Blinc’s Home.
The Table.
After They Played the C.D.
They sat around the table.
Everyone’s eyes were closed.
The C.D.
played on, spinning silently in the player.
A violet light glowed around their bodies.
It started soft, like dawn.
Then brighter.
Their skin shimmered.
Then, like sand scattered by a sudden wind, their bodies turned to dust.
The light absorbed them.
They were gone.
Not dead.
Just…
elsewhere.
A minute passed.
The room was still.
Empty.
The front gate opened.
Annie and Charlie stepped inside.
Their footsteps echoed in the silence.
“Blinc?” Charlie called from outside the room.
His voice was uncertain.
Thin.
“Seems like there’s no one at home,” Annie said, walking further in.
Her eyes swept the room.
Something felt wrong.
The air was too still.
Charlie closed the door behind him.
He stepped toward the dining room.
Empty.
No one there.
Annie turned back to face him.
“Here—” She stopped dead.
Charlie’s eyes were closed.
He was standing perfectly still.
Like a statue.
“Charlie,” Annie said.
Her voice wavered.
A cold finger traced down her spine.
No response.
“Charlie!
Is this some kind of joke?” Her voice was sharper now.
Fear pushing through.
Charlie stood alone in Blinc’s home.
Darkness pressed in from all sides.
Thick.
Suffocating.
He couldn’t see the walls anymore.
He couldn’t see anything.
A cold breath touched his right side.
Like someone exhaling against his skin.
He turned sharply.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
Annie stood there.
Blood covered her body in dark, wet streaks.
Her hair hung wild and tangled, matted with something dark.
She stared down at the ground, her neck bent at an unnatural angle.
Charlie stepped back.
His back hit the wall.
Nowhere to go.
His breath came in short, sharp gasps.
Annie pointed one finger downward.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Charlie looked down.
His eyes struggled to focus in the darkness.
A blue underwear lay on the floor.
His.
He looked back up at Annie.
She smiled.
A slow, creeping smile that stretched too wide.
Blood dripped from her fingers.
Drop.
Drop.
Drop.
The sound was deafening in the silence.
She took one step toward him.
Then another.
Then she ran.
Fast.
Too fast.
Charlie hid his face and dropped to the ground.
A scream died in his throat.
— Blinc and the Others.
They walked toward the tower.
The town was different from what they knew.
Some plots of land sat empty where buildings should have been.
Some roads curved in unfamiliar ways.
Some stores were missing entirely.
The cars parked along the streets were old-fashioned.
Decades out of date.
Like stepping into a photograph from another time.
“What is this place?
Why are there no people?” Blinc said.
His voice echoed in the emptiness.
No answer came.
“I’ve seen this before somewhere.
But I can’t remember,” Lomro said.
His brow was furrowed.
Frustration and unease mixed in his voice.
“Hey, look.
There’s the entrance—” Zander stopped mid-sentence.
His mouth hung open.
A lake stretched before the tower entrance.
The water was deep violet, surrounding the structure completely.
It wasn’t water, not really.
It was too still.
Too dark.
Like liquid glass.
A wooden floating bridge extended across the lake, leading to the entrance.
Old wood.
Creaking softly.
Waiting.
“What the fuck,” Lomro said quietly.
The words barely left his lips.
Blinc placed his right foot on the bridge.
It swayed gently beneath him.
The violet water rippled.
He shifted his weight and found his balance.
His heart was steady.
His hands were still.
“Carefully.
Just let your legs move with the bridge.
That’s it,” Blinc said.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
One by one, they stepped onto the bridge.
They walked slowly.
Single file.
The bridge rocked beneath them, groaning with every step.
“Hey, guys!
I’m feeling something weird,” Amili said as she walked.
Her voice was tight.
Her stomach churned.
Something was pulling at her.
Something below.
“Ah.
What’s good here?” Blinc replied.
But his eyes never left the tower.
Blinc reached the gate first.
He stepped off the bridge.
Solid ground.
Lomro followed.
Then Zander.
Cult.
Inose.
Amili was last.
As she stepped off, her foot slipped at the edge.
Her arms flailed.
Her heart lurched.
She began to fall toward the violet water.
Blinc grabbed her.
His right hand caught her waist.
His left hand seized her hand.
Amili’s both hands clutched his shirt, pulling herself against him.
They stared at each other.
Breathless.
Close enough to feel each other’s heartbeats.
“Oh!
So romantic,” Zander said.
A grin in his voice.
They pulled apart quickly.
Heat rushed to their faces.
“Thank you,” Amili said.
Shy.
Her voice barely above a whisper.
Blinc blushed.
He couldn’t meet her eyes.
Lomro studied the wall.
Red stone with black cracks running through it.
The cracks pulsed faintly, like veins.
The entire tower was made of small pieces of that same stone.
Thousands of them.
Fitted together like a puzzle no one was meant to solve.
They entered.
Shock stopped them cold.
A cherry blossom design covered the floor.
Pink petals frozen in stone.
Beautiful.
Wrong.
A large circular hall rose around them.
From the bottom, a single staircase split into several stairs in a strange, twisting pattern.
Impossible architecture.
Stairs that went sideways.
Upside down.
“It’s a masterpiece,” Cult said.
His voice was full of wonder.
His fear was momentarily forgotten.
“But look.
The roof is hidden by dark clouds,” Lomro said.
He pointed up.
The ceiling was lost in swirling darkness.
“Let’s go up,” Blinc said.
His voice was resolved.
“No.
I won’t.
I’m staying here,” Inose said.
Her voice was small but certain.
Her hands were clasped tight.
“What?
No.
You can’t.
It’s dangerous,” Zander said.
Real concern in his voice.
He stepped toward her.
“Yes.
But I have these chemicals.
I can protect myself.” She touched the water gun at her hip.
The acid sloshed inside.
“Okay.
As you wish.
But if there’s any trouble, just shout.
And if you die, just wait for us too,” Blinc said.
A ghost of a smile.
They started up the stairs.
Straight.
Without turning.
The steps seemed endless.
They reached a gate with a door.
Old wood.
Iron hinges.
Blinc stepped inside.
His foot landed with a splash.
He crouched down.
The darkness was so thick he couldn’t see his own hands.
He reached down.
Touched the floor.
Wet.
Warm.
Blood.
He stood up.
His heart was pounding now.
He looked into the room.
Something hung from the ceiling.
A shape in the darkness.
He narrowed his eyes.
Took a step forward.
The shape became clear.
A body.
Hanging upside down.
No head.
Wearing an astronaut suit.
The same suit from the ship.
The same mission.
The fabric was stained dark with old blood.
Blinc backed away fast.
His stomach turned.
Cold sweat broke out on his neck.
“Let’s skip it.
There’s a body hanging there.
No head.” Panic edged his voice.
They kept climbing.
The stairs seemed to go on forever.
They stopped in front of a gate with a steel door.
Lomro opened it.
A small corridor lay beyond.
Dark.
Narrow.
Lomro stepped inside.
He looked to his right.
His face went pale.
“Motherfucker.” “What happened?” Zander asked, pushing in behind him.
Then he saw it too.
A huge metal silver door.
Massive.
Ancient.
Covered in symbols that seemed to move when you weren’t looking directly at them.
“I’ll open it,” Zander said.
He walked toward it.
His hands were shaking.
Zander pushed.
His muscles strained.
His legs dug in hard.
Sweat beaded on his forehead.
The gate moved slightly.
A small gap opened.
Just enough.
Blinc entered first.
Then Lomro.
Cult.
Amili.
A large hall.
Green curtains that moved without wind.
White walls that seemed to breathe.
A red carpet that looked wet.
A throne at the far end.
Empty.
Waiting.
“What the hell is this place?” Cult said.
His voice echoed and came back wrong.
“Maybe heaven before death,” Lomro said.
His voice was hollow.
Amili stood near the throne.
She touched it.
The stone was cold.
Wrongly cold.
She saw a hollow space beneath the seat.
Something lay hidden there.
She knelt.
Her heart racing.
She reached her hand into the darkness.
Her fingers closed around something solid.
A book.
Old.
Worn.
Heavy with secrets.
She pulled it out.
Held it to her chest.
Blinc stood in the center of the hall.
Strange pictures were drawn on the floor.
Symbols.
Maps.
Warnings.
Two wrinkled tablets sat two inches apart.
They seemed to hum.
From the left side wall, stairs rose upward.
The sound of running footsteps echoed down.
Many feet.
Fast.
Getting closer.
Zander stood in front of the door.
He didn’t move.
He stood there, listening.
His body was frozen.
His mind screamed at him to run.
His feet wouldn’t listen.
Then he understood.
He turned.
He ran.
“Karbu!” They poured into the hall.
A wave of thin, dark bodies.
Black eyes.
Sharp teeth.
One leaped at Zander.
He threw himself sideways.
The claws missed him by inches.
Cult fainted.
His body hit the floor with a dull thud.
Inose came through the gate.
She saw a Karbu charging toward her.
Its mouth was open.
Its black eyes locked on her.
She threw herself on the floor.
Closed her eyes.
Hid her face.
This was it.
This was how she died.
She waited.
Nothing.
She opened her eyes.
Looked up.
The Karbu’s head toppled from its body and hit the ground.
Rolled.
Stopped at her feet.
Its black eyes stared at nothing.
The Karbu that had jumped at Zander — its head also fell.
Clean cut.
The body remained standing.
Headless.
Blood pumping into the air.
Zander stared.
His mind couldn’t process what he was seeing.
He looked at Amili.
Three Karbu heads lay on the ground in front of her.
She hadn’t moved.
She hadn’t touched them.
But they were dead.
Zander looked to where Blinc had been standing.
Blinc was gone.
He saw the curtains floating behind Amili.
Moving without wind.
A blue spark.
The curtains caught fire.
Blue light.
Not orange.
Not red.
Blue.
The flames consumed the fabric and glowed brighter.
Brighter.
Blinc stood there.
A short sword in each hand.
Blue light.
Glowing thunder crackling around his body.
His eyes burned blue.
Not human eyes.
Something else.
His long hair floated in the air, moved by a wind that touched only him.
He stared at the floor.
Unmoving.
A god deciding who would live and who would die.
Zander looked at him.
Sweat poured down his face.
Fear gripped his heart like a fist.
Cult woke up.
Got to his feet.
His mouth opened.
No words came.
Blinc’s head moved.
His glowing eyes found Amili.
“Run,” Blinc said.
His voice was not his own.
It was deeper.
Older.
Full of strength and heaviness and something that sounded like pain.
The thunder vanished.
His eyes faded back to normal.
His hair fell.
The swords dissolved into sparks.
Blinc collapsed.
Unconscious.
A puppet with cut strings.
Amili rushed toward him.
Fell to her knees beside him.
Footsteps echoed again.
More Karbu.
Coming.
Zander looked back.
Karbu entered the hall.
They stopped.
Looked around.
The hall was empty.
— On the Stairs.
Amili and the others were on the stairs.
They had dragged Blinc up.
His dead weight slowed them down.
“These stairs have gotten longer than before.
And the path is different,” Cult said.
His voice was strained.
His lungs burned.
“But the gate is in the same place.
The blood pool one,” Lomro said.
He was carrying Blinc’s legs.
His arms ached.
Zander ran with Blinc slung over his shoulder.
His body screamed for rest.
He kept running.
A scream came from behind.
High.
Piercing.
The Karbu were coming.
Fast.
Hungry.
One Karbu leaped from a higher stair and landed on the railing beside Zander.
Its claws scraped the stone.
Its black eyes met his.
Zander dropped Blinc and swung at the Karbu’s leg.
His fist connected.
The creature lost its balance.
Fell.
Hit the stairs hard.
Bones cracked.
It kept tumbling down.
“I’ll take Blinc!
You protect us!” Lomro shouted.
He grabbed Blinc and pulled him over his shoulder.
The Karbu closed in.
Then, suddenly, a section of stairs broke apart.
The pieces began to move, shifting in the air like a living puzzle.
Many Karbu fell into the darkness below.
Two crashed down directly in front of Zander and Inose.
One Karbu attacked Zander.
Its claws slashed toward his face.
Zander brought his hammer up to block.
The handle snapped like a twig.
The force threw him backward.
Cult grabbed a bottle of sulfuric acid from Inose’s bag.
His hands were steady now.
He threw it at both Karbu.
The glass shattered.
The acid hit their skin.
Their skin began to burn.
Sizzle.
Smoke rose.
The Karbu screamed — a horrible, wet sound.
Zander snatched a knife from Amili.
He drove it into one Karbu’s chest.
The blade sank deep.
The creature slammed against the railing and fell into the void.
The other dropped to its knee.
Zander swung the broken hammer.
Struck its head.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Blood covered his clothes.
His face.
His hands.
He didn’t stop until the creature stopped moving.
“Hey!
We have to jump!
There’s the ground floor!” Lomro shouted from below.
Lomro threw Blinc first.
Blinc’s body hit the floor with a sickening thud.
Then Lomro jumped.
Zander followed.
Amili.
Cult.
Inose.
They landed hard.
Pain shot through their legs.
They ran.
Lomro grabbed Blinc.
The Karbu were still coming.
Closer.
Closer.
They burst out of the tower.
The floating bridge.
They ran across it.
The bridge swayed violently.
The violet water below churned.
They reached the main road.
The Karbu were right behind them.
They saw a house.
The old house of Miller Jeff.
Dark.
Abandoned.
They rushed inside.
Slammed the door.
Ran to the first floor.
A room stood in front of them.
Amili opened the door.
The door began to swell.
It pulled in wind.
Light.
Darkness.
A sound of thunder cracked through the room.
Then everything stopped.
Silence.
Footsteps sounded on the wooden roof above them.
Claws on wood.
Karbu.
They looked into the room.
A gate was opening.
A gate to the real world.
The room beyond it was their world.
Home.
Safety.
Everyone rushed through.
One by one.
Amili was the last.
She was almost through.
The roof shattered.
Wood splinters rained down.
A Karbu dropped from above.
It landed where she had been standing.
Its claws closed around her leg.
Tight.
Pain shot through her body.
Amili screamed.
The book fell from her shirt.
Hit the floor.
The Karbu pulled her away.
Into the darkness.
The gate slammed shut with invisible force.
— To be continued…
— Author’s Note Dear Reader, A small detail — Amili took that book she found under the throne.
The room where the gate opened was full of junk and dusty things.
Old furniture.
Forgotten boxes.
The kind of room where secrets hide for decades, waiting for someone to find them.
Thank you for reading.