In the Police Station.
The waiting room was cold.
Lara sat with her arms crossed.
William stared at the floor.
Inose was silent.
Her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
Tom entered.
He didn’t look at them.
He walked straight to his cabin.
A moment later, Carla appeared at the door.
“Lara Davis.
Inose Akiyama.
William Watson.
Come inside.” They stood.
Walked.
Sat down.
Tom looked at them across his desk.
His eyes were tired.
Red.
But sharp.
“William and Lara.
You were at Amy Grafton’s birthday last night.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes,” both said.
Quiet.
Nervous.
“Lara.
When did you leave?” “Almost one o’clock.
Then I went to Jimmy’s clothes store to buy a bra.” Her voice was defensive.
She knew how it sounded.
“Okay.
William.
When did you leave?” “Twelve thirty.” Steady.
Calm.
“Did you see something strange there?
In the house?
Around the house?” “No.
But what happened?” William asked.
His voice cracked slightly.
“You don’t know anything?
You don’t watch the news?” Carla said.
Sharp.
Accusing.
“No,” William said.
He looked genuinely lost.
“Bunny Grafton and his daughter and wife were killed last night,” Carla said.
The words hung in the air like smoke.
Silence.
“Inose.” Tom turned to her.
His voice was softer now.
“You are Amy’s neighbour.
Did you see something strange last night?” “No.
I was not at home last night.” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Damn,” Tom whispered.
He rubbed his eyes.
Carla stepped forward.
She held out the photograph.
“Did you see this kind of thing?” Inose looked at the picture.
Her face went white.
Her eyes widened.
Her mouth opened, but no sound came.
She was staring at the Karbu’s footprint.
“Inose?” Tom leaned forward.
She shook her head.
No.
But her eyes stayed fixed on the photograph.
She couldn’t look away.
“Okay.
Go home,” Tom said.
He watched them leave.
His eyes narrowed.
“Carla.” His voice was low.
“I think there is something strange with them.” — Outside the Miller Jeff House.
In the Car.
“Now, guys, listen to me carefully.” Blinc’s voice was steady.
He had become something else in the last few days.
Harder.
Sharper.
“The things we carry — they are helpful.
But we are not just going to go and come back.” He spread a map of Monovi across his lap.
“Look.
This is Monovi.
And there is the tower.
When I saw that prisoner, there were two routes.
One had light.
One was dark.
So we make two teams.
One goes to the left side — where the prisoner was.
One goes into the dark place.
And I will stay in the hall.
Alone.” “Alone?” Zander said.
His voice cracked.
Fear.
Real fear.
“Yes.
You noticed one thing.
Whenever the Karbu attack us, my power gets active.
So I am safe.
Maybe.” “Maybe,” Zander repeated.
The word tasted bitter.
“Charlie.
Where are your shotgun, axe, and other animal hunting equipment?” Blinc asked.
“In the back of the car.” Charlie paused.
“In normal situations, I would not allow you to use them.
But now you can.” His voice was heavy with the weight of what they were about to do.
Blinc took out the C.D.
and played it.
They got out.
Charlie took a shotgun.
His hands were steady now.
Cult took an axe.
Zander took a chainsaw.
The weight of it pulled at his arms.
Blinc took nothing.
Annie took a baseball bat.
She held it like she knew how to use it.
They went into the Miller house.
Blinc opened the gate.
Violet light.
Cold air.
Another world.
“Motherfucker,” Annie and Charlie said together.
Their voices were full of awe.
And terror.
“Now do you believe?” Zander said.
He went down the stairs.
Opened the main gate.
Silence.
Peace.
The road stretched ahead.
Empty.
Waiting.
They walked toward the tower.
Annie stopped.
She stared at an empty plot of land.
“Here was the supermarket,” she said.
Her voice was hollow.
“Here are many places like this,” Blinc replied.
He didn’t look back.
At the entrance of the tower, they took the stairs.
They passed the body room.
The astronaut still hung there.
Headless.
Silent.
The hall gate was already open.
No one there.
Just silence everywhere.
The kind of silence that listens.
“From here, go down.
Make two teams.
Talk to the prisoner.
Discover that dark place.
Be careful.
You all have ten minutes,” Blinc said.
“Good leadership.
You’ve grown up, my child.” Charlie said.
A sad smile.
Going down the stairs.
Two routes.
Cult and Charlie went right — the prisoner’s way.
Zander and Annie went into the dark place with flame torches.
The fire flickered against the stone walls.
Blinc stood near the throne.
He touched it.
The cold stone.
He remembered the place where he had stood.
Where he had last looked at Amili.
He walked toward the burned curtains.
He remembered everything.
A tear slid down his cheek.
“Amili,” he whispered.
Crying.
He thought about her.
And inside himself, he said: When I was seven years old, my father was an alcoholic.
He always drank and beat my mother.
He beat me.
When he went to work, he didn’t drink.
But when he came home, he was always drunk.
He beat my mother.
Burned my mother’s hand with an acid drop.
Every morning he apologized.
Every night the same.
But one night, my mother pushed him.
Her head hit the wall.
His head hit the vase.
A piece of the vase stuck in his neck.
I stood there.
Staring.
He died after ten minutes.
He stopped moving.
His eyes stayed open.
I went and slept.
After that, the hallucinations started.
Depression.
Suffering.
But two years later, you came.
Autumn.
First day of ninth grade.
We became friends.
I had a crush on you.
You became popular.
I was afraid of rejection.
Now I am afraid of losing you.
We will save you, Amili.
— In the Left Cave.
“This is long,” Zander said.
His voice echoed.
“No.
Look.
There is something glowing,” Annie said.
A rock wall.
A green stone in the middle.
Pulsing.
Waiting.
“Oh.
One more mystery.
Let’s go back.
Don’t mess with this thing,” Zander said.
He was already turning away.
— In the Right Cave.
They Reached the End.
Just a cave.
No prisoner.
“Blinc described this.
But where is the prisoner?” Cult said.
His voice was confused.
Worried.
“Hey!
Did you find anything?” Annie shouted from outside.
Then the earth shook.
The tower vibrated.
Stones cracked.
Charlie and Cult threw themselves to the ground.
Not just the tower.
The whole town.
Both worlds.
In the real world, the town lights went out.
In the other world, the tower’s rocks glowed.
Orange lava light rose from the ground.
It followed the cracks.
Up.
Up to the top of the tower.
Blinc ran out of the hall.
He stood on the stairs.
He looked up.
The roof was clear now.
No clouds.
No ceiling.
Just a green forest.
Above him.
He understood.
This tower was in the sky of that forest.
The forest was on the ground.
He was standing upside down to them.
The clouds had moved away from a large part of the sky.
From the forest ground, anyone watching would see Blinc.
Standing on the ceiling of the world.
The forest shook.
The earthquake was everywhere.
— In the Miller Jeff House.
Officer Tom stood in the doorway between worlds.
Sunglasses over his eyes.
A cigarette burning between his lips.
A revolver in his hand.
Behind him — Inose.
Lara.
Lomro.
William.
Their faces were pale.
Their eyes wide.
Tom looked into the violet light.
Into the impossible.
He took a step forward.
Slow.
Steady.
A man walking into a world that shouldn’t exist.
— To be continued…
— Author’s Note Dear Reader, The Karbu are here.
In Monovi.
The Grafton family was not the first.
They will not be the last.
Tom is about to cross the line between what he believes and what he sees.
Nothing will be the same after this.
Thank you for reading.