MasukShare
Chapter 13: Vivienne’s Warning
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-02-20 18:58:12Vivienne’s frail figure stood at the top of the staircase, her face pale and weathered, but her eyes glinting with something sharp and knowing. The dim light cast long shadows across her features, making her look both otherworldly and eerily present.
Emma took a step back, her hand clutching Elliot’s arm. “How… how is she even walking?”
Elliot didn’t answer. His pulse raced, his mind grasping for an explanation. The last time they’d seen Vivienne, she’d been confined to her wheelchair, barely strong enough to lift her head. Yet here she was, standing upright, as though time or illness had never touched her.
“You’ve made it farther than I expected,” Vivienne said, her voice low but clear, cutting through the silence.
Elliot’s grip tightened on the flashlight. “What’s going on, Vivienne? What is this place? Why are we here?”
Vivienne tilted her head, her faint smile deepening. “You’re here because you’ve been chosen.”
“Chosen for what?” Emma demanded, her voice trembling.
Vivienne’s gaze shifted to Emma, softening slightly. “For the truth,” she said simply. “But the truth is not kind. It never is.”
Elliot took a step forward, his jaw clenched. “Enough with the cryptic answers. If you know what’s happening here, then tell us. Why are people dying? Why are we being hunted?”
Vivienne’s expression didn’t change, but her tone grew colder. “Do you think the deaths are random, Elliot? Do you really believe this is a game without purpose?”
Elliot hesitated, the weight of her words settling over him.
“You’re here because the past can’t stay buried forever,” she continued. “Because every choice, every sin, leaves its mark. And those marks… they call for judgment.”
“Judgment?” Emma repeated, her voice barely a whisper.
Vivienne nodded. “This house—this place—it isn’t like the world you left behind. It sees you for who you are. It knows what you’ve done. And it forces you to confront it.”
Elliot felt a chill crawl up his spine. “And what happens if we don’t?”
Vivienne’s faint smile returned. “You die.”
Emma’s breath hitched, her hand tightening on Elliot’s arm. “You can’t expect us to believe that this house is alive. That it’s… punishing us.”
Vivienne’s eyes flicked to her, sharp and unyielding. “Believe what you want, child. It won’t change the outcome.”
Elliot’s mind raced, piecing together the fragments of what she was saying. “So what?” he said, his voice hard. “You’re telling us this place knows about our pasts? That it’s killing us because of what we’ve done?”
Vivienne nodded slowly. “But it isn’t the house that’s killing you. It’s your guilt.”
“That’s insane,” Emma said, shaking her head. “None of this makes any sense.”
“It doesn’t have to,” Vivienne replied, her tone eerily calm. “All you need to know is that the only way out is through.”
Elliot frowned. “Through what?”
“Through the truth,” Vivienne said. “Your truth, Elliot. The one you’ve been running from your entire life.”
Elliot stared at her, the weight of her words pressing down on him. He thought of his brother, the day he died, the memories that had haunted him for years. Was it possible that his guilt had brought him here, that his failure to face the truth had somehow trapped him in this nightmare?
“You said we’ve been chosen,” he said after a moment. “Chosen by who? By you?”
Vivienne’s lips twitched, her faint smile never quite reaching her eyes. “Do you think I have that kind of power?” she asked. “No, Elliot. I’m just a servant, like the others.”
“Servant to what?” Emma demanded.
Vivienne’s gaze shifted to the shadows behind them, as though she were listening to something they couldn’t hear. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter, almost reverent.
“To the house,” she said. “To the will that keeps it alive. It is ancient. It is powerful. And it does not forget.”
The silence that followed was suffocating. Elliot could feel the walls of the mansion pressing in, the weight of its history and its secrets bearing down on him.
Emma broke the silence, her voice trembling. “If this house is so powerful, then why are you still here? Why hasn’t it killed you?”
Vivienne’s faint smile faltered for the first time, and for a brief moment, something like pain flickered across her face. “Because I serve it,” she said quietly. “Because I carry its burden. And one day, when my time comes, someone else will take my place.”
Elliot’s stomach churned. “So that’s what this is about? You’re looking for a replacement?”
Vivienne didn’t answer. Her gaze returned to Elliot, and her eyes seemed to pierce through him.
“You’re close to the end,” she said. “But the hardest part is yet to come. The truth will demand more from you than you think you can give.”
“And what happens if we don’t give it?” Elliot asked.
Vivienne stepped back, retreating into the shadows at the top of the stairs. Her voice drifted toward them, low and haunting.
“Then you’ll join the others.”
Elliot and Emma stood frozen, the weight of Vivienne’s warning pressing down on them.
A sudden crash echoed through the mansion, followed by the sound of shattering glass.
Emma turned to Elliot, her eyes wide with fear. “Someone else is dead.”
Elliot tightened his grip on the flashlight, his jaw set. “Not if we can stop it.”
Bab terkait
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 14: Another Body
The mansion seemed to groan with the weight of its secrets, every creak of the floorboards a sharp reminder of the danger lurking in its shadows. Elliot and Emma stood frozen in the dim corridor, the sound of shattering glass still echoing in their ears.“Where did it come from?” Emma asked, her voice barely above a whisper.Elliot’s grip tightened on the flashlight, the faint beam trembling as it illuminated the hallway ahead. “The west wing,” he said. “We need to move.”The words came out steady, but his chest felt tight, a growing weight of dread pressing down on him. He didn’t wait for Emma’s response—his feet were already moving, the light cutting through the oppressive darkness as they hurried toward the sound.The hallway stretched long and empty, its cracked walls lined with faded portraits of grim-faced Ashworth ancestors. Their painted eyes seemed to follow Elliot and Emma as they moved, the silence pressing down on them like a second skin.“It’s too quiet,” Emma murmured.E
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-20The Echoes we Bury Chapter 15: The Clock
The room felt alive.The grandfather clock’s steady ticking filled the air, each sound sharp and deliberate, like a pulse too loud to ignore. The photographs pinned to the walls seemed to stare back at Elliot and Emma, their captured moments frozen in time but heavy with meaning.Elliot stepped closer to the clock, his eyes locked on the photograph of himself and his brother. The image felt like a wound he couldn’t stop reopening, and the words beneath it—“You were always meant to return”—sank deep into his chest.“I don’t understand,” Emma whispered, her voice breaking the silence. She was standing near the wall of photographs, her fingers trembling as she traced the edges of an image. “These are from years ago. Who’s been watching us?”Elliot didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His mind was racing, fragments of memories clashing with the reality in front of him.The photograph of his brother seemed to mock him, its edges worn as though it had been handled too many times. He reached out and
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-26The Echoes we Bury Chapter 16: The Passage
The narrow passage beneath the fireplace loomed before them, dark and uninviting. The air wafting from within was cold and stale, carrying the faint scent of damp stone and decay. Elliot crouched down, his flashlight cutting through the shadows, revealing a set of steep, uneven steps descending into the depths of Wintercroft Hall.Emma hesitated, standing a few feet back. “You really think we have to go down there?”Elliot nodded, though the weight of the decision pressed heavy on his chest. “We don’t have a choice. This house—whoever’s behind this—is leading us somewhere.”Emma wrapped her arms around herself, her voice trembling. “And what if it’s leading us to our deaths?”Elliot turned to her, his jaw set. “Then at least we’ll know the truth before it happens.”The descent was slow and suffocating. The steps were narrow, forcing them to move single file, their breaths loud in the confined space. The flashlight beam flickered as they went, casting fleeting glimpses of the stone wall
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-02-26The Echoes we Bury Chapter 1: The Invitation
The letter arrived on a Monday.Elliot almost didn’t open it. Bills and threats from creditors came regularly, shoved through his mail slot like a slap in the face. This envelope, though, stood out—thick, cream-colored, and stamped with an unfamiliar crest. The handwriting on the front was sharp and precise, spelling his name as though someone had carved it there.He slit it open with the edge of a key, curious despite himself.“Wintercroft Hall invites you to uncover the truth. A story you won’t forget. Your passage will be arranged.”No signature, no explanation. Just an address, and at the bottom, a postscript: “Some things refuse to stay buried.”Elliot tossed it onto the cluttered coffee table, next to an empty whiskey bottle. He tried not to think about it. Wintercroft Hall? It sounded like one of those haunted tourist traps rich people paid to renovate.But by Wednesday, he’d Googled it. By Friday, he was packing.The ferry rocked against the tide, the spray of saltwater biting
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-17The Echoes we Bury Chapter 2: Tension Builds
For a moment, no one moved.Vivienne Ashworth sat slumped in her wheelchair, skeletal fingers draped over the armrests. She looked impossibly old, as if she’d crumble into dust at the slightest gust of wind. But her eyes—those pale, piercing eyes—moved over the group with disconcerting sharpness, as if she could see straight into their thoughts.“You’ve been brought here,” she said, her voice trembling but deliberate, “because the past always finds a way to surface. Even when we bury it, deep as we dare.”Elliot’s stomach twisted. He was good at spotting performance—an occupational hazard of chasing down stories for years—but there was something about Vivienne that didn’t feel staged. It felt raw. Real.Before anyone could respond, she motioned toward the butler, who handed her a small black box. Vivienne opened it, revealing seven folded pieces of paper.“One for each of you,” she said, her voice rasping like dry leaves. “Your past follows you here.”She extended a trembling hand, ho
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-17The Echoes we Bury Chapter 3: The First Death
The scream tore through Wintercroft Hall, sharp and full of terror.Elliot froze in the doorway, his fingers tightening around the brass candlestick. For a moment, the storm outside seemed to quiet, as if the house itself was holding its breath. Then the sound of frantic footsteps echoed down the hallway.He turned to see the auburn-haired woman from earlier—Emma, if he remembered her name right—running toward him. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with panic.“Someone’s dead,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “In the stairwell. There’s… there’s blood everywhere.”Elliot didn’t wait for more. He followed her down the hall, the cold air of the mansion biting at his skin. When they reached the grand staircase, the rest of the group had already gathered, standing in stunned silence.At the base of the staircase, sprawled awkwardly across the marble floor, was the body of the impatient man in the tailored coat. His head was twisted at an unnatural angle, and a dark pool of blood spread ou
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-17The Echoes we Bury Chapter 4: Secrets Exposed
The morning brought no comfort.The storm had lessened to a steady drizzle, but Wintercroft Hall remained shrouded in gloom. The lingering scent of damp wood and decay seeped into Elliot’s senses as he descended the grand staircase. The bloodstain from the previous night had been scrubbed away, but the memory of the body sprawled there was harder to erase.The group gathered in the dining room, their movements tense, their faces drawn. Breakfast had been laid out—perfectly arranged plates of fruit, toast, and eggs—but no one touched the food.“Did anyone sleep?” Emma asked, her voice breaking the uneasy silence.“I wouldn’t call it sleep,” muttered the man with glasses. He glanced toward the hallway, where the butler had disappeared moments before. “And I didn’t hear anything from Henry, either.”Elliot stirred his coffee, his thoughts elsewhere. The figure he’d seen in the hallway last night—it wasn’t just paranoia. He was sure of it.Vivienne’s note still sat in his pocket, crumpled
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-17The Echoes we Bury Chapter 5: The Journal
The darkness was suffocating.Elliot froze, the weight of the journal still in his hands. Around him, the others whispered nervously, their voices bouncing off the stone walls of the crypt. He could hear the shuffle of feet and feel the damp air pressing in from all sides.“Is someone there?” Emma’s voice was barely above a whisper.“No one move,” Elliot said sharply. He forced himself to breathe, trying to steady the panic clawing at his chest. The flickering bulb had gone out so suddenly, as if someone had deliberately cut it.And in the pitch black, Elliot felt it—a presence.A faint click echoed through the room, followed by a burst of light as the bulb sputtered back to life. The room reappeared around them, but it felt colder now, more oppressive.Elliot’s eyes darted toward the door, half expecting someone—or something—to be standing there. But the crypt was empty, save for the seven of them.“What the hell was that?” Madeleine snapped, her sharp voice breaking the silence.“No
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-01-17
Bab terbaru
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 16: The Passage
The narrow passage beneath the fireplace loomed before them, dark and uninviting. The air wafting from within was cold and stale, carrying the faint scent of damp stone and decay. Elliot crouched down, his flashlight cutting through the shadows, revealing a set of steep, uneven steps descending into the depths of Wintercroft Hall.Emma hesitated, standing a few feet back. “You really think we have to go down there?”Elliot nodded, though the weight of the decision pressed heavy on his chest. “We don’t have a choice. This house—whoever’s behind this—is leading us somewhere.”Emma wrapped her arms around herself, her voice trembling. “And what if it’s leading us to our deaths?”Elliot turned to her, his jaw set. “Then at least we’ll know the truth before it happens.”The descent was slow and suffocating. The steps were narrow, forcing them to move single file, their breaths loud in the confined space. The flashlight beam flickered as they went, casting fleeting glimpses of the stone wall
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 15: The Clock
The room felt alive.The grandfather clock’s steady ticking filled the air, each sound sharp and deliberate, like a pulse too loud to ignore. The photographs pinned to the walls seemed to stare back at Elliot and Emma, their captured moments frozen in time but heavy with meaning.Elliot stepped closer to the clock, his eyes locked on the photograph of himself and his brother. The image felt like a wound he couldn’t stop reopening, and the words beneath it—“You were always meant to return”—sank deep into his chest.“I don’t understand,” Emma whispered, her voice breaking the silence. She was standing near the wall of photographs, her fingers trembling as she traced the edges of an image. “These are from years ago. Who’s been watching us?”Elliot didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His mind was racing, fragments of memories clashing with the reality in front of him.The photograph of his brother seemed to mock him, its edges worn as though it had been handled too many times. He reached out and
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 14: Another Body
The mansion seemed to groan with the weight of its secrets, every creak of the floorboards a sharp reminder of the danger lurking in its shadows. Elliot and Emma stood frozen in the dim corridor, the sound of shattering glass still echoing in their ears.“Where did it come from?” Emma asked, her voice barely above a whisper.Elliot’s grip tightened on the flashlight, the faint beam trembling as it illuminated the hallway ahead. “The west wing,” he said. “We need to move.”The words came out steady, but his chest felt tight, a growing weight of dread pressing down on him. He didn’t wait for Emma’s response—his feet were already moving, the light cutting through the oppressive darkness as they hurried toward the sound.The hallway stretched long and empty, its cracked walls lined with faded portraits of grim-faced Ashworth ancestors. Their painted eyes seemed to follow Elliot and Emma as they moved, the silence pressing down on them like a second skin.“It’s too quiet,” Emma murmured.E
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 13: Vivienne’s Warning
Vivienne’s frail figure stood at the top of the staircase, her face pale and weathered, but her eyes glinting with something sharp and knowing. The dim light cast long shadows across her features, making her look both otherworldly and eerily present.Emma took a step back, her hand clutching Elliot’s arm. “How… how is she even walking?”Elliot didn’t answer. His pulse raced, his mind grasping for an explanation. The last time they’d seen Vivienne, she’d been confined to her wheelchair, barely strong enough to lift her head. Yet here she was, standing upright, as though time or illness had never touched her.“You’ve made it farther than I expected,” Vivienne said, her voice low but clear, cutting through the silence.Elliot’s grip tightened on the flashlight. “What’s going on, Vivienne? What is this place? Why are we here?”Vivienne tilted her head, her faint smile deepening. “You’re here because you’ve been chosen.”“Chosen for what?” Emma demanded, her voice trembling.Vivienne’s gaz
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 12: The Chase
The scream pierced the silence, cutting through Elliot’s thoughts like a blade. He froze, Emma clutching his arm as the sound echoed down the hallways of Wintercroft Hall. It was raw and desperate, full of terror, and it didn’t stop.“We have to go,” Emma said, her voice trembling.Elliot nodded, shaking off the fog in his mind. He grabbed the flashlight and turned toward the door, but when he looked back, the stranger was gone—vanished into the shadows.“Where did they go?” Emma asked.Elliot didn’t answer. There wasn’t time.The scream came again, fainter now, as if whoever was screaming was moving deeper into the mansion. Without another word, Elliot and Emma bolted out of the room and into the dark, twisting halls.The mansion seemed to close in around them as they ran. Shadows stretched long across the walls, and the air grew colder the farther they went. The flickering flashlight beam barely pierced the gloom, and the sound of their footsteps echoed like gunshots against the sto
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 11: The Accusation
The stranger’s words cut through the air like a blade.“I’m saying you killed him.”Elliot froze, the candlestick in his hand trembling. His mind raced, rejecting the accusation even as memories clawed their way to the surface—fragments of his brother’s laughter, the flash of sunlight on that fateful day, the sound of something breaking.“You’re lying,” Elliot said, his voice low but unsteady.The stranger took a step closer, their presence calm and unnerving. “Am I?”“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”“I know more than you think,” the stranger said, their voice soft but firm. “I know what you’ve buried, what you’ve tried to forget. But the truth doesn’t disappear just because you refuse to face it.”Emma looked between them, her eyes wide and fearful. “What’s going on?” she whispered. “Elliot, what are they talking about?”“I didn’t kill him,” Elliot snapped, his voice sharp. “It was an accident.”The stranger’s gaze didn’t waver. “Are you sure about that?”The room felt col
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 10: The Revelation
Elliot stared at the photograph on the wall, his younger self frozen in time outside Wintercroft Hall. His heart thundered in his chest as he traced the lines of the web, each red string connecting him to the Ashworths, to the others, to this place.“He knows.”The words beneath the photograph seemed to pulse with their own dark energy, and Elliot felt the weight of them pressing against his chest.“Elliot,” Emma whispered, her voice trembling. “What does it mean? What do you know?”He shook his head, his voice strained. “I don’t… I don’t know. I’ve never been here before. At least… I don’t think I have.”“You’re in the photo,” she said softly. “That’s you, isn’t it? Standing outside this house.”Elliot’s fingers twitched. The boy in the photo was undoubtedly him—his features, his posture, the worn jacket he remembered wearing as a kid. But no matter how hard he tried to recall, the memory wouldn’t come.“I don’t remember this,” he said finally, his voice tight.Emma’s eyes flicked to
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 9: The Shadows Deepen
Elliot stared at Emma, her words hanging heavy in the damp, claustrophobic air of the hidden room.“Who?” he managed, his voice low and steady, though his heart pounded in his chest.“It’s Madeleine,” Emma whispered, her voice cracking. “We found her in the sitting room. She… she’s gone.”Elliot’s jaw tightened. Madeleine had been one of the most guarded among them, sharp-tongued and suspicious of everyone. He hadn’t liked her much, but the thought of her lifeless—just another casualty of this nightmare—sent a cold shiver down his spine.Emma’s trembling voice cut through his thoughts. “I can’t do this anymore, Elliot. We’re all going to die here, aren’t we?”He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “We’re not dying here. Not if we can figure out what’s going on.”Emma’s wide eyes met his, tears threatening to spill over. “And what if it doesn’t matter? What if they’re going to kill us anyway?”Elliot didn’t have an answer.The sitting room was colder than Elliot remembered, its once gr
The Echoes we Bury Chapter 8: The Stranger
The hallway stretched long and dim, the flickering light casting jagged shadows along the walls. Elliot’s grip on the candlestick tightened as the figure stepped closer, their movements deliberate and unhurried.“You’ve done well to get this far,” the stranger said, their voice calm, almost conversational.Elliot’s throat tightened. There was something off about the way they spoke, as though they were rehearsing a part in a play.“Who are you?” Elliot asked, his voice low, steady.The stranger tilted their head, smiling faintly. “I suppose you could call me… the overseer.”“The overseer of what?” Elliot demanded.Their smile widened, but their eyes remained cold. “This,” they said simply, gesturing around them. “The judgment. The reckoning. Call it what you will.”Elliot’s pulse quickened. “So you’re the one behind this. The notes. The deaths. It’s you.”The stranger’s expression didn’t falter. “You’re quick to accuse, but I haven’t touched a single one of you. You’re doing this to yo
