The group staggered into the thickening dusk of Day 2, Ruins and the abandoned houses swallowing them in silence as nightfall loomed.The faint rustle of leaves blown by the wind and the crunch of debris under their foot were the only sounds echoing in the almost nighttime, distant creak made by doors of the abandoned houses that sent shivers down their spines.
Caleb led the way, the witch's stone heavy in his pocket, its jagged line etched into his mind like a nagging itch he couldn't scratch.
The abandoned cellar loomed ahead, it was already getting late, making it seems even more sinister, like a dark rectangle cut into the earth making it stand out among the remaining abandoned buildings, its stone steps descending into shadow.
As they entered the cellar it got scary to another level.
The air grew colder, carrying a damp, musty scent mingled with the smoky residue of the shadow beast's defeat from the day before. Fortunately for them the cellar wasn't far from their battle with the entity last night...or else they would need to journey far away to find the cellar...which they can't afford to move around at night.
Caleb in the lead even though he doesn't have the charm with him, he felt like it's something that should be done since no one said anything about him taking the lead.
"Is something alive down there? Does This Cloverton cellar hides answers we need to uncover the mystery of what we got dragged into?," he thought, he really hope's it does, that's the only thing pushing him this far.
His resolve firm but his heart pounding as he glanced back at the weary crew. Ethan, Lila, Jenny, and Tara, their faces with exhaustion.
Ethan trailed close behind, his bandaged leg aching with each step, the thin rope coiled around his wrist like a lifeline.
His usual grin was gone, replaced by a hard stare scanning the ruins
Ethan, was a few years older than Caleb, lived with his family in a modest home on Ravenhill's outskirts. His parents were laborers, and he was a scrappy kid, always getting into fights but with a loyal heart.
He met Caleb when they were nothing more than kids, when Caleb's family moved nearby, when Caleb's family moved nearby.
Ethan saw Caleb as a quiet, bookish, kind kid and took him under his wing, despite their different backgrounds.
One day, Ethan and Caleb were playing near Ravenhill's church ruins after school. Caleb's parents had gone to investigate strange lights or rumors as they called it, leaving caleb behind.
While Ethan and Caleb played in the forest, a group of hooded figures conducted a ritual, and a surge of dark energy erupted. They were close by too....
Caleb's parents, caught in the chaos, vanished Ethan witnessed them shouting Caleb's name before they disappeared into a shadowy void....since that day Ethan as always searched through the forest around their town....
He didn't know it would end up this badly...he regretted dragging Caleb down this path....but he felt Caleb has the right to know what happened...even though he never told him anything.
"That day he came back to an empty house… he stuck by me since".... now he's dragged into this.
Ethan's family moved away soon after, Caleb was all alone, nobody was there for him....he became more cautious with people....it became almost like a scar.
While Ethan blamed himself for not saving his parents.
"He's pushing ahead....he owes me nothing, but I owe him everything". That day he came back to an empty house, that left Caleb lonely.just looking at Caleb was enough for him to keep his mouth shut....he couldn't find it in himself to tell him that his parents are no more… gotta keep him safe", he mused, his debt to Caleb driving him to stay within arm's reach.
Lila followed, clutching the charm close to her chest, its faint glow like a dim beacon in the growing dark.
Her red hair stuck to her sweaty forehead, and her eyes narrowed as she studied the steps.
"It flared against the beast—why? I need to be ready if it happens again", she thought, her mind racing with the memory of its power, her fingers tracing its smooth surface.
Jenny limped beside her, her wrapped shoulder throbbing, the fist-sized stone gripped tightly in her good hand. Her pale face was set with determination, but her eyes darted to Tara with suspicion.
"That light saved us, but can Lila do it?, it's hers from the beginning, I hope it's works for her, or maybe she should just give it to Caleb.....And Tara better not lead us into a trap," she wondered, she still has distrust in Tera but she has no choice but to follow...."It's better than staying in one place" she thought as she steadied her footing.
Tara was at the rear, even though she was the one to be in front, she was scared silly by the dark...so Caleb came in front to avoid unnecessary fights.
Her torn bag slung over her shoulder, her body still aching from the rubble fall.
She clutched the map, its squeezed edged, was trembling in her shaky hands as she guided them toward the cellar. From behind...
"They're following me now....got to prove I'm not the weak link", she hoped, her confidence fragile but growing, her mind replaying the hooded ritual from a month ago.
Caleb paused at the cellar's edge, peering down the uneven steps.
The darkness below seems to , want to come alive if they take their eyes of it for a second, and a faint, metallic smell drifted up, setting his nerves on edge.
"Down we go....stay close and watch your step," he said, his voice steady as he started the descent, the stone's weight in his pocket was a constant reminder of their goal.
The steps were slick with moss, and the air grew heavier, the smell was growing into a strong odor that seems to be etched into the walls.
Ethan followed, looping the rope tighter around his wrist, his thoughts focused. "Tripwire's ready...we are coming out of this alive, if anything is to come after us, it will be delayed at least....", he planned, his eyes scanning for threats.
At the bottom, the cellar opened into a damp, cavernous room, its walls lined with rusted shelves and shattered crates.
A lone figure slumped against the far wall, a scrawny man with a tangled blond hair, clutching a stone identical to Caleb's.
Caleb froze, his hand on the pocketed stone. A survivor? Or a trap? he wondered, his instincts flaring. "Who's there?" he called, his voice echoing as he stepped forward, the crew spread out behind him.
The man whizzed out a reply, "Ravenhill… I'm Marek. They chased me here....the creatures .they chased me the moment .....I reached ravenhill, i have been here for days...I have lost my sense of time while being here...I can't even move now...they were screaming names...if I remember correctly....there was a name they screamed frequently.....i-I think it's c-Caleb..." His eyes locked on Caleb. For a moment before closing his eyes like he's gathering his strength he you used to speak.
"My name again? "Caleb thought, his mind racing, the more he thought about it....it just seems like a mere coincidence, so he brush it off as a coincidence. "There's lots of people who have the name Caleb " he thought to himself.
Marek thrust a tattered journal at him, his voice hoarse. "Read it....Ravenhill's truth is there, I know your looking for a way out....I can't make it, so you should save yourselves while you still ....can "he gasped, collapsing against the crate.
Caleb received it while looking at the exhausted man who looked to have passed out.
Caleb flipped through the pages, finding frantic scribbles, like it was written in a hurry: "The pendant in Ravenhill's church, the child's mark draws them.....lost family tied to it." My mark? ....The day when his parents disappeared. A faint burn mark appeared on Caleb's arm amid the chaos....but Caleb has always thought of it as a scar as a result to Ethan's rough plays in the forest that day.
"They left me—this can't be real," he thought, his pulse quickening as he pocketed the journal,the words stirring a vague unease he couldn't place.
"Damn it!!!!",Jenny kicked a nearby crate in frustration, while pacing around in frustration. "What do we do now!?", it's as good as we wasted our time coming here" she said in frustration.
Ethan looked towards the crate that Jenny knocked down.
A cracked photo among the items on the floor. Two adults with a young Caleb,...."Caleb, look at this..." Ethan said with a puzzled expression.
He picked it up and turned it towards him....there was an address on the back of the frame....a Ravenhill address...marked with the same jagged symbol.
He handed it to Caleb, Caleb stared, Mom and Dad… they disappeared...why did they leave me behind?... He wondered, the faint burn on his arm tingling faintly, a memory he'd long buried. And why this mark?
Lila brushed the dust of a half-buried stone tablet in the pile of items that was in the crate, its circle-and-jagged-line pulsing faintly under her touch.
"This matches the stones....that points to Cloverton's church, maybe more, she considered, her breath was seized as she traced the carving.
Tara froze at the sight of a shattered cup and a blood-stained dagger by a cold fire pit near the crate, her memory stirring. That looks like the hooded figures' tools, she thought, her hands trembling as she knelt to examine them with shaky hands.
Jenny looked at Lila, Ethan, Caleb and Tera going through the stuff in the cellar...so she decided to do the same even though she's still frustrated over the whole situation....She rummaged under a shelf, finding a blinking device emitting a metallic hum, and disabled it with a quick twist. Is that a drone?, she thought, the static resolving into a garbled message :"Relic site compromised—lockdown initiated." Jenny muttered, "Great, more trouble," her stone ready as she glared at the shadows.
Marek coughed, the other survivors—two silent figures from Ashwood and Cloverton—watching from the cellar's edges....they didn't even notice their presences...." if they were enemies we would be dead by now" that went through Lila and Caleb's mind, as they stare at them with a anxious expression....
"There's a grimoire's in the church ahead....it leads to Ravenhill, you will need it" Marek whispered, his strength fading. "Guess he used everything he had to tell us this... I wonder how he knows all this though ", Caleb thought as he looked at their helper.
"This ties my parents to Ravenhill—got to uncover it," he thought, his leadership steadying despite the confusion. "Rest here. We're checking that tunnel," he said, motioning to a crack in the wall, we have no choice now....even the journal leads us through the tunnel, he thought to himself.
Tara stepped forward, her resolve strengthening. A way out....or deeper in. I hope ashwood has camps, she hoped, as she starts to guide them toward the crack.
Lila's charm pulsed as they neared the crack, her wariness rising, It's reacting...could the tunnel hold the grimoire? she thought, her grip tightening on the gem.
Ethan rigged the rope across the entrance, thinking, Trap's set....it will keep us safe, no matter the drones they send....this will help caleb, his focus sharp despite the exhaustion.
The group moved through the crack, the metallic smell growing stronger, the two survivors watching with hope and fear.
Caleb led, the photo and journal burning in his mind. For my parents, for Ethan, for everyone....even if I don't know why, he vowed, the tunnel swallowing them as the radio signal from the drones faded into the night.