect but which sealed their doom instead. A child's cry, a shadow's laugh—these are the echoes of our fate."

The air seemed to grow colder, the fire sputtering and dimming as if to punctuate the words. Eve looked up, the letter trembling in her hands. "Gabriel, this is bigger than us. It's older than us."

He swallowed hard, eyes never leaving the woman, who now appeared almost serene in her stillness. "We need to know everything," he said, his voice softer now, edged with the weight of his own realization. "Tell us what you know."

The old woman tilted her head, the gesture bird-like and unsettling. "The woods remember the pact. The storm has stirred them awake, and now they come for their due. If you wish to survive, you must find the place where blood was first spilled and where blood will cleanse again."

Gabriel's heart thudded painfully in his chest. Memories of nights spent listening to his father's drunken ramblings came flooding back, the tales of an ancient clearing where the first cries of betrayal echoed through the forest. He'd always thought it was a story meant to frighten children into obedience.

Eve's eyes met his, wide with terror and determination. "We have to go out there, don't we?"

Gabriel nodded, the finality of the gesture settling into his bones. "Yes. But we're not alone, and whatever's out there is hunting us." He turned back to the old woman, but she was gone, as if she'd been swallowed by the shadows themselves.

A sharp knock echoed from downstairs, startling them both. Gabriel's knuckles whitened on the hilt of the knife as he took a step toward the stairs. "Stay close," he said, glancing back at Eve.

This time, she didn't argue.