After climbing out of the well, I stumbled aimlessly into the nearby woods, hoping I wouldn’t run into Blake again. The woods were unnervingly still. Not the soft, gentle quiet of nature, but a heavy, stifling silence that seemed to press against my ears. My boots crunched softly against the underbrush, every sound swallowed by the oppressive hush. The air felt wrong—thick and cloying, as if it had absorbed centuries of decay. I adjusted my grip on my axe, its weight grounding me as I moved deeper into the forest.
Something was pulling me here. A tug I couldn’t explain, as though the trees themselves whispered my name.
I broke through the treeline into a clearing. In the center stood an altar, jagged and ancient, shrouded in faint tendrils of golden mist that coiled and shifted as if alive. My breath hitched. The altar was cracked, moss creeping along its edges, but it held an undeniable weight—something beyond the physical, something that pulled at the edges of my thoughts.
I hesitated at the edge of the clearing, the rational part of me screaming to turn back. Especially given the memories of the last two times I had been in a forest clearing. But I stepped forward anyway. The air buzzed faintly, a low hum that vibrated through my bones as I approached. Each step felt heavier than the last, the ground beneath me almost sticky, pulling at my boots.
Then I saw it.
The corpse.
It lay sprawled across the altar like an offering, twisted and wrong. Limbs bent at impossible angles, the skin shriveled and splintered like old parchment. The face—or what was left of it—was a hollow ruin, the sockets where eyes should’ve been now dark voids. My stomach churned, and I staggered back, bile rising in my throat.
Once human. That much was clear. Whoever they’d been, whatever life they’d lived—it was all gone, drained away and left behind as this grotesque husk.
And above the corpse, floating eerily in the golden mist, was a coin. It hung impossibly still, vibrant red, shimmering like it was made of blood and fire. My breath hitched at the sight. The glow pulsed faintly, in perfect rhythm with the hum in the air, as though the coin itself were alive—watching.
I should leave. Every instinct screamed at me to turn and run, but my feet stayed rooted to the ground, my gaze locked on the scene before me. The coin’s light reflected in the corpse’s hollow eyes, casting faint red shadows that danced across its contorted form.
[Oh, look. Another graveyard of bad decisions.] Malice’s voice sliced through my thoughts, smug and sharp. [You really know how to pick the creepiest vacation spots, don’t you, Jamie? First the well, now this. What’s next? A nice stroll through a cursed swamp?]
I ignored him, but the growing knot in my stomach made it harder to dismiss the commentary. My fingers hovered just shy of the altar’s edge, the cold radiating from the stone biting at my skin like a warning.
[Ah, yes, let’s touch the ancient, clearly evil altar. Brilliant idea.] His tone dripped with sarcasm, as though he was halfway through a dissertation titled Why You’re Doomed: A Study in Terrible Life Choices. [Maybe the corpse will sit up and clap for you. Bonus points if it starts asking riddles.]
I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to breathe steadily. The coin’s glow seemed to seep into my mind, each pulse hammering against my resolve like a war drum. The hum wasn’t just in the air anymore—it was in me, vibrating in my chest, my skull, my teeth.
[Oh, but don’t stop now. You’re so close to solving the grand mystery of “what happens when you poke the doom thing.” My bet? Explosion. Or maybe a curse. Curses are classic.] There was an edge of excitement in his voice, like he couldn’t decide whether he wanted me to stop or keep going just to see how bad things would get.
“Shut up,” I muttered, my voice more of a growl than I intended. My fingers inched closer to the altar, the pull of the coin stronger now, like a hook buried in my chest dragging me forward.
[Oh, Jamie, darling, you wound me.] Malice’s tone was mock-hurt, but he couldn’t hide the gleeful malice (of course) underneath. [I’m only here for the treasure—and the inevitable screaming. You should thank me for making this entertaining.]
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My hand brushed the stone. Cold fire shot up my arm, and I jerked back with a hiss. The mist above the altar flared brighter for a split second, and the hum crescendoed into a low, guttural moan that reverberated through the clearing.
[Oh, you’ve done it now. That’s the sound of “congratulations, you’re cursed for eternity.” Let me know if you start sprouting extra limbs or speaking in tongues. Purely for research purposes, of course.] He chuckled darkly, the sound oozing smug satisfaction.
The coin pulsed again, brighter this time, as if daring me to reach for it.
[Go on, Jamie. Pick it up. Let’s see how much worse you can make this situation. I’m dying to find out.]
The corpse didn’t move. Of course, it didn’t. But there was something about it, something about the way the red light played against its cracked, broken form that made the back of my neck prickle. My eyes flicked back to the coin, still hovering above the altar, its glow now brighter, pulsing faster.
I reached out—not for the coin, not directly, but toward the altar beneath it. My hand trembled as I stopped just shy of touching the stone. The air seemed to shiver around me, the hum now vibrating through my bones.
The coin suddenly shifted, spinning slowly in place, its light casting jagged, blood-red streaks across the clearing. The hum deepened, almost a growl, and the oppressive weight of the clearing seemed to settle on my shoulders. I straightened, stepping back, but unease gnawed at me. The golden mist swirled more aggressively, like it was reacting to my presence.
But there was nothing to find. The body was empty, the altar was silent.
A waste of time. I grabbed the worthless seeming coin and turned around.
The coin’s glow pulsed in my hand, and I hesitated, staring at it like it might bite. The red light reflected off the jagged edges of the altar, illuminating the corpse's cracked, empty sockets. Its rhythm matched the frantic hammering of my heartbeat, each pulse feeling like a countdown. My skin crawled, the heat from the coin seeping into my palm, unsettlingly alive—like it was breathing with me.
[Oh, look at you,] Malice sneered, his voice dripping with gleeful derision. [Standing there like you’re debating whether to keep the haunted treasure. Spoiler alert: you already doomed yourself the moment you touched it.]
I rolled my eyes, forcing myself to ignore the strange sensation that tugged at the edges of my mind. It vanished in an instant, the heat leaving my hand—but not my thoughts.
Even now, I could feel its pull, faint but insistent, like an itch I couldn’t scratch. A whisper of its hum lingered in my chest, rattling against my ribs.
“Happy now?” I muttered, flexing my fingers as though I could shake off the phantom sensation.
[Oh, thrilled,] Malice drawled, the sarcasm in his voice thick enough to choke on. [You just added the worst possible object to your inventory. It practically screams cursed beyond reason. But hey, who am I to stop you from speedrunning to your own doom?]
Frustration flared in me. This whole place was a waste of time. I sighed, unsure where else to go, and reluctantly headed back toward the volcano. Just as I reached the jagged rocks at its base, the ground shuddered violently, and then it happened.
The volcano erupted.
[Oh, brilliant timing! The one place you decided to head toward—the active volcano, mind you—is now exploding. A stroke of genius, Jamie. Truly.]
A deafening roar split the sky, shaking the earth beneath my feet as ash began to rain down in thick, choking clouds. Heat clawed at my skin, blistering the air, and each breath seared my lungs as I scrambled to my feet. Molten lava surged from the volcano, spilling down the mountainside in glowing, unstoppable rivers. The earth trembled beneath my boots, threatening to pull me under.
[Well, look at that. Mother Nature’s officially fed up with you too. Welcome to the club.]
Oh no, no, no…
Without thinking, I ran. Instinct, not reason, took over—I had to move, had to escape. My legs burned as I sprinted toward the only place that offered any hope of survival: the cave at the volcano’s base. It was madness, suicide even, but it was my only chance.
[Ah, yes, because running into the volcano is so much safer than staying outside. Just brilliant strategy all around today.]
The world around me blurred into a fiery haze, my vision obscured by smoke and falling ash. Each breath tasted like death, my lungs screaming with every step.
Faster. I pushed my body harder, my muscles screaming in protest. Faster or you die here.
[Newsflash: you're still probably going to die. But by all means, keep sprinting—it’s fun to watch.]
Just as I thought I might collapse, the mouth of the cave loomed ahead, a yawning void in the mountainside. I pushed forward, my heart pounding in my ears. But then—crack. My foot caught on something, and the ground disappeared beneath me.
[Oh no, what a shocking development! You tripped! How utterly unpredictable. Somebody call the rescue team… oh wait, there isn’t one.]
I fell hard, the world tilting as I tumbled face-first into the blackness.