Chapter 4 — The Echoes Awaken
422 Words
The bell pulsed again, vibrating with an urgent rhythm that matched Aera’s heartbeat. She gripped it tighter, feeling its warmth seep into her palm like a silent summons.
“This isn’t just a haunting,” she whispered to herself, voice barely audible. “They’re alive. Waiting.”
A sudden creak echoed from the floor above, breaking the stillness. Aera’s breath caught. She wasn’t alone.
“Who’s there?” she called out, her voice steady despite the cold knot tightening in her stomach.
Silence. Then, a soft footstep, light and hesitant.
“Show yourself!” Aera demanded, moving toward the staircase.
From the shadows emerged a slender figure—a young woman with pale skin and eyes wide with fear. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said. “They don’t like visitors.”
Aera stepped closer. “Who are you?”
The woman glanced behind her nervously. “I’m Lisse. I live here. Well... sort of. The house keeps me, and sometimes I can’t leave.”
“The girl from the letters,” Aera realized aloud.
Lisse nodded, eyes darting. “The house sings to me. It remembers everything. The good, the bad… the terrible.”
“Why do you stay?” Aera asked gently.
Lisse’s gaze dropped. “Because if I leave, I don’t know what will happen to my mother. To the echoes.”
Aera softened. “I’m here to help. To find out what’s trapped here and set it free.”
Lisse swallowed hard. “You think it’s that simple? The echoes don’t want freedom. They want revenge.”
Aera’s hand brushed the copper bell. “Then I’ll face whatever comes. But you have to tell me everything. Start from the beginning.”
Lisse hesitated, then spoke quietly.
“It started years ago. My mother found something in this house—a secret the echoes wanted to hide. After that, things changed. The house grew angry. The echoes grew restless. And now... they won’t stop.”
Aera felt a chill creep down her spine.
“Tell me about the secret,” she urged.
Lisse’s voice barely rose above a whisper. “It’s buried beneath the floorboards. Something powerful. Something dangerous. And it’s the reason the echoes remember.”
Aera nodded, determination settling like armor around her.
“Then we have no time to lose.”
Together, they moved deeper into the house, the echoes swirling around them like a living storm.
The past was awake—and Aera was ready to face it.
- Writer
