They stumbled into the building and slammed the door shut behind them, pressing their backs against it as if their bodies alone could keep the horrors outside. Their chests heaved violently, lungs burning, hearts hammering like they were trying to break free.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
They just listened.
Scraping.
Sniffing.
Low, wet sounds from outside.
Nicolas slowly stepped away from the door, his eyes scanning the dark interior of the room. Broken furniture lay scattered, dust coating every surface like a thin layer of ash.
Then he saw it.
Something… off.
A faint gap beneath the old wooden almirah.
"Sierra," he whispered, lowering himself slowly. "There's something under this."
She hurried to his side and bent down, brushing aside dirt and torn cloth.
Her breath caught.
"It's… a hatch."
For a moment, hope flickered in their eyes.
Then fear swallowed it.
"Let's move it," Nicolas whispered.
"Yeah," Sierra nodded.
They placed their hands against the almirah, pushing as gently as they could, trying not to make a sound.
The wood resisted.
Their muscles strained.
Nicolas's injured hand screamed in pain—but he didn't stop.
Then—
KRRRRK
The sound of moving the almirah tore through the silence.
Both of them froze.
Outside—
THUMP… THUMP…
Heavy.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Sierra's face drained of color. "It heard us…"
Nicolas swallowed hard.
He pushed harder.
With everything he had.
BA-DUMP!
The almirah collapsed onto its side with a deafening crash.
The sound echoed.
Nicolas tore the hatch open.
Darkness yawned beneath them.
"Go—FAST!" he whispered urgently.
Behind them—
THUMP. THUMP.
The monster was running now.
Sierra didn't hesitate. She dropped into the hatch, gripping the ladder as her boots scraped loudly against the metal.
Nicolas turned just in time to see the creature burst into the room.
Its shape twisted unnaturally.
Its mouth opened too wide.
It screamed.
KRRRGGGHH!
It charged.
Nicolas jumped.
His foot barely caught the ladder as he slipped down.
He slammed the hatch shut above them.
SLAM!
The impact shook the walls.
Sierra screamed.
Dust rained down.
Then—
KRRGGGHH!
The monster slammed into the wall instead.
Wood cracked.
Stone shattered.
It couldn't stop.
Its own momentum drove it straight through the side of the building.
Silence followed.
Only their breathing remained.
Nicolas slid down against the wall, shaking uncontrollably.
They had survived.
By seconds.
HAAH
"Gosh, I just thought I was a dead guy a second ago" Nicolas panting.
Sierra said nothing.
Nicolas noticed after panting, that the hatch was so big and had almost all basic things like a table, a bed, a clock, etc., and there was an escape hatch that was connected to the ground.
"There is an escape hatch should we sneak out of here," Nicolas said.
"Let's go " Sierra said.
Nicolas just opened it.
And sees that monsters were swarming around the town.
Thump
Nicolas closed the escape hatch immediately.
"What happened?" Sierra asked.
"There is a swamp of monsters" Nicolas replied.
Sniffle
Sierra hears a sound.
"I wanna go home," Nicolas said with his teary eyes.
"I don't wanna die here" Nicolas said.
"..Calm down.. Calm down, Sir," Sierra said.
"We should think with a calm mind. In such situations" Sierra said.
"Fuck calm mind. How can anyone stay calm in situations like this? Can't you see we are fucked. You can't imagine how hard I worked until now. Let's say death is not a problem, but why am I dying a virgin? I wanted to have a girlfriend, but because of being poor and not making sense, no girl gave me a chance. But now that I have some money, I am dying like this." Nicolas is babbling to himself.
SLAP
Sierra grabs Nicolas's collar.
"Shut up! You are not the only one. I also want to go home." Sierra said while tears were flowing from her eyes.
Nicolas gained composure.
When morning came, Nicolas peered from the escape hatch. There was no one.
"Hey, Miss Sierra, there is nobody here," Nicolas said.
"Nobody?" Sierra asked.
Nicolas goes outside with Sierra.
"Let's live this town fast" Nicolas said.
"Yes," Sierra said.
They move on the path straight for half a day. Then they saw a town. They feel relieved.
Haah
"Oh finally, I feel relieved now," Nicolas said.
"Yeah, me too" Sierra replied.
After reaching the village.
Nicolas said.
"This village is looking somehow familiar is'nt it?"
After seeing it sierra. The edges of her smile trembled and her eyes became cold.
Then Sierra said.
"It's not similar Nicolas, it's the same place"
They traveled a whole day to get out of the town, but they were just back in the town like an infinite loop revolving around the town.
When the sun was about to set.
Nicolas said
"It would be better to go where we stayed last night"
"Yeah, I am so tired because of this goddamn loop. How the hell can it happen in real life?" Sierra replied, scoffing.
Then they go to the hatch where they stayed last night.
"I will stay up. If any monster comes here, I will wake you up to run," Nicolas said.
"I think we should divide it into shifts" Sierra said.
"Ok," Nicolas said.
"So, go and get some sleep. You didn't sleep last night." Sierra said.
Nicolas didn't get a wink of sleep for three days. His eyes had dark circles, and his face looked gloomy due to exhaustion from the past few days.
"Ok, wake me up when you feel sleepy. Don't hesitate" Nicolas said.
"Alright," Sierra replied.
...
"Nicolas where were you?" A person in blurry memories asked.
"Dad, I was looking at the treasure maps in the attic." child Nicolas replied.
"Dad, I found something." child Nicolas said.
"Oh, so what did my little champ find?" Nicolas dad.
Dream changes.
Everywhere is fire, and child Nicolas is trying to find his father in the midst of the fire.
"Dad! Dad! Dad!" Nicolas screams.
"■■colas Ni■colas. Nicolas" Sierra waking him up.
YAWN
"Isn't the shift ended so early? I didn't get much sleep, so I'm going to sleep for some more time. Please adjust." Nicolas said.
Nicolas is going to sleep again.
" That's not the issue I hear sounds from there," Sierra said fearfully.
Nicolas wakes up. His sleep was gone when he heard what Sierra was saying.
"Where" Nicolas asked.
Sierra points the finger in the direction.
Nicolas gets up.
HISSS
Then when he gets closer. He starts to hear some sound. There were so many rags put there.
" Where is the sound coming from?" Nicolas asked himself.
There, he saw a hatch.
"Miss Sierra, here is a hatch" Nicolas said.
Sierra comes closer to Nicolas.
Then Nicolas opens the hatch.
ZRRRGGH
HISSS
"I will go first. If you hear anything close the hatch and put this waste in that like before," Nicolas said.
Sierra didn't say anything.
Nicolas goes down the ladder.
There has been some time since Nicolas went down there.
Then she heard.
"Lady Sierra, come downstairs." Nicolas' voice echoed.
Then she goes downstairs. There, she saw a machine working in perfect condition.
That was looking like a steam heating system but too old for their era.
"What is this machine doing here" Sierra asked.
Nicolas saw something in the machine.
"There is something written" Nicolas said carefully while touching the machine.
Nicolas saw the date of manufacturing on that machine it was...
"1793" Nicolas said.
"1793? Isn't it too old for working?" Sierra said.
"That's not the problem here," Nicolas said.
"The problem is that. How the hell is it working in a ghost town that is cursed and ruined from hundreds of years old? For God's sake!" Nicolas said aggressively.
"There must be someone alive living here in this town, otherwise why would a dead person want a machine that provides heat, correct?" Nicolas said.
"You are right but how should we find it. Its pipes are in the soil, so we can't figure it out directly." Sierra said.
"Should we check every house one by one" Nicolas said.
"Sir, that will consume so much time," Sierra replied.
Then, at that moment, a sound comes.
Grrrgh
This sound comes from Nicolas' empty stomach, which had been that way for 2 days.
"Umm.. we should get some food and sleep for now. This is nighttime, so we shouldn't get out of here, and the area around the machine is warm, and it's also safer to be here than the upward floor." Sierra said.
"Yeah... I guess you are right. Let's get some sleep first. Then we need to search for food. " Nicolas replied.
Then. They go to sleep.***