The fall into Elise's next memory wasn't gentle this time.
It felt like being yanked through a vacuum cleaner, spun in a blender, then thrown out of a moving truck.
SWOOOOSH—THUD—OUCH—WHO WAS THAT?!
They crashed into solid ground… again.
Rhea lay facedown. "I'm suing this game for emotional and spinal damages."
Kian picked a leaf out of his hair. "I think my organs rearranged themselves."
Dev pulled Yuvan out of a bush. "Bro, why do you always land in vegetation?"
Yuvan coughed out leaves. "Nature loves me. Humans don't."
Aria stood up slowly, her eyes widening.
They were on a dark hillside overlooking the castle—
but this time it wasn't peaceful.
It was storming.
Black clouds churned overhead like boiling ink.
Lightning flashed violently across the sky.
Wind howled so loudly it nearly drowned their thoughts.
The castle in the distance glowed ominously.
Ravi looked around. "This… must be the night she forgot Aiden."
"Great," Zoya whispered. "We're inside trauma night."
Mira hugged herself. "Why does the air feel so… wrong?"
Because it was wrong.
The memory around them flickered—
trees freezing for a second then swaying again,
rain falling in slow motion then fast forward,
the ground beneath them glitching like broken pixels.
A voice echoed through the storm:
"Run, Elise. RUN!"
They spun.
A younger Elise sprinted through the forest, tears streaming, dress soaked, fear crushing her face.
Behind her—
Something massive was chasing her.
Not the glitch monster.
Not Aiden.
Something different.
Something dark as night, its shape constantly shifting, like a living shadow made of broken code.
It roared, the sound splitting the sky.
Yuvan shrieked, "NOPE. NUH-UH. HARD PASS."
Dev grabbed his arm. "Move. NOW."
Elise tripped and fell.
The creature towered over her.
Aria's instincts kicked in. "GO!"
They ran.
They didn't think—
just moved.
Kian and Dev sprinted faster than they ever had.
Rhea struggled but Ravi pulled her along.
Zoya screamed the whole way.
Yuvan screamed louder.
Aria reached Elise first.
"Elise! Get up!"
But Elise didn't hear her—
She couldn't.
This wasn't the real Elise.
This was a memory.
A fixed moment replaying.
But—
Elise turned her head suddenly.
Her eyes met Aria's.
And for a split second—
Elise SAW her.
Not as an NPC.
Not as a background figure.
She saw Aria.
"Help…" Elise whispered.
Aria froze.
"GUYS!" Kian yelled, "THE GIANT DEATH-DARKNESS IS COMING AGAIN!"
Aria snapped out of it.
The creature lunged.
Lightning struck.
Thunder exploded.
Wind howled.
Aria grabbed Elise's arm—
and the memory SHIFTED instantly.
---
SHIFT #2: THE CASTLE HALLWAY
The floor vanished from beneath them and they crashed again.
This time in a castle corridor—
long, cold, lit only by moonlight through cracked windows.
Rhea groaned. "I can't keep teleporting like this. My soul is in beta testing."
The walls trembled.
A soft crying echoed.
They turned the corner…
And saw Elise again.
Her face pale.
Her eyes empty.
Her hand pressed against a locked door.
Inside the room—
Aiden's voice shouted desperately:
"Elise, open the door! Let me in!"
Elise whispered, "Please… stop calling my name… Who are you?"
Aiden's voice broke.
The group exchanged horrified glances.
Zoya started tearing up. "Nooo, don't do this to him—this is worse than my last breakup."
Dev sniffled. "Same."
Kian stared upward. "WHERE IS THE PAUSE BUTTON FOR EMOTIONS?"
Elise stepped away from the door—
breathing hard, trembling, terrified.
Her shadow on the wall suddenly changed shape.
Stretched.
Warped.
Twisted.
Ravi's voice cracked. "Guys… her fear… it's literally turning into that monster."
The shadow on the wall grew—
taller—
darker—
until it detached from her entirely.
The monster wasn't chasing Elise.
The monster CAME FROM Elise.
Manifested by her fear.
Aria whispered, "Oh no… the monster is her fear given form."
The monster roared—
the castle shaking violently.
The scroll blinked:
MEMORY PUZZLE 2:
Find the cause of Elise's fear.
Only then can her memory be restored.
The monster lunged—
straight through the wall—
toward the group.
Rhea screamed.
Kian screamed louder.
Yuvan screamed the loudest.
Zoya screamed in musical notes.
"RUN!" Aria yelled.
They bolted down the hallway.
Doors slammed.
Windows shattered.
Floor cracked beneath them.
Ravi shouted over the chaos, "We have to figure out WHY she forgot Aiden! Something CAUSED this!"
Lightning flashed—
revealing symbols on the walls.
Strange runes.
Not medieval…
but technological.
Binary code.
Fractals.
Digital corruption.
Mira gasped. "This isn't natural magic… this is GAME magic!"
Aria's eyes widened.
"Elise didn't just lose her memories…"
She stopped running.
"…something took them."
Before the others could react,
The hallway doors burst open—
and a figure stepped out.
Not the monster.
Not Aiden.
A masked figure.
Tall.
Hooded.
Face hidden.
Holding a glowing artifact covered in code.
Ravi froze. "Oh no."
The masked figure whispered—
"Round 1 is only the beginning."
Then he snapped his fingers.
BOOM.
White light swallowed them.
Another shift.
Another fall.
Another scream.
Another memory…
waiting.
---