---
You walk through the library door.
Behind it lies a different kind of silence—dead silence. Not the absence of sound, but the rejection of it. Like the world here has forgotten how to speak.
The room is small. Circular. Walls made of porcelain masks—hundreds of them—each one frozen mid-scream.
No eyes. No mouths.
Only hollow holes where truth should have been.
At the center: a table. Upon it: a box.
Wooden. Ornate. Familiar.
You know this box. But from where?
You reach for it. Before your fingers can touch it, a mask falls from the wall and shatters at your feet.
The silence breaks.
And a hundred voices start to whisper.
Not from outside—but from inside you.
---
The Tenth Choice:
The box creaks open by itself.
Inside: six keys.
Each key glows a faint color, but none fits the lock in front of you.
Another mask falls.
This time, it doesn't shatter.
It turns to face you.
A soft, painful voice asks:
"If you could silence one memory forever, which would you choose?"
---
Do you:
A) The time you screamed and no one came.
B) The lie you told that ruined someone's life.
C) The night someone broke your trust completely.
D) The moment you enjoyed someone else's pain.
---
The room starts to spin slowly, the masks chattering louder.
You clutch your ears, but it doesn't help.
They're not speaking to you.
They're echoing you.
Repeating your own thoughts—your darkest ones—back at you like a broken record:
> "They deserved it."
"I wanted to be seen."
"I am the monster."
"Forgive me. Please forgive me."
---
You collapse to your knees.
The keys begin to float in the air—spinning, fast, fast, faster—until one shoots into your chest like a bullet of light.
You scream.
Then… silence again.
The door behind you opens.
You're breathing hard.
But the voice is back.
"You've unlocked the First Seal."
"There are Six."
---
Quiz 10:
Which fear follows you into every room—even when you pretend it doesn't?
A) That I'm not as good as I pretend to be.
B) That the people I love will stop loving me.
C) That I'll hurt someone again.
D) That someone will uncover what I've hidden.
---
End of Chapter 10