"I don't know for sure," Emilia replied with a sigh, "but all the evidence points to yes. Still, I doubt the powers were that strong if they were, someone would've solved the mystery of the mansion long ago." She admitted it plainly, hiding nothing from Musa, who sat quietly beside her.
'The evidence of supernatural forces existing in this world is piling up before me...'
'I'm beginning to doubt less and less, no I'm starting to believe for certain that the events I'm going through are truly connected to these powers.'
'Damn it, why am I thinking about myself now... but Emilia never said she had powers. Does she really not? Or is she just hiding it because I never asked her directly?'
Even though Emilia's answer wasn't definitive, it only served to convince Musa more that supernatural forces were real and that they were directly linked to the curse in his left eye.
He shook himself free from his thoughts. Her response hadn't shocked him; he had already suspected as much.
'This world is full of curses…'
"I'm starting to understand things more and more... This place is incredibly dangerous, and the mystery surrounding it has to be solved. No one knows how many more people might disappear," Musa said, exhaling deeply as he leaned back in his chair and rested a hand against his forehead. "But this isn't our mission. If we go in, one of us will just disappear, and we won't be able to do a thing to stop it... I'm sorry, Emilia, but neither of us has any special power or anything like that."
His words carried the weight of helplessness and defeat.
"You're right about everything... Let's go. I'm sorry for wasting your time," Emilia responded, her agreement reinforcing Musa's view but she couldn't hide the sadness in her voice.
"What are you talking about? We're friends your problem is my problem too. And hey, just because going in won't help doesn't mean we can't try to find another way." Musa's eyes caught the pain on his friend's face, and his voice turned gentle, filled with encouragement.
"I've tried everything... I've searched every possible way for two whole years and found nothing," Emilia replied, her voice raised slightly in frustration.
"You were doing it all alone, without help. But now I'm with you. If we search together, the chances of finding a solution will increase... Come on, trust me," Musa said, offering a reassuring smile as he stood and extended his hand toward her. "Let's go now… I promise, we'll find a way."
His noble words brought a smile to Emilia's face at last. She reached for his hand and stood.
"Thank you, Musa. You really deserve to be my friend even if you're half-blind," she teased, her sense of humor finally returning.
"Hey! You little suitcase witch!" Musa snapped back, laughing as he turned with Emilia. Together, they walked away from the mansion, heading for the road to catch a carriage.
Suddenly, they heard a faint creaking sound behind them. Both Musa and Emilia quickly turned around
it was the door of the old mansion. It had opened by itself.
They stood frozen, stunned. Neither of them had expected this to happen.
Musa quickly turned to Emilia.
"Has this ever happened before?" he asked, his voice laced with tension.
"I don't know. I've never heard of a story where the door opened on its own. It's always opened by someone," Emilia replied, her eyes fixed on the door, a light sheen of sweat forming on her forehead.
Musa swallowed hard. Sweat began to gather on his brow as well.
It was a primal kind of fear an instinctive alarm ringing through his nerves. He immediately scanned their surroundings, turning his head from side to side, eye searching for any other presence nearby. But there was nothing. The place was eerily silent, even the distant hum of the irrigation machines had vanished.
"Let's just leave," Musa said, glancing at Emilia as he gently pulled her by the arm.
'The way the door had opened was deeply unsettling especially since it happened just as they had decided to walk away. As if whatever was inside had given up waiting for us to enter' Musa thought, unease stirring within him.
Emilia didn't respond. She didn't resist his pull either, but her gaze remained locked on the dark void beyond the open doorway. It was too dark to make out anything beyond the threshold pitch black, impenetrable. Then suddenly, she pulled her hand from Musa's grip and stood her ground, startling him. He feared she might bolt into the mansion.
"What are you doing? Don't even think about it... Let's just go," Musa said, stepping toward her again, trying to pull her away once more.
But she stopped him, causing his heart to skip a beat. Then she looked at him with pleading eyes.
"Let's at least go closer to the door and take a look inside," she said quickly, her voice urgent. "We'll just look, that's all... Please, Musa."
Musa's thoughts turned chaotic.
'No, no, we need to leave now.'
'But she just wants to take a look...'
'No! What if something dangerous comes out the moment we get close?'
'Damn it, why did that cursed door have to open now?'
"Musa?" Emilia called his name, pulling him out of his spiraling thoughts.
He looked at her face those green eyes pleading with him relentlessly, brimming with desperation.
Worry etched across his face, he finally spoke, "We'll get closer, just to see what's inside. Agreed? You absolutely do not go in. If you try, I won't hesitate to carry you out of here by force."
"Agreed," Emilia nodded firmly, not hesitating for a second. She was desperate so desperate she didn't even consider what might happen when they approached.
'Maybe this is what true despair looks like' Musa thought to himself, though he kept the idea unspoken.
Emilia stepped toward the doorway, with Musa right behind her, ready to grab her if she made a sudden dash inside.
They ascended the steps, closing in on the old mansion's entrance.
Now standing in the open space before the door, Musa instinctively tightened his grip around her arm just in case.
She was acting so unlike herself: reckless, impulsive... desperate.
'Emilia was never like this before. She always thought before she acted… she was always composed' Musa thought, troubled, just before Emilia's tense voice broke the silence.
"I can't see anything," she said nervously.
Musa looked at her her face glistened with sweat, her eyes wide with unease.
He immediately turned his gaze past the open door.
'There's nothing but darkness. I can't see a thing… it's like the void itself lies beyond this door' Musa thought, his mind beginning to drift.
But the trance shattered when he realized her arm was no longer in his grip.
He snapped his head toward the entrance Emilia was standing right at the threshold, barely inches away from the shadowy interior.
"Emilia! Come back here right now! Don't do anything reckless!" Musa shouted, panic shooting through his voice.
But she didn't respond.
She simply extended her right hand, reaching into the pitch-black doorway.
'My hand's gone' she thought, startled, before turning her head to look at Musa, who was still yelling, "Don't do it!"
"Relax. Nothing happened," Emilia finally spoke, her voice strangely calm. "Let's just go."
But the moment she began pulling her hand back from the void, something invisible grabbed it
and in a blink, she was yanked inside.
Musa stood in utter shock.
Time froze for him.
It had all happened in a single second, yet it felt like a lifetime had passed.
Emilia had screamed
then vanished.
No sound.
No resistance.
Not even the echo of her footsteps.
Only silence.
Musa ran straight for the door, his heart pounding as if it would burst from his chest.
He screamed with all the breath in his lungs, "Emiliaaa!"
But no answer came only a distorted echo from deep within, as if something inside the mansion was toying even with sound.
He stopped at the threshold, peering inside…
There was nothing.
Just absolute darkness.
No walls. No floor.
Just a void.
"No… no way…" Musa whispered, his hands trembling violently.
He reached forward like Emilia had, but the moment his hand crossed the doorway, a strange chill crawled over his body.
A sense of pure, unnatural cold.
And a smell
A horrible mixture of dust, blood, and rotting decay.
Then he felt it.
A hand.
A small, cold, slender hand grabbed his wrist from the darkness.
Its strength was unnatural.
Musa's eye widened in horror.
He wanted to scream.
To pull away.
But his body wouldn't move.
A faint, whispering voice echoed from the abyss:
"One went in… One must stay. But you… you may choose to follow."
Suddenly, the grip released.
Musa stumbled backward, collapsing onto the steps.
He was sweating, gasping for air, heart pounding like a war drum
but his right eye never left the doorway.
"I'm going in."
Without a second thought, Musa sprinted into the darkness, crossing the threshold as if it never existed, throwing himself into the black.
For a moment, he felt like he was falling through endless air
then suddenly, solid ground beneath his feet.
He dropped to his knees but felt no pain only shock.
He opened his eye.
The air here was thick
moist, heavy.
It pressed against his lungs like a wet cloth.
The scent of ancient decay filled his nose.
He looked around.
A vast, towering foyer stretched before him.
The ceiling was too high to see, the walls made of decaying black stone, crawling with strange roots that pulsed faintly
as if alive.
The floor was covered in a faded red carpet, torn and soaked with dark stains
Musa couldn't tell if they were blood or something worse.
The only light came from ancient torches mounted on the walls
but they held no flame.
Instead, they emitted a faint, pulsing glow, like the room itself was breathing.
A grand staircase rose ahead, branching left and right.
Then he heard it
a harsh cough, followed by ragged breathing.
He spun around
There she was.
Emilia, kneeling on the floor, one hand clutching her chest, the other braced against the ground.
She was gasping, eyes tearing from the strain, as though the very air was choking her.
"Emilia!" Musa shouted and rushed to her side.
He knelt beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm here breathe slowly. I've got you."
She looked at him with tear-filled eyes, unable to speak at first.
Then she pointed to the wall opposite them.
Her voice was hoarse. "No… don't go further. This place… it's alive."
Musa turned to look
Nothing but shadows.
But they were moving.
He wrapped her arm over his shoulder, slid his arm behind her back, and slowly lifted her.
She could barely stand, her coughing fit still lingering.
They started backing toward the door.
Musa's eyes darted around, every step cautious on the decaying carpet.
The silence was suffocating, like the entire room was holding its breath.
Then
Footsteps.
Soft but steady.
Echoing from the top of the grand staircase.
A presence.
Heavy, suffocating.
Musa froze.
So did his breath.
Their eyes rose together, slowly
And there he was.
At the top of the stairs, he stood
as if his appearance marked the beginning of a ritual.
a young man
Tall.
Around 185 centimeters.
Skin pale, with a hint of wheat, yet deathly ashen in the lifeless glow.
Long black hair fell to his shoulders, streaked with white like remnants of layered curses.
His eyes
Blood red.
Fresh, gleaming…
and quietly demonic.
He wore only a dark, loose pajama
a twisted mockery of comfort.
And then he smiled.
From that smile, long, sharp fangs revealed themselves undeniably the mark of a vampire.
It was a calm, confident smile
but beneath it was something sinister.
Amusement.
Control.
And a chilling hunger for dominance.
"Leaving already?" he asked, his voice deep and smooth, echoing through the foyer as if the walls themselves were repeating his words.
He began descending the stairs.
Slowly.
Each step a statement of ownership.
His eyes fixed on them
not with curiosity, but condescension.
As if looking at two harmless creatures whose hope was laughable.
"It's been a long time," he said with a wider grin, "since humans with such clear faces wandered into our halls…"
Then, with a mocking gesture:
"Come now don't be shy. You're guests after all."