Elara stood outside the mansion for a long moment after the loud bang echoed from inside. The fog was growing thicker, and the sky had turned darker even though evening had only just begun.
She turned back toward the old man, ready to ask more questions.
But the bench was empty.
Elara blinked in confusion. She looked around quickly. The road leading away from the mansion was completely deserted. There was no sound of footsteps. No sign of him leaving.
"He couldn't have gone that fast…" she whispered to herself.
A cold wind passed through the rusted gate, making it creak slowly. Elara hugged her notebook closer to her chest, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling crawling inside her stomach.
She looked back at the mansion.
Part of her wanted to leave. The old man's warning kept repeating in her mind. But another part of her the curious, stubborn part pulled her forward again.
"I just need a few more photos," she told herself quietly.
She walked back inside.
The main hall felt darker now. The dust in the air looked heavier, floating slowly like grey snow. The staircase stood in front of her exactly the same as before… but something felt different.
Elara stepped forward and froze.
Her eyes moved slowly across the hall.
The portraits on the wall had changed.
She was sure of it.
Earlier, the paintings showed faded faces she couldn't recognize. But now, one of the portraits looked clearer. The face in it showed a young woman wearing old-fashioned clothes, standing stiffly with her hands folded.
Elara moved closer.
The woman's expression looked… scared.
Elara raised her camera and took a picture. When she lowered it, her breath caught in her throat.
The woman's eyes in the portrait were now looking slightly to the side.
As if she was watching something behind Elara.
Elara quickly turned around.
Nothing was there.
Her heartbeat grew louder in her ears. She stepped away from the painting and forced herself to focus.
"Old paint… maybe lighting trick…" she whispered, though she didn't believe her own words.
She decided to check the east corridor again.
Her footsteps echoed loudly as she walked toward it. But the moment she reached the hallway entrance, she stopped completely.
The corridor was shorter now.
Elara stared in shock.
The hallway that had stretched endlessly before now ended after three doors… exactly like the blueprint.
"No…" she whispered.
She hurried forward, counting the doors again.
One.
Two.
Three.
The strange wallpapered wall at the end was gone. In its place stood a normal wooden wall, cracked and covered in peeling paint.
Her hands began to shake slightly.
"I saw it," she said under her breath. "I know I saw it."
Suddenly, her camera hanging around her neck made a soft clicking sound.
Elara frowned and looked down. The screen had turned on by itself. A photo was open on display the picture she had taken earlier in the corridor.
But something in the image had changed.
Her breath stopped.
The wallpaper in the photo was torn open… clearly revealing a tall carved wooden door beneath it. Strange symbols curled across its surface like twisted vines.
And standing directly in front of the door…
…was Elara.
But she didn't remember standing that close when she took the photo.
Her photographed self was facing the door, her hand stretched forward… almost touching it.
Behind her, inside the photo, faint scratch marks appeared on the door surface.
Words slowly formed between the carvings.
WELCOME BACK.