Mason woke up screaming, gasping for air.He was lying across from a portrait of his grandfather, whose eyes seemed to glare at him with contempt. Only now, staring at that face, did he realize what a terrible man he must have been—the man Mason had idealized for so long.
He trembled with fear, unable to shake the images from his head—scenes from the past, over forty years ago.
He glanced at his brother lying next to him. Noah looked just as shaken.
"Tell me, Noah... was all of that real? Did we really see the dark past of our family? Was my grandfather a monster?"
"Not just yours," Noah replied quietly. "Jake's grandfather too. What they did... it's their fault. They caused this tragedy."
In the corner of the room, a woman's figure materialized. Mason recognized her instantly—Marie. The ghost who had been haunting them.
"Was it you who showed us the past?" he asked, his voice trembling.
Her gaze turned icy.
"I'll make sure you and Smith stay here forever. You'll suffer like I did..." she hissed with hatred.
"It wasn't us. It was our ancestors..."
Marie smiled maliciously.
"I'm not punishing you for their sins. I'm punishing you for yours."
Mason looked at his brother, seeking confirmation.
"What is she talking about?"
"I don't know. I can't see her. I can't hear her," Noah replied.
The room spun. Mason felt dizzy, his heart pounding. He felt like he was going to faint.
"Mason!" Noah shook him, and when that didn't help, he slapped him across the face. "Snap out of it!"
The slap brought Mason back to reality. Marie had vanished.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "What I saw... I can't make sense of it. My grandfather was a monster. Marie wants revenge, and I... I'm terrified."
Noah nodded in understanding. He knew Mason carried the burden of not only his own mistakes but those of others.
The door burst open. The brothers ran into the hallway and bumped into Jake.
"I was there! In the past! In my grandfather's body! I saw what happened!" he shouted, panicked.
"I know. I went through it too," Mason said. "It was our grandfathers who started all of this. Marie and the other spirits hate us."
Jake looked at him with despair.
"But my grandfather loved her... he was her lover. How could he do that to her?"
"Marie threatened me," Mason said. "She said you and I would never leave this place."
"But you didn't hurt her," Noah interjected.
A scream echoed from the end of the corridor. The girls were running toward them.
"Jennifer is gone! Someone took her!" Nancy shouted.
Jake reacted immediately.
"What? Did you see who?"
"We heard her scream. There are muddy footprints downstairs," Betty explained. "What about you guys?"
"We'll tell you later. Currently, we have to find Jennifer," Mason said.
"Maybe he took her to the cave," he said, glancing at Nancy. "Perhaps he's hiding there."
"But who is he? What does he want from us?" Betty asked.
"And where are Olivia and Will?" Nancy added.
Everyone exchanged glances, but no one had an answer.
*
They walked through the forest.The girls stayed in the back, the boys led the way. Dawn was approaching. Every sound gave them chills.
Jake prayed silently that Jennifer was okay.
"Stop freaking out," Mason said to Betty, when she squealed at the sound of a bird.
"I'd rather go with you than stay alone in that hotel," she replied, clutching Nancy's hand tighter.
"Possibly going to the cave is a mistake. The killer could be hiding somewhere else," Nancy muttered. "He kidnapped me before, too. Knocked me out and left me in that cave. It was full of corpses."
"And you didn't tell us?!" Mason snapped.
"We would rather not stress you out even more," the blonde girl explained.
"So now we're heading into a cave full of dead bodies?" Betty groaned.
"I'm more worried that Olivia and Will are missing," Nancy said.
"Great. One less crazy person to deal with," Mason sighed.
"That's your fiancée," Jake reminded him. "Don't you care about her?"
"Not at all. Not about her or Will."
"Good to know," Betty chimed in. "Because Olivia drives me insane."
They reached the entrance of the cave.
"So now what?" Betty asked. "It's dark, and we don't have flashlights."
"I'll try calling her," Jake said and shouted, "Jennifer!"
Silence.
"Maybe she's unconscious," Nancy whispered.
"Perhaps he knew we'd come here," Noah added.
Mason sat down on the ground.
"The bodies in this cave... some of them are my grandfather's victims," he said.
"And mine," Jake added.
The girls sat across from them.
"This is going to sound crazy," Mason began, "but we traveled through time. We saw the past. Marie was the wife of our grandfather's friend and... Jake's grandfather's lover."
"A love affair?" Betty asked, surprised.
"Not just that. Marie threatened to expose everything. My grandfather decided to silence her. One night, they got drunk. Jake's grandfather took her to a secluded place, and mine... raped her. His friend just watched."
The girls were speechless.
"Her husband came back later and didn't believe her. Marie broke down, walked out, and threw herself into the ocean."
"And him...?" Nancy asked.
"He went into a rage. Started killing everyone he came across. And when he came to his senses, he hanged himself."
"And the bodies?" Betty whispered.
"I don't know if they're the same ones in the cave. Possibly. The grandfathers bribed the witnesses and the police. It was easy when you had money. Officially, everyone just disappeared."
"And the ghosts came back," Nancy said quietly.
"Marie haunts me," Mason added. "And Jake is haunted by her husband."
"And what about Daniel? His death? Is there any connection?" Betty asked.
They all looked at each other.
No one had an answer.