Steve stood there, chest rising and falling, sweat dripping from his temples. The fire he had sparked still licked across the oily floor, casting long, violent shadows against the cracked walls of the mansion. The mimic was gone, but he wasn't alone. Not anymore.
Shapes began to take form in the haze of smoke. One by one, the cursed spirits gathered around him—men, women, even children. Their hollow eyes glowed faintly, their broken mouths trembling with a single phrase that echoed through the air like wave
"Save us… save us…"
The words weren't loud, yet they clawed at Steve's heart with the weight of a thousand sorrows. He staggered back, his throat dry. "Save you? How?" His voice cracked. He didn't understand at first—until their faces twisted in agony, the same agony he had seen in the visions. The ritual. The circle. The chains that bound them here were not just curses—they were their prison.
Steve clenched his fists. If I don't end this now, they'll never be free.
Meanwhile, Tom and Allisa crouched low, hiding under the dust-coated dining table. Their breaths were uneven, their palms pressed over their mouths to stop the sound. For a long moment, silence lingered. Then—creak. A faint sob broke through the stillness. A girl's cry.
Tom froze, every muscle in his body tightening. Allisa's eyes widened, pupils trembling as she whispered, "She's still here…"
But then, as the sound echoed closer, they peeked behind them—and the girl's figure was gone. No pale face leaning, no broken body crawling after them. Only shadows.
"She vanished…" Allisa whispered, voice trembling. Relief washed over them, yet fear followed right after. "We can't stay here."
Without another word, they bolted, running through the endless hallway, desperate to find the others.
At the same time, Liam and the rest of the group found themselves in front of the door that had refused to let them pass. For hours it felt like they had been trapped in an endless loop, doors leading to nowhere, corridors folding back on themselves. But now, as the mimic's power began to wane, the exit stood before them, slightly open, as though daring them to leave.
Liam placed his hand on the wood, hesitant. Behind him, one of the others whispered, "It's open… we can finally get out."
But Liam's thoughts were on Steve. He turned his head, staring back at the depths of the mansion. "Steve… I believe in you. Don't you dare give up." His words weren't a shout but a promise carried into the shadows.
Back inside, Steve heard that faint voice in his head—the echo of his friends calling to him. It steadied his trembling heart. He knelt near the fire and noticed something beneath the scorched planks: faint carvings etched into the floor. Symbols. The ritual circle.
His breath caught. "This is it. This is where it started."
He tore broken wood from the wreckage, feeding the flames, creating a fiery ring around the carvings. The spirits drew closer, not in hostility but in desperation, their whispers overlapping, pleading. The flames licked higher, casting an otherworldly glow. Steve's eyes burned, not from the smoke but from determination.
"Your chains… end tonight."
He struck the floor, igniting the symbols with fire. The carvings glowed, first faint, then blinding, as if the mansion itself roared in agony. The spirits wailed, not in pain but in release—their cries shifting from despair to relief. One by one, their faces softened. Chains of shadow unraveled from their forms and dissolved into the fire.
Outside, Tom, Allisa, Liam, and the others stumbled into the open night. Cold air rushed their lungs as they collapsed onto the wet grass, gasping for breath. But their relief turned to dread as they looked back.
The mansion groaned. Its windows rattled, its foundation cracked. Flames shot up from inside, piercing through the roof like fiery spears.
"Steve's still in there!" Allisa cried, voice breaking.
Liam clenched his fists. He wanted to run back, but the ground shook violently, throwing them off balance. All they could do was watch as the cursed house trembled like a living beast in its death throes.
Inside, Steve wasn't done. The spirits were freed, but the true curse remained—the door. That impossible doorway that linked this place to another world.
He staggered toward it, flames dancing across his clothes. The door loomed, massive and pulsing as though alive. He struck it with a wooden beam, again and again, but it refused to break.
His eyes darted downward. The roots. Thick, black, twisted roots connected the door to the earth like veins to a heart. "That's it…" he muttered, tightening his grip.
With every ounce of strength left, Steve swung at the roots. Crack after crack split through the wood, through the ground itself. A thunderous sound followed as the door splintered, then shattered, collapsing into itself. The void behind it screamed, a chilling howl that shook the entire mansion.
And then—silence.
The cursed spirits faded completely, their whispers vanishing like mist. The house groaned one last time, then collapsed inward, devoured by its own destruction.
Outside, the group flinched as the mansion crumbled into dust. For a long moment, there was no sound but the crackle of dying fire. Allisa covered her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Steve…"
Liam stood frozen, his chest hollow. "No… he can't be…"
They all stared, waiting for something—anything.
And then, through the smoke, a weak but familiar voice broke the silence.
"…Guys…"
Their heads snapped up.
"Did you hear that?" Tom whispered, his eyes wide.
The voice came again, louder this time, filled with exhaustion but alive.
"Guys…"
Relief crashed over them like a wave, and every one of them shouted his name.
"Steve!"
The night sky bore witness to their cries, as hope, at last, pierced through the darkness.