"Meow!"
"AH!"
Nuri practically jumped out of his skin. His nerves had already been stretched razor-thin ever since they arrived in this cursed place, and the sudden, sharp sound nearly gave him a heart attack.
"It's that cat again!" He pointed a trembling finger at the black cat standing near the riverbank. There was absolutely no mistaking it. It was the exact same cat from the window, the same one that had been staring at him earlier, and the same one that somehow kept appearing absolutely wherever they went.
"It jumped on me last night," Alina said, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "I'm telling you, there's something incredibly strange about it."
The cat simply sat there on the riverbank, watching them. Its golden eyes reflected the bright afternoon sunlight before it slowly, deliberately blinked.
"I think it's following us," Elina muttered, narrowing her eyes.
The three of them exchanged quick, wary glances. None of them trusted that animal anymore. Without a single word of warning, Alina suddenly lunged forward. If the cat really was connected to the mysterious disappearances, catching it right now might finally give them the answers they needed.
Yet the moment she moved, the cat vanished.
Not literally, but it moved with such blinding speed that her eyes couldn't properly track it. With a single, fluid leap, it passed right over her shoulder, landed several meters away, and disappeared between the dark trees before anyone could even think to react.
Alina froze in place. "What?" She stared blankly at the empty space where the creature had just been.
Even Elina looked genuinely surprised. "Did you catch it?"
"No," Alina slowly stood up, her expression turning dead serious. She brushed the loose dirt from her clothes. "That wasn't normal."
Nuri blinked. "What do you mean?"
"A normal cat couldn't possibly do that," she explained, her gaze remaining fixed on the dark tree line. "I know I'm not the fastest person in the kingdom, but I'm still faster than most trained knights. A normal animal shouldn't be able to avoid me that easily."
A heavy silence followed her words. Then, Nuri hesitated before speaking up. "I think... I think I know who owns it."
The two girls immediately snapped their heads toward him. "You do?"
"When we first entered the village," Nuri said, scratching his cheek nervously, "I saw a boy staring down at us from a window. The cat was sitting right beside him."
Elina immediately nodded, a plan forming. "Then that's our next lead."
As the group made their way back toward the center of the village, the sun slowly sank behind the towering trees. The forest darkened rapidly, and thick patches of fog began creeping between the houses once again, making the atmosphere feel significantly heavier than before.
"This is the house," Nuri pointed toward a worn-down, two-story building. Its wooden walls were ancient and rotted, several windows were badly cracked, and the roof looked as though it might completely collapse during the next heavy storm. It barely looked livable.
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Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
There was no answer. Yet, all three of them could distinctly sense someone inside; someone was definitely there, but whoever it was completely refused to open the door. The silence felt deeply wrong, like the tense quiet of someone actively hiding in terror.
"Hey, kids."
An elderly woman suddenly called out to them from across the street. "You should head back," she warned, her eyes glancing nervously toward the looming forest. "It isn't safe out here once darkness falls."
The raw anxiety in her voice made everyone uneasy. It didn't sound like she was simply giving friendly advice; it sounded like a dire warning. Unable to do much else for the evening, the group turned around and returned to Fil's house.
"We can ask Fil about the boy," Nuri suggested as they walked. "He's lived here his whole life, so he probably knows everyone."
"Good idea," Alina agreed.
When they returned, Fil was already waiting for them near the entrance, the front door standing wide open. It was almost as if he had been standing there for hours, watching the path for their return.
"You're back," relief flashed across his weathered face.
"Fil," Alina immediately stepped forward. "We wanted to ask you about a boy. He lives in the house beside the large tree. The one with the black cat."
The old man's expression changed instantly. "You mean Simon?" He looked away, his hands tightening into fists. "Yes... he has a cat. Why?"
The underlying concern in his voice was obvious. Elina stepped forward, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Do you know something?"
Fil hesitated, staring at the floor, before letting out a long sigh. "A while ago... people thought Simon was responsible."
The room fell entirely silent.
"What?" Nuri frowned, shaking his head. "But he's just a kid."
"I know," Fil nodded quickly, looking up. "I never believed it. Simon is kind. He would never hurt anyone."
Yet despite his defensive words, he couldn't quite meet their eyes, as though deep down, even he wasn't completely certain of the boy's innocence anymore.
"Can you help us speak to him tomorrow?" Alina asked.
Fil slowly nodded. "Yes."
"Then we'll visit him right after sunrise," Elina decided.
The old man said nothing else. He quietly prepared a simple dinner, showed them back to their rooms, and soon the entire house fell quiet as everyone drifted off to sleep.
Everyone, except Alina. Again.
She tossed and turned in her bed, closing her eyes tightly only to snap them open a moment later. She turned over again, letting out a frustrated sigh. Sleep entirely refused to come. Eventually, she gave up on the effort altogether. Carefully slipping out of the quiet room so as not to wake the others, she walked downstairs and stepped outside into the night.
The cool night air immediately greeted her, feeling incredibly refreshing and comforting against her skin. For the first time all day, she felt like she could actually breathe properly. The village was completely silent. No moon hung above the forest tonight, leaving the world in absolute darkness.
Alina stood there on the porch for several minutes, simply listening to the rustle of the wind.
Then, someone began singing.
She froze mid-breath. The voice was distant, soft, and heartbreakingly beautiful. It sounded almost hypnotic, carrying a melody unlike anything she had ever heard in her life. She looked around frantically, but there was nobody in sight. Yet the singing continued, echoing softly through the dark lanes, physically drawing her forward.
Step. Step. Step.
Without even realizing what she was doing, her boots began following the sound. The voice drifted seamlessly through the pitch-black air, leading her deeper and deeper into the abandoned village. Closer. Closer.
Until she suddenly snapped out of her daze and realized exactly where her feet had taken her.
The river.
Her heart skipped a violent beat.
The singing stopped instantly.
The heavy silence that followed felt utterly wrong and terrifying, as if the entire world had suddenly gone completely still around her. Alina's instincts screamed at her to flee. Leave. Now.
She whipped around to run
Crunch.
Something invisible grabbed her ankle with an iron grip. Her balance shattered, and her body slammed heavily into the dirt.
"Shit!" she gasped, immediately kicking out and trying to pull her leg free.
Nothing. There was absolutely nothing there, no hand, no rope, and no visible monster. Yet, the invisible force was dragging her slowly, relentlessly, across the dirt toward the water's edge.
Panic exploded inside her chest. She raised her hand, desperately trying to cast a defensive blessing. Nothing happened. She tried again, pushing her willpower to the limit. Still, nothing. Her divine blessing was completely dead, refusing to respond to her call.
Real, cold fear finally settled in, the kind of raw terror that made her hands shake uncontrollably. Then, she looked up through her blurred vision and saw it.
The cat. It was sitting quietly beside the glass-like river, watching her struggle. Its golden eyes glowed brilliantly within the pitch darkness, unblinking and patient, as though it had been waiting for this exact moment all along.