The wind outside howled softly, brushing against the windows as if responding to Nira's words.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then Agani inhaled shakily. "If this map is real… and if that mansion still exists somewhere—"
"It means someone wants us to find it," Re-ha finished.
"Or," IJ added quietly, "someone wants you all to remember it."
Lila frowned. "What do you mean remember? We never went near a mansion."
IJ shook her head. "Not physically, maybe. But there is something connecting all of you to that number. 4114 doesn't just appear randomly on letters, books, dreams—"
"It appears in accidents, in moments when we're off guard," Nira whispered.
"And that," IJ said, "is not normal."
Silence stretched again.
Agani stepped back from the table, pacing slowly. "I keep thinking… why did that book stay untouched for so long? Why didn't anyone else find it?"
"Because it wasn't meant for anyone else," Nira said firmly.
Agani froze.
Lila swallowed hard, voice trembling. "You're saying the house waited for us?"
Nira looked up, her eyes darker than usual, holding a depth none of them recognized.
"No," she answered softly.
"It waited for you, Agani."
The room tensed.
Agani's throat tightened. "Why me?"
Before anyone could respond, the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then stabilized.
Everyone exhaled shakily.
Re-ha rubbed her arms. "Okay, I'm officially done pretending this is normal."
"We're not going to that mansion," Lila declared quickly. "Not until we know more."
IJ nodded. "Agreed. Rushing in would be stupid."
But Agani stood very still.
Her mind replayed the faint tick of the dusty clock. The cold pulse under her skin when she touched the book. The map sketched as if calling her. Her boss assigning her House 4112 without reason. The feeling that the house itself wanted her there.
She finally spoke.
"We need answers. No more running."
Nira stood beside her. "You're not going alone."
Re-ha moved closer. "None of us are letting you face this without us."
Lila sighed and lifted her chin stubbornly. "Fine. But if something jumps at us, I'm the first one screaming."
IJ cracked a small smile. "Fair."
The tension eased just enough for them to breathe again.
Agani folded the paper carefully. "Tomorrow… we start following this map."
"Tomorrow morning," Nira corrected. "Not at night."
Everyone nodded.
Agani tucked the map into her sketchbook and exhaled deeply.
But just when they thought the night's shocks were over—
thud.
A soft, unmistakable sound came from the far end of the hallway.
All eyes snapped toward it.
Re-ha whispered, "Please tell me that was the washing machine."
"We don't own a washing machine," Lila whispered back.
Another thud. Louder this time.
Nira stepped forward first, shoulders squared. "Stay here."
But Agani grabbed her wrist. "No. We go together."
They moved slowly toward the hallway, each step echoing in the silent house.
The air felt heavier here.
Colder.
As they reached the end of the hallway, Lila whispered shakily, "Why… why is the attic door open?"
Indeed, it hung slightly ajar. Only a sliver. But it had definitely been shut earlier.
Agani swallowed hard. "Nobody touched that…"
A soft creak sounded from behind the door — as if someone inside had shifted their weight.
Re-ha pressed a hand over her mouth.
IJ stepped forward, trying to sound logical but failing slightly: "Old houses… expand… with temperature… maybe—"
Everyone looked at her.
She sighed. "Okay, I can't even convince myself."
The attic door creaked wider.
Just an inch.
But enough.
Nira whispered, "Whoever is up there… or whatever… doesn't want us to ignore it."
Lila trembled. "So what do we do?"
Agani inhaled deeply, heart pounding.
"We open it."
And just as she reached for the attic handle—
boom.
The entire house shook.
Lights flickered violently.
The temperature dropped.
The attic door swung wide open with a burst of cold air —
revealing nothing but darkness.
Deep, silent, waiting darkness.
Agani stared into it, breath frozen in her chest.
Something almost… whispered from within.
Not words.
Not a voice.
Just a presence.
A presence that recognized her.
And in that moment, she knew:
The map wasn't their beginning.
It was their warning.
For a long moment, nobody breathed.
The attic yawned open before them like a silent mouth.
No dust drifted from it.
No old smell came out.
Just cold — unnaturally cold.
Lila clutched Re-ha's arm. "Agani… please don't go in there."
But something in Agani had shifted.
The fear was still there — cold, trembling — but beneath it was a strange pull.
It wasn't curiosity.
It was like recognition.
She stepped forward, but IJ immediately grabbed her wrist.
"Don't," he said firmly. "Not alone. Not right now."
Nira nodded sharply. "He's right. Whatever is up there… it's not reacting to us. It's reacting to you."
Agani froze at those words.
Nira continued, voice steady but low:
"First the letter. Then House 4112. Then the map. The dream. Now this attic door. All of it is following you, Agani. There's a connection we haven't uncovered yet."
Re-ha stepped beside her, soft but serious. "You don't need to prove anything. Not to us. And not to whatever's waiting upstairs."
Agani's breath shivered in her throat.
She didn't say she felt something tugging her forward.
She didn't say the darkness felt familiar — in a strange, impossible way.
She didn't say she had heard something whisper her name in that moment the house shook.
Instead, she nodded slowly. "Okay. We won't go in. Not tonight."
At that exact second —
the attic door slammed shut.
Hard.
Everyone jumped back.
Lila nearly screamed. "NOPE. Absolutely not. I'm sleeping with all the lights on."
IJ exhaled shakily. "I'm starting to think you all need a new house."
"No," Nira murmured. "This house is telling us something. Or trying to."
Re-ha shuddered. "I just wish it would try a little less dramatically."
Even Agani managed a small laugh — thin, nervous, but real.
---
Later That Night
The house had settled again, as if nothing had happened.
But none of them could shake the unease.
Agani stood alone in her room, staring at the map again.
4114.
House 4112.
The abandoned mansion.
The attic.
Why did it all lead back to her?
She pressed a hand over her chest. Her heartbeat was fast — too fast — but not completely from fear.
It felt like something hidden deep inside her was waking up.
Something old.
Something she wasn't sure she wanted to understand.
A soft knock sounded at her door.
It was IJ.
"You okay?" he asked gently.
Agani nodded, though she wasn't sure she meant it. "Yeah. Just thinking."
IJ leaned against the doorway. "Look… I know I joke a lot. I annoy you on purpose sometimes because you get that cute annoyed face—"
Agani stared at him. "IJ—"
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "But today… seeing you in that house, seeing your hands shake when you picked up that paper… I got scared."
She blinked. His honesty startled her.
"For me?" she asked quietly.
"For you," he said. "Because you don't deserve to be tangled in something like this."
Her chest tightened a little.
"I'm not alone," she whispered. "I have all of you."
"I know," he said softly. "But if any of this ever gets too heavy… come to me first. I mean it."
Their eyes held for a moment longer than either expected.
Then Agani smiled faintly. "Annoying or not… I'm glad you were there today."
IJ grinned. "Wow. That almost sounded like a compliment."
She laughed softly. "Don't push your luck."
For the first time that day, the heaviness eased a little.
IJ stepped back from the door. "Try to sleep. Tomorrow we'll deal with… whatever this map wants from us."
When he left, Agani sat on her bed again.
But sleep didn't come.
Because the map lay on her lap —
and now, faintly, as if reacting to her touch…
the circle marking the mansion seemed darker than before.
As if it had been waiting for her to see it properly.
As if tomorrow's journey wasn't just an investigation.
It was a beginning.
---