♡ TL: Khadija SK
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However, those who had fallen had no time to care whose voice it was or where it had come from. The sudden plunge had shaken the mansion with a thunderous roar.
For a moment, William couldn’t grasp what had happened. What he saw during the fall was his beloved camera bag, which he always carried with great care.
The problem was that his waist had slammed against the edge of it.
“Ughhh…”
William groaned, lying face down on the floor. When he looked to the side, he saw Rob curled up, screaming in pain.
Meanwhile, the floor of the first level kept collapsing, covering the heads of those who had fallen. Thick clouds of sandy dust obscured their vision. Each breath carried fine particles into their lungs, with a scent of something ancient settling deep inside.
It felt as though they were being buried alive.
Thud_ thud_
After what seemed like an eternity, the relentless collapse finally began to subside. When the stones falling from above stopped, the air filled with coughing and groaning sounds from all directions.
“Is everyone okay?”
The first to stand and check on the others was Camilla. Soon, Rob, who had been beside her, also stood up and brushed the dust off his head.
“Damn it…”
Hearing their calls, Ian slowly rose from a short distance away. He looked dazed for a moment, as if he didn’t understand what had happened, before staggering to his feet.
Seeing this, William felt some relief. Out of the five of them, at least three weren’t seriously injured. That meant one of them could climb back up, report the situation, and call for help.
“William!”
Camilla, who had belatedly spotted him lying on the ground, ran over.
“Oh my God! What do we do? Let’s get you up—”
“Ack! Stop!”
Camilla tried to help him up, but William screamed and stopped her.
“Damn it, I think I hurt my back and neck. It hurts like hell even if I move just a little.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?!”
Camilla, who usually seemed so composed, was now on the verge of tears, utterly at a loss. Rob, the youngest, was also on the brink of crying, stammering nervously.
While the two tended to the fallen William, Ian glanced around at where they had landed and pulled out his phone. However, after repeatedly dialing only to get no signal, he threw it to the ground in frustration.
Crack!
The screen of his brand-new smartphone shattered.
‘Idiot. What a hotheaded fool.’
William couldn’t help but find Ian’s impulsive behavior ridiculous. Phones weren’t just for making calls, but he had let his anger take over and rendered the device useless. Still, William was grateful that Ian wasn’t injured and turned his attention to finding the last member of their group.
“James? Where’s James?”
At William’s question, the others finally began searching for James.
“James!”
“Where are you?”
The thought that he might be completely buried under the debris drained the color from their faces. Just as panic set in, they heard a faint voice from a corner.
“O-over here…”
Hearing him, young Rob scrambled toward the direction of his voice. As he stepped onto a piece of rubble, a loud groan echoed.
“Rob! Get down from there!”
Camilla quickly pulled him back, and they heard James panting beyond the pile of debris. When they circled around, they found him pinned under the rubble, one arm trapped.
“James!”
“No need to freak out. It’s just one arm. Luckily, it’s intact, and I can even move my fingers. As long as no one climbs on top, I’ll be fine.”
Despite his predicament, James spoke with surprising nonchalance. His calm demeanor brought some relief to Camilla and Rob, whose expressions finally softened.
Listening to the conversation from where he lay, William, too, felt a wave of relief.
“Damn it, looks like I’m the worst off here.”
William deliberately lightened his tone, prompting a response from James beyond the rubble.
“Does that bother you? Hang tight—once I get my arm out, I’ll carry you out like a princess.”
“That’s… so reassuring!”
William shouted back sarcastically before slowly turning over to lie on his back, trying not to strain his injured back and neck. Despite his caution, the pain was so intense it felt like he might faint.
At least they were all alive, and none of the injuries were life-threatening. Their plans would definitely face setbacks, but things could’ve been much worse.
“Rob! Ian! Try to find a way out! We need to get out of here and contact Colin for help!”
Since they hadn’t thoroughly explored the mansion, it was unclear which direction to take, but surely there had to be stairs somewhere.
“Use the flashlight on your phones and search everywhere! Mine’s in my pocket.”
Camilla, quick to act, pulled William’s phone from his pocket, turned on the flashlight, and began examining their surroundings. By now, most of the dust had settled, revealing more of the area.
They had assumed, like in other mansions, that the basement would consist of several storage rooms. But…
“What… is this place?”
Camilla’s voice trembled as she looked around. Strangely, the phone’s flashlight didn’t illuminate any walls. All that surrounded them was darkness.
“What the hell? Why can’t I see any walls?”
Ian brushed off his dirty clothes and spat, but even his voice carried a hint of unease. It seemed he, too, had noticed that something wasn’t right.
He tried to pick up his discarded phone, but it refused to turn on. Frustrated, he snatched Camilla’s phone and began walking around the space.
After a few steps, he finally found a wall. But instead of feeling relief, they were unsettled. How could a wall this close remain invisible from just a short distance away?
Suddenly, everyone fell silent.
Camilla and Rob clung to each other, refusing to leave William’s side, while Ian muttered curses under his breath, running his hands along the wall. For once, William was glad Ian’s stubbornness might prove useful and silently waited for him to find a staircase—or for Colin to arrive.
But no sounds of Colin coming reached them, and Ian still hadn’t found any stairs.
“You can’t find even one staircase?”
Frustrated, William shouted. Ian snapped back.
“What do you want me to do? I can’t find what’s not there!”
Feeling increasingly desperate, William urged Camilla and Rob.
“You two start looking too please! We’ve already wasted a lot of time. It’ll only get harder to see if it gets darker.”
Though reluctant, the two rose and began searching with their phones. The strange atmosphere of the space weighed heavily on them. The thought of being trapped in complete darkness only amplified their fear.
The three searched the walls carefully, but it wasn’t long before Rob, trembling, spoke up.
“There are no stairs.”
“…What?”
“There are no stairs. No doors, either. It’s all just walls.”
William forced himself to look up, his heart sinking. A basement without stairs?
Stairs were essential for entering and leaving freely. If there were no stairs…
This was a space people were never meant to leave. Or worse, a place they should have never entered.
***
Unable to find the stairs, Camilla collapsed onto the ground, sobbing, while Rob also whimpered beside her. Even Ian, who had been grumbling moments ago, slumped down in the center of the room.
A fear unlike anything they had ever experienced pressed down on all of them.
“Let’s just wait a little longer. Colin will come soon,” William said, though he silently cursed Colin in his mind. ‘What’s taking him so long? What could he possibly be discussing with the station for this long?’
“The three of you, at least try to move the debris pinning James’ arm. We can’t just lie around like this.”
Unlike William, who had injured his back, James only had his arm trapped. If they could free him, he would undoubtedly be more helpful.
Perhaps deciding it was better to move than sit in despair, the three of them silently began clearing the rubble off James’ arm, starting from the top.
Thunk_ thunk_
The sound of stones being tossed aside echoed as they rolled into the darkness, vanishing from sight.
Despite the light from their flashlights, the oppressive darkness beyond remained impenetrable, and it made William increasingly uneasy.
For some reason…
‘It feels… closer.’
Blinking rapidly, William fixed his gaze on the boundary where the light met the darkness.
At first, the darkness seemed to be about ten steps away, but now it had crept closer, just five steps from where they stood.
William bit down hard on the inside of his cheek.
‘Is the pain making me lose my mind?’ he wondered. Yet with every blink, the darkness inched closer to them.
“Oh, oh? Blood! There’s blood!”
Rob, who had been clearing the rubble, screamed in panic.
“Dear God, James! Are you really okay?”
Hearing Rob’s words, Camilla looked down at the floor and her eyes widened in shock. James had claimed he was fine, but was he truly? Blood was beginning to seep out from under the rubble.
“Blood?”
William gritted his teeth and shifted slightly, forcing himself to move despite the pain. His worried gaze fell on the dark red stain spreading beneath the rubble.
“Oh, Lord…”
William wasn’t particularly religious, but the words escaped his lips without thought.
Then, his eyes caught something else. The darkness—it was creeping closer to the rubble.
‘Get a grip. This is just my imagination. The pain is messing with my vision,’ he told himself. Shaking his head, he tried to dispel the thought, but it only made the sight clearer. The darkness slithered forward, reaching the pool of blood that had formed.
—Blood.
A deep, low voice reverberated through the air. It wasn’t just William who heard it. Ian, Camilla, and Rob froze, their faces twisted in fear as they frantically glanced around.
“W-who just said that?”
Even James murmured, his voice trembling as if he had heard it too.
No one answered. The voice had been foreign, unfamiliar.
As they all held their breaths, William noticed something alarming. The pool of blood—it was vanishing. Slowly but surely, it was receding, as if being sucked away by some unseen force. The blood-streaked floor was drying up, unnaturally clean.
This was impossible, even if the blood had been flowing elsewhere.
Then it happened.
Crunch!
The sound of something enormous snapping and chewing filled the basement.
“Aaaaahhhh!”
James’s scream echoed through the chamber, piercing and raw.
“My arm! My arm!”
The man who had been pinned beneath the rubble just moments ago thrashed violently on the ground.
His arm was gone.
One of his arms had been completely severed.
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WOAH