In Miller Jeff House.
“There are sounds.
It seems like they are in trouble,” Charlie said.
His voice was tight with worry.
Suddenly — footsteps on the stairs.
Bruce and Tom appeared.
They looked at the gate.
“What the—” Bruce caught his teeth.
Pain.
Shock.
“There was a room here before.
A gate,” Bruce said.
Confusion filled his voice.
But there was no gate now.
Just a wall.
“From here,” Tom said slowly.
He pointed to the hole in the wall.
“I heard a sound from here too,” Zander said.
He went toward the hole.
Officer Tom climbed up.
His body was broken.
Bleeding.
“Officer Tom!” Zander said.
Shocked.
He saw Tom injured.
He pulled him inside.
Then he saw Bruce behind him.
Zander’s blood ran cold.
He ran and hid the C.D.
player with the battery outside the window.
On the window ledge.
Hidden.
Safe.
Charlie stood up.
“What are you both doing here?” He aimed a gun at them.
His hands were shaking.
“Where is that C.D.?” Bruce asked.
His voice was iron.
“We don’t know,” Zander said.
Defiant.
“So what are you doing here?
And this place…” Bruce said.
Anger rising.
“Give it to me.
We have to close it,” Bruce said.
Frustrated.
Desperate.
“But sir—” Zander started.
“Just give me that!” Bruce shouted.
The sound echoed.
“Take it if you can,” Charlie said.
Anger.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
Bruce stepped back.
Then he punched Charlie.
Hard.
Charlie fell.
Blood from his nose.
Bright red.
Zander came from behind.
He hit Bruce’s head.
Bruce turned.
Zander was on his feet.
Fully in combat mode.
Even though he could barely stand.
Zander punched Bruce.
Bruce dodged.
He hit back.
Zander’s head snapped back.
Charlie grabbed Bruce from behind.
Locked his neck.
Bruce fell down.
Zander stood up.
He kicked Bruce.
Bruce hit Charlie’s face with the back of his head.
He stood up.
Zander hit Bruce’s nose.
Blood poured from Bruce’s nose.
Red.
Hot.
— In the Other World.
They stood up from the rubble.
The armored man took a step forward.
He jumped on Blinc.
Thunder rose.
Blinc hit him.
The armored man dodged.
He reached Blinc and punched.
Blinc dodged.
His skin was cut by the wind.
Blinc grabbed the armored man’s hand.
He hit his face.
Thunder sparked.
Rapping against the armor.
Blinc’s blue eyes glowed brighter.
The thunder sparks changed into thunderclaps.
Blinc grabbed the armored man’s neck.
He threw him.
Then he followed.
They were both in the air.
The armored man punched Blinc.
Multiple times.
Fast.
Brutal.
Blinc was in the air.
Like he was flying.
Thunder followed him.
The air was defining him.
He grabbed the armored man’s head.
He drove him into the ground.
They stopped on the road.
Blinc hit him.
Once.
Twice.
The armored man hit Blinc’s chest.
Then his face.
Then his chest again.
He took a short sword from his back.
He drove it into Blinc’s chest.
Blood poured from Blinc’s chest.
Hot.
Wet.
His vision blurred.
Unconsciousness pulled at him.
He saw his friends’ faces in his mind.
Amili’s smiling face.
Her eyes.
Her laugh.
Suddenly, his eyes glowed.
Thunderclaps fell from the sky.
All over the town.
The whole world shook.
Bruce was hitting Zander and Charlie.
He stopped.
He heard the sound of thunder.
The whole town was between falling lightning.
Thunder fell on the armored man.
His armor could not bear it.
It cracked.
Splintered.
Blinc’s glowing eyes.
Blood from multiple places.
Thunder around him.
His injuries began to heal.
The marks disappeared.
The wounds closed.
A blue-colored thunder came down from the sky.
It covered Blinc’s body.
It transformed into armor.
Blue armor with black cracks.
Two short swords on his back.
A blade on his wrist.
Then the armor disappeared.
Faded into him.
Everything stopped.
The armored man was on his knees.
His armor cracked.
His head bowed toward the ground.
Likely defeated.
— In the Tower.
Lara and William were behind the throne.
Searching the wall.
Finding the pattern.
Hurrying.
“Here!
I found it!” Lara said.
She took out the leaf.
The missing piece.
“Okay.
Let’s go,” William said.
Relief.
Urgency.
Suddenly — footsteps from the side gate.
They ran outside.
Karbu entered from the side.
Many of them.
They ran.
The Karbu followed.
They reached the stairs.
The stairs started moving.
Shifting.
Turning against them.
— Outside.
Around the armored man, a green-colored light glowed.
His body turned into fog.
Drifted away.
Disappeared.
Blinc stared.
Shocked.
He was gone.
The tower glowed.
The clouds moved away again.
The forest appeared above.
Blinc ran.
He arrived at the tower.
— In Miller Jeff House.
Bruce was hitting Zander and Charlie.
Continuously.
Mercilessly.
Suddenly, Tom aimed a gun at him.
He was lying on the floor.
Broken.
Bleeding.
But his aim was steady.
“I don’t know why you want to keep this gate open.
If this gate stays open, it will be discovered by the world.
But you don’t want that.
Why?” Tom asked.
Anger.
Confusion.
Bruce stopped.
He released Charlie.
“Because this is my house.
I don’t want the government to take this from me.
This is the last memory of my family,” Bruce said.
His voice cracked.
Pain.
Loss.
A sound came from the walkie-talkie.
“Hi!…
He…
Hello…” Voice cracking.
Static.
“Hello!
Is there someone listening?” Inose shouted.
In the library.
Inose was sitting on a chair.
Sweat.
Worry.
The walkie-talkie in her trembling hands.
“If someone is listening, please come back from that world.
That is not a world.
That place is a crack between two worlds.
It can destroy itself anytime!” Inose shouted.
Desperation.
— In the Other World.
Blinc was fighting with Karbu on the stairs.
William and Lara were going down.
Jumping on stairs.
They saw the last stair.
They jumped for it.
But the stair moved.
When Lara jumped, she fell to the ground.
Her right leg bone broke with a sickening crack.
William came down.
He went toward Lara.
Blinc was getting tired.
The thunder sparks were getting smaller.
His speed was slowing.
His injuries had stopped healing.
“Go!” Lara shouted.
Pain.
Desperation.
William ran.
He fixed the leaf piece in the empty space.
Nothing happened.
He stood there.
Frozen.
He looked at Lara.
Shook his head.
No.
Lara was afraid.
Terrified.
Suddenly, where William was standing, near the wall, a gate opened.
Floor.
Stairs.
Going down.
He went down.
A basement made of dark stone.
Yellow-colored light.
Flames on the walls.
A table.
Several papers.
One book.
William slowly descended.
He saw Amili.
Sitting on a chair.
Her eyes closed.
Unconscious.
Amili was without clothes.
A huge, thin needle in her left chest.
Her hands were locked.
The needle was connected to a pipe.
The pipe was connected to a red-colored stone.
The stone was on the basement ceiling.
Cracks on the ceiling.
Like the cracks on the tower wall.
William examined everything.
His heart was pounding.
His hands were shaking.
He went toward Amili.
He shouted at the belts holding her.
He pulled the needle out.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The tower stopped glowing outside.
The needle was wet with blood.
William took off his t-shirt.
He gave it to Amili.
He took the book from the table.
He hung Amili on his back.
He ran.
He ran up.
He saw Lara.
He was shocked.
Amili fell from his back.
Lara.
One Karbu was holding her.
Her hand was cut off.
Blood was coming out of her neck.
Blinc was fighting with Karbu in the hall.
They were not on the stairs anymore.
Lara was smiling.
Looking at William.
She knew she was going to die.
William aimed his gun at the Karbu.
Before the Karbu could eat her, William fired.
The Karbu released Lara.
It attacked William.
William fired continuously.
The Karbu fell.
Dead.
He went toward Lara.
He saw her.
She was dead.
Her eyes were open.
Looking up at the sky.
In the hall, Blinc was back to normal.
Every Karbu that attacked him was dead.
He limped out of the hall.
Went down.
Saw Amili.
He stood there.
His eyes filled with tears.
He saw William crying.
Blinc saw Lara dead.
On one side of her hand, written on the ground in blood: “I am pregnant.
Charlie.” Blinc and William were crying.
Blinc held Lara’s feet.
William held her hand.
Wet with blood.
Her eyes were open.
Looking up.
William remembered their high school memories.
Lara lying on the ground.
Green grass.
Night.
Shining sky.
William, Annie, Charlie beside her.
“I really love this shining sky.
You know, I have a dream.
When I get old, I’ll have children who grow up and have children too.
And I’ll die with my husband under this beautiful, shining sky.” Blinc was crying.
Both were sitting on the ground.
Crying.
Broken.
They got in the bus.
They kept Lara’s body on the seat.
Amili on the floor.
William and Blinc were both injured.
Bleeding.
Broken.
They reached the Miller Jeff house.
Blinc entered with Amili.
Crying.
Zander asked, “Is she dead?” His voice was hollow.
“No,” Blinc answered.
Looking at the ground.
Zander felt relief wash over him.
Zander and Charlie were badly injured.
Bruce had beaten them until Tom said he would give him the C.D.
Tom and Bruce were sitting.
Waiting.
“Where is William and Lara?” Charlie asked.
Hope.
Fear.
William entered with Lara’s body.
Charlie looked at her.
Her eyes were slightly open.
He screamed.
He cried.
“Why didn’t you save her?” Charlie said.
He grabbed William’s collar.
Tears streaming.
Voice breaking.
Everyone had sadness on their faces.
A weight that would never lift.
Suddenly, the gate was closed by an invisible force.
The C.D.
player sparked.
It exploded.
The connection was severed.
— In the Hospital.
After Two Days.
December 22.
Amili’s eyes opened slowly.
Dark circles under her eyes.
She was weak.
Fragile.
Her skin was pale.
Inose and Annie were sitting there.
Annie had a bandage on her head.
Inose had a bandage on her hand.
“Welcome back,” Inose said slowly.
A sad smile.
“What happened to me?” Amili asked.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“First, get well.
Then I’ll tell you everything,” Inose said.
“But one thing — we didn’t say anything to your mother.
Officer Tom helped us with the hospital,” Annie said.
Quiet.
Gentle.
The C.D.
player had exploded.
So Bruce didn’t ask for the C.D.
He locked the door.
He gave a report to the military that they couldn’t catch the thieves.
Now they would only study the meteoroid.
The case was closed.
— In the Graveyard.
Snow on the graves.
White.
Silent.
Cold.
Charlie and everyone stood before the grave.
The headstone read: Lara Smith.
1959-1980.
Blinc placed flowers on her grave.
With a sorry card.
In the card: “I am sorry.
It is very hard to say this to you.
But sorry.
If I hadn’t convinced you all to go back there, you and your child would still be alive.
I am sorry.
If I come to heaven after fulfilling my punishment in hell, you can slap me again.” Black suits.
Everyone was sad.
Charlie held a paper in his hand.
A pregnancy test.
Name: Lara Smith.
They all passed by the grave.
But Charlie stayed.
Standing there.
Injured marks on his face.
Looking at her grave.
The paper in one hand.
Flowers in the other.
After this, they stopped at Zendaya and Carla’s graves.
More flowers.
More silence.
More grief.
— After Three Days.
December 25, 1980.
Morning.
Blinc was getting ready.
Today his mother was coming home.
Back at night.
His face was happy.
Charming.
Relief.
Some marks still on his head.
But he was healing.
He wore his long black coat.
Black shoes.
He went out of the house.
— In Amili’s House.
Amili was getting ready.
Inose sat on the side.
Watching.
Waiting.
Amili was sad.
Her face didn’t have relief.
After knowing everything, she cried so much.
Everyone made her understand that they also lost something.
Charlie told her to move forward.
To leave the bad things behind.
But inside, Charlie was broken.
Lara’s death had shattered something in him that would never heal.
“Can we go now?
The guys are waiting,” Inose asked.
“Okay,” Amili replied.
Amili wore a deep crimson velvet dress.
Normal golden earrings.
A golden-colored snow-shaped locket.
A blue and silver bracelet.
She looked beautiful.
She looked broken.
They went out of the house.
— On the Way.
Blinc was walking.
Zander and Lomro reached him.
“Where is Cult?” Blinc asked.
“He’s coming,” Lomro said.
They started walking.
“Blinc, are you going to propose to Amili?” Lomro asked.
A teasing smile.
Blinc just smiled.
No answer.
“I don’t know about him.
But I fell in love with someone,” Zander said.
Smiling.
A real smile.
“Seriously?” Lomro whispered.
“Who is she?” Blinc asked.
“You know her.
But she doesn’t love me.
Not yet.
But soon she will,” Zander said.
Confidence.
Hope.
— Amili and Inose on the Way.
“Are you going to propose to Blinc?” Inose asked.
Amili didn’t answer.
She just smiled.
A soft, knowing smile.
They reached the zebra crossing.
On the other side, Blinc and the others were coming.
The light was red.
Cars stopped.
“Go, tiger,” Zander said.
He pushed Blinc forward.
“Go.
He’s coming,” Inose said.
She pushed Amili forward.
Both walked toward each other.
Slow.
Certain.
The world faded around them.
They reached each other.
And kissed.
Blinc’s hand on her waist.
Her wrist.
Eyes closed.
Amili holding his hand.
Eyes closed.
Feeling each other.
The snow fell gently around them.
Zander and Lomro watched.
People were there.
Looking at them.
Cult came running from behind.
“Oh, I’m late,” Cult said.
Breathing heavily.
Zander and Inose looked at each other.
For a second.
A glance that said everything and nothing.
— At Night.
In the School.
Everyone was celebrating Christmas.
Kids were writing their wishes on paper.
People were happy.
Music played softly.
Zander, Inose, Cult, and Lomro were helping serve food.
Blinc and Amili sat on chairs.
Watching.
Quiet.
Charlie, William, and Annie were there.
Their college friends were invited.
Everyone was enjoying themselves.
Everyone except Charlie.
He sat alone.
Silent.
Broken.
“I’ll come back soon.
I want to meet my mom first.
She just came back,” Amili said.
She stood up and left.
“Hi.
I’m coming with you.
I need to get pills for my headache,” Inose said.
She followed.
— In the Police Station.
Tom was in the station.
Pressure from the Mayor to solve the case.
He couldn’t tell them the truth about the Karbu.
He couldn’t tell anyone.
Carla entered.
Her face was serious.
She held a file.
“I have some information about those murders,” Carla said.
— At Amili’s House.
Amili entered.
Her mother shouted, “Merry Christmas!” Amili jumped.
“Oh!
You scared me.” “Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” her mother said.
Warm.
Loving.
Amili went to hug her mother.
Suddenly, Amili stopped.
She looked down.
Her leg was bound by silver-colored blades.
Thin.
Sharp.
Winding up her leg like snakes.
“What happened?” her mother asked.
Fear creeping into her voice.
More blades appeared.
Her mother was terrified.
One blade went into the kitchen.
It took a knife.
It made Amili hold it.
The blades bound her hands.
She was terrified.
Crying.
Helpless.
“What is happening?” her mother said.
Afraid.
Confused.
Amili’s hand moved.
The blades were controlling her.
They attacked her mother.
The knife plunged into her mother’s chest.
The blades made her strike again.
And again.
Several times.
After this, the blades disappeared.
Gone.
Like they had never been there.
Her mother was dying.
Blood spreading across the floor.
— In Inose’s Room.
Inose was taking her pills.
Water.
She swallowed.
She saw the book.
The one William had taken from the other world.
The one from the basement.
She opened it.
— In the School.
Store Room.
Lomro, Zander, Blinc, and Cult were searching.
“Where are the disposable plates?” Zander said.
Frustrated.
“Who knows,” Blinc said.
Zander moved some boxes aside.
He saw a blue-colored box.
Old.
Dusty.
He opened it.
Inside were drawings.
Drawings children had made.
Years ago.
He looked at them.
One by one.
Then he saw one drawing.
His face went pale.
His hands started shaking.
“Guys,” he called.
His voice was strange.
Hollow.
— In the Police Station.
“What is the information?” Tom asked.
“When they were all in college, they bullied one person.
And in 1962, that person went missing.
We have a missing complaint that his brother filed,” Carla said.
“And guess who his brother is,” Carla said.
“Bruce Miller,” Carla said.
Tom’s blood ran cold.
— In the School.
Annie and Charlie stood together.
“I want to tell you something,” Annie said.
Quiet.
Serious.
“Hmm,” Charlie said.
He put down his juice.
“That night.
When Bunny Grafton and the three other families were killed.
I plugged in the C.D.
that night.” “And suddenly, I was standing in the school corridor.
A dark corridor.
I didn’t tell anyone.
Because I thought it was just my imagination.” “But there, I saw a name on the wall,” Annie said.
“Okay.
What was it?” Charlie asked.
Dread creeping into his voice.
— In Amili’s House.
Her mother was trying to speak.
Blood bubbled on her lips.
“Please don’t say anything.
I’m calling an ambulance,” Amili said.
Crying.
Sobbing.
“Come…
here,” her mother said.
She couldn’t speak properly.
The words were wet.
Broken.
Amili brought her ear near her mother’s mouth.
“Carlos is not your real father.
The one who left you when you were born,” her mother said.
“Please don’t say anything,” Amili cried.
Tears streaming.
“Listen to me.
Please.” Her mother was begging now.
She knew she was dying.
Amili brought her ear closer.
Her mother’s breath was warm.
Weak.
“His name was—” — In Inose’s House.
She opened the book.
On the first page, a name was written.
Her eyes went wide.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Terror.
— In the School Store Room.
It was a picture of the tower.
The other world.
The same.
The white lake.
The red rock.
The violet sky.
“What the fuck,” Zander whispered.
His voice was barely there.
“Look at the name on the back,” Lomro said.
His voice was cold.
Dead.
He turned it over.
They all saw it.
They all froze.
Shock.
Terror.
Understanding.
— In the Police Station.
“What was the name of the person who went missing?” Tom asked.
— In Amili’s House.
“Miller Jeff,” her mother whispered.
Amili’s eyes went wide.
Shock.
Her mother went still.
Dead.
— In Inose’s Room.
Written on the first page of the book: Miller Jeff — In the School Store Room.
The name was written on the back of the drawing: Miller Jeff — In the School.
“Miller Jeff,” Annie said.
Charlie’s face went white.
He stood up straight.
His body went rigid.
— In the Police Station.
“Miller Jeff,” Carla said.
Tom sat frozen.
Shock.
Everything clicking into place.
— The whole of Monovi’s lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the town.
Then — on the top of the Miller Jeff house — a figure appeared.
The armored man.
Standing in the darkness.
Nothing visible.
Just a shadow.
His armor broke.
It fell Down away.
Piece by piece.
Clattering on the roof.
Beneath the armor — a woman.
Long hair floating in an invisible wind.
A shadow of large breasts and hips.
The outline of something ancient.
Something powerful.
Something terrible.
She faced toward Monovi.
Her eyes — unseen but felt — looked down upon the town.
The darkness deepened.
THE END OF volume 1.
Volume 2 coming soon — To be continued…
— Author’s Note Dear Reader, This is the end of Part One.
The revelations have come.
Miller Jeff.
The woman beneath the armor.
The truth about Blinc’s powers.
The connection between all of them.
But this is just the beginning.
The real story — the story behind the tower, behind the Karbu, behind the book ,behind everything — is about to unfold.
Thank you for reading.
Part Two begins soon.follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Author_Ramiz — RAMIZKHAN