Suddenly, an earthquake hit.
The ground shook violently.
The tower’s cracks glowed orange.
Lava-colored light pulsed through the stone like blood through veins.
— In the Library.
Lomro rushed in.
His chest was heaving.
“Did you find something?” “No.
Here is just normal things about Karbu.
They can be killed by hitting them on the head.
They can run.
They can climb.
And about the lake — the lake is made of colored blood.
It seems violet because of reflection.
Just bullshit things,” Inose said.
Frustration in her voice.
She looked at Lomro.
He was staring at Carla and Zendaya.
“What are they doing here?” Lomro asked slowly.
His voice was low.
Suspicious.
“Forget about them,” Annie said.
Her voice was sharp.
Tired.
Lomro’s eyes caught something.
A book.
Map of Monovi.
1959-1980.
Old.
Dusty.
Forgotten.
“Wait for a second,” Lomro said.
He walked to the book.
Took it from the shelf.
Opened it.
His fingers flipped to the last page.
His eyes went wide.
“Yes.
I knew that,” Lomro said.
Excitement surged through his voice.
“What happened?” Inose asked.
“That other world.
It has the structure of 1959.” Lomro’s voice was alive with discovery.
“Twenty-one years back,” Cult said.
His voice was hollow.
Suddenly, the gate creaked open.
Slow.
Deliberate.
The sound froze them all.
Annie moved toward the gate.
Slowly.
She did not have a gun.
Her hands were empty.
Her heart was pounding.
A Karbu stepped into view.
Tall.
Thin.
Wrong.
Annie took a step back.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The Karbu’s hand held the door.
It pushed it open.
Moved inside.
Its black eyes scanned the room.
No one was visible.
Lomro and Cult were under the table, their hands clamped over the mouths of Zendaya and Carla.
The girls’ eyes were wide with terror.
They were all silent.
All frozen.
The Karbu came in.
Its footsteps echoed on the wooden floor.
Clear.
Heavy.
Each step was a death sentence.
It climbed onto the table.
The wood creaked under its weight.
Annie and Inose hid between the shelves.
Sweat dripped down their faces.
Fear locked their muscles.
Annie looked at the table.
Her gun was there.
Under it.
Out of reach.
She had forgotten it.
Stupid.
Stupid.
The Karbu looked around.
Its head moved slowly.
Scanning.
Hunting.
It moved from one table to the next.
Then it stopped.
Right above Lomro and the others.
They stopped breathing.
Their lungs burned.
Their hearts pounded so loud they were sure the creature could hear.
The Karbu slowly lowered its face.
Cult and Zendaya were closest.
Inches away.
Its terrifying black eyes stared at them.
Empty.
Hungry.
The Karbu screamed.
The sound was deafening.
It tore through the library like a physical force.
Then — another sound.
A click.
Annie stood there.
The loaded gun in her hands.
She had grabbed it from under the table.
Her aim was steady.
Her eyes were hard.
“Fuck you,” Annie said.
She pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
“What the fuck?” Annie whispered.
Disbelief.
Terror.
The Karbu turned.
Its black eyes locked onto her.
It jumped.
Lomro threw a table at the creature.
The wood smashed against its body.
It barely flinched.
Lomro grabbed Annie and ran.
They sprinted toward the store room.
The door slammed behind them.
— In the Other World.
William was driving the bus.
The engine growled.
The headlights cut through the violet darkness.
He stopped in front of the tower.
The structure loomed above them.
Ancient.
Cracked.
Waiting.
Blinc, Lara, and William got out.
Their feet touched the strange ground.
Cold.
Wrong.
“First, we check the walls and side portions.
Then the whole surface.
If there is nothing, we check the lake,” Blinc said.
His voice was focused.
Sharp.
They entered the tower.
The cherry blossom picture was on the floor.
The leaves seemed to be flying.
Frozen in stone.
William saw something odd.
The leaves got fewer as they went toward the wall.
Then he saw the last leaf — but there was no leaf.
Just an empty space.
A shape waiting to be filled.
“Hey!” William called.
His voice echoed.
“Look here.
There is an empty space for one leaf.
It must be like a key,” William said.
He stood up.
His eyes were bright with discovery.
“Where do we get it?
Blinc, you’ve been here several times.
Do you remember anything?” Lara asked.
Her voice was urgent.
Blinc shook his head.
No.
“I don’t remember…” Blinc stopped.
His eyes went distant.
A memory surfaced.
A moment.
When he transformed.
Amili standing near the throne.
The book in her hands.
He saw the pattern between them.
The pattern hiding a leaf.
“I know,” Blinc said.
His voice was certain.
He turned back.
Looked up.
His eyes were alive with understanding.
— Tom and Bruce.
In the Supermarket.
Their car was wrecked.
Hit by a pole.
They had stumbled into the supermarket.
The whole town had no lights.
Darkness pressed against the windows.
They hid under the billing counter.
A revolver in Tom’s hand.
A Karbu was moving nearby.
Its footsteps were clear.
Heavy.
Getting closer.
Tom slowly got up.
His body screamed in pain.
He aimed the gun at the Karbu.
The Karbu heard a sound.
Turned back.
Tom sweated.
His finger tightened on the trigger.
He fired.
Nothing happened.
Click.
Empty.
The Karbu came toward him.
Fast.
It hit him.
Tom flew backward.
He crashed through the counter.
Wood splintered.
Pain exploded through his body.
The Karbu grabbed Bruce.
Its mouth opened wide.
It began to close its jaws around Bruce’s head.
Bruce fired his gun into the Karbu’s mouth.
Once.
Twice.
The bullets tore through the creature’s skull.
The Karbu died.
Its body crumpled to the floor.
Tom was injured.
His chest was hit.
Blood soaked through his shirt.
“Let’s go to the hospital,” Bruce said.
He lifted Tom.
His voice was strained.
“No…” Tom’s voice was weak.
Pain filled every word.
“First we have to save those kids.” Bruce looked at him.
“Fuck.” They walked together.
Two injured men.
Leaning on each other.
Heading toward the Miller house.
— In the Library.
Lomro and the others were in the store room.
Silent.
Waiting.
“What do we do now?” Lomro whispered.
His voice was barely a breath.
The Karbu was still outside.
Searching.
Annie slowly opened a small part of the door.
She watched.
The Karbu was hunting.
Listening.
“Karbu can’t smell,” Lomro whispered.
“It couldn’t smell blood.” Inose looked through the gap.
She saw a book on the ground.
The light made a shadow on its spine.
Written on the spine: HYBRID WORLD.
She remembered Blinc’s words about the rainforest.
About the tower.
About the upside-down world.
Something clicked in her mind.
“Lomro!
Lomro!
Where is that walkie-talkie?” Inose asked.
Her voice was worried.
Hurried.
Urgent.
“Stop!
That thing will hear us!” Zendaya hissed.
Her face was pale with terror.
“Let’s get out of here,” Annie said.
She loaded the gun.
Her hands were steady now.
“Now it’s all right.
But we have only two shots.” “Where did you learn that?” Cult asked.
“From books,” Annie whispered.
The footsteps outside the store room stopped.
Silence.
The Karbu broke through the door.
Wood splintered.
The creature screamed.
Zendaya, Inose, Lomro, and Carla screamed back.
Pure terror.
Annie fired.
The shot was loud.
Deafening.
She missed.
The bullet hit the Karbu’s neck.
Black blood sprayed.
The Karbu’s scream stopped.
It stumbled back.
Wounded.
But not dead.
Not even close.
— To be continued…
— Author’s Note Dear Reader, The battle is on two fronts now.
The library.
The tower.
The supermarket.
The Karbu are everywhere.
The two worlds are bleeding into each other faster than anyone predicted.
And the leaf — the missing piece — Blinc knows where it is.
The question is whether they can reach it in time.
Thank you for reading.