Scene 1 – The Forbidden Bells
I returned to my hotel late at night. Morning came quickly, and with it, a plan.
I messaged Bruce, asking if I could visit. He replied promptly:
"Come any time. Bring Carter too."
Carter and I got in the car, but before heading to Bruce's place, I received a message from an old friend—Akira Antonito. He was in the city, so we picked him up along the way.
When we neared Bruce's abandoned family villa—the one hiding his underground base—I parked a little away from the entrance.
"Akira, wait here or take a walk," I said. "We won't take long."
Carter and I went ahead, reaching the villa. I pressed the third bell, and just like before, the hidden underground passage opened. We entered.
Meanwhile, Akira grew curious. After a short walk, he returned to the house. Seeing no one around, he approached the front of the mansion. The place had been abandoned for nearly two decades—but now something felt… alive.
He noticed three bells by the door. He had no clue what they did.
He pressed the first bell.
A few seconds later, the front door creaked open. A tall, handsome man stood there, face stoic.
"Is Ron—" Akira began, but the man slammed the door shut without a word.
Confused, Akira pressed the bell again. Same result. The man opened the door and shut it before Akira could speak.
Frustrated, Akira rang the second bell, then the third, then the first again, randomly pressing all three. Finally, the underground passage opened.
He stepped in.
Behind him, the mysterious man at the door noticed the opening. His eyes turned blood red. His body dissolved into a thick black fog.
He flowed silently into the passage—unseen.
Akira was abducted.
Inside the base, Carter and I finished talking with Bruce.
Suddenly, alarms rang out.
"What the hell is that?" I asked.
Bruce rushed to his monitors.
"Someone triggered all the bells at once!"
The CCTV footage showed Akira entering the passage—then a black fog snatching him away.
"That idiot!" I cursed. "We told him to wait!"
Carter frowned. "What was that thing? That fog—where did it come from?"
Bruce's face turned pale.
"You've got to be kidding me… No. Not him. Not now..."
He looked shaken to the core.
Scene 2 – Bruce's brother
After a few tense minutes, Bruce finally calmed down enough to speak.
"That fog... That was my elder brother, Eddie. He used to be the best big brother you could imagine. He gave everything for us."
Carter blinked. "I thought your whole family was… dead?"
"They are," Bruce replied. "But their souls—or rather, twisted echoes of them—are trapped here. They can't pass on. They want justice. That's why I became a protector of this city. But I still haven't delivered what they need."
Bruce wiped his eyes.
"Before Eddie died, he built this underground base. He handed me the keys and told me to live on. He was 15 years older than me. When the cult attacked... he shielded me from the knives. Took every blow with a smile."
His voice cracked as he recalled the moment.
"'Live your life to the fullest,' he said. 'I'm just a figure from the past.'"
I placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder.
"You were just a kid, Bruce. You couldn't have stopped it. But I might be able to give them the justice they need."
He looked at me, eyes tired.
"What could you possibly do?"
"Leave that to me," I said firmly.
The House of Echoes (written in air)
I approached the upper house alone.
Dr. Thomas had taught me enough to enter places like this—though my body couldn't always handle the toll.
I rang the first bell.
The man—Eddie—opened the door once again. This time, I handed him a sealed letter written in an ancient, forgotten language.
He read it.
His eyes softened.
"Welcome. You should've told me Dr. Thomas sent you," he said, speaking in that same old tongue.
He stepped aside.
I entered—and immediately, the walls turned to screens of memory.
I watched Bruce's entire childhood replay.
He was a baby, barely months old, growing into a bright, joyful child surrounded by a loving family. Their smiles were real. Warm. Alive.
I couldn't help but feel jealous.
Years passed in seconds. Then that day arrived.
Cultists, disguised as guests, entered the home. I saw how they turned on the family. Every one of them was murdered.
They wanted something—something Bruce's family refused to give.
Eddie tried to save his little brother and baby sister, but while Bruce survived, his sister did not.
Eddie suffered wounds so brutal he was unrecognizable—but still, he fought on.
Then I saw a figure in the distance.
DA.
He appeared when the cultists were distracted. Wrapped Bruce in a dark cloth and laid him in the garden. Then he called the police.
As sirens approached, the cultists fled.
DA took a few steps forward... and then turned.
He looked straight at me.
I froze.
He saw me—inside a memory.
He stared for a moment. My heart pounded. Then he and the world began to dissolve—turning into swirling fog.
The entire house shifted into an endless realm of mist—black, grey, and green. The colors swirled, clashed, and converged into a towering castle made of fog.
A path formed beneath my feet, leading straight to it.