THE SILENCE THAT SCREAMS
The stone door slammed shut behind him. Sending a heavy echo rippling through the chamber.
And then...
Silence.
Not the silence of an empty place.
Not the silence of a forgotten ruin.
But the silence of something that wasn’t supposed to be heard.
The kind of silence that felt like it had been placed there on purpose.
Isaac remained motionless. His masked face unreadable.
He had walked into plenty of traps before.
But this?
This wasn’t a trap.
This was a tomb.
And something had just locked him inside.
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THE HOLLOW’S CHAMBER
The air in the chamber was thick. Pressing against his skin like an unseen weight.
The massive stone obelisk stood at the center, its surface covered in ancient text.
Isaac stepped forward, lantern in hand, casting a soft glow across the weathered engravings.
The walls surrounding the chamber weren’t normal.
They were smooth, polished like obsidian, yet they absorbed light instead of reflecting it.
There were no visible cracks.
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No breaks in the stone.
The only way out was the door.
The door that had just sealed itself shut.
Isaac slowly exhaled through his nose.
“Well..” he murmured, rolling his shoulders. “That’s unfortunate.”
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READING THE FORGOTTEN
Isaac’s gaze returned to the obelisk.
If there were answers, they were carved into this stone.
The text was ancient, but not unreadable.
Some of it was written in older dialects, ones he had encountered in scattered ruins across the world.
With careful patience, he began piecing together fragments.
“…Bound in shadow…”
“…Not dead, not alive…”
“…A prison not of stone, but of memory…”
“…To forget is to keep her sealed…”
Isaac’s fingers paused over the last line.
“…To forget is to keep her sealed.” he murmured.
His mind clicked.
This wasn’t just a tomb.
It was a prison of knowledge.
Veyra the Hollow wasn’t just hidden.
She had been erased.
But from what? From who?
And more importantly—
Why?
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THE FIRST DISTORTION
A shift.
Not in the air.
Not in the walls.
But in reality itself.
Isaac stilled.
The edges of the chamber blurred, as if space itself was distorting.
For the first time, he felt it.
Not a presence.
Not a voice.
But something missing.
As if something that should have been right behind him… had just left.
But there was no one else here.
Right?
Isaac didn’t turn around.
Not immediately.
Instead, he reached into his satchel, fingers brushing against the handle of the small, silver dagger.
Slowly, deliberately. He turned his head.
The chamber was empty.
Exactly as it had been.
And yet..
It felt different.
Something had moved.
Something had changed.
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The whispers returned.
Not faint, like before.
Louder.
Clearer.
And this time.
They spoke.
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
Isaac didn’t flinch.
Didn’t react.
He merely tilted his head slightly.
His fingers slowly moved from the dagger and onto the binding salts. His fingers slowly wrapping and tightening around the glass vials.
And in a voice as calm as ever, he answered.
“I was invited.”
The moment Isaac spoke, the chamber shifted again.
Isaac, upon noticing, quickly glanced around his surroundings.
But the moment he turned his head towards a direction..
For the first time.
Isaac saw the Hollow.