Chapter 40: The Countdown Begins

The drive back to the station was tense. Taylor flipped through Nathaniel's notebook, muttering to himself. The pages were filled with fragmented thoughts, scrawled warnings, and desperate pleas. Every few entries, the same phrase repeated:

"It won't let me go."

Taylor exhaled, shutting the book. "This thing doesn't just kill people, does it?"

Kai kept his eyes on the road, jaw clenched. "No."

"It breaks them first."

Taylor swallowed hard. "And you think you're next?"

Kai didn't answer.

But they both knew the truth.

The moment he saw that thing—when it whispered to him in the dark—his fate had been sealed.

A Warning from the Past

Back at the station, Kai barely had time to sit before another officer knocked on his door.

"Sir, you have a visitor."

Kai frowned. "Who?"

The officer hesitated. "She wouldn't give a name."

Kai's stomach twisted.

It's never good when someone doesn't give a name.

He grabbed his shotgun from the desk and headed to the lobby.

There, standing near the entrance, was a woman in her late 60s. She was tall, thin, her graying hair tied into a loose braid. Her eyes—sharp, alert—met Kai's with an intensity that made his skin crawl.

"You're the one," she said.

Kai stopped a few feet away. "The one what?"

She exhaled, shaking her head. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this again."

Kai's grip on his shotgun tightened. "Who are you?"

The woman took a slow step forward. "Someone who's seen what's coming."

A chill ran down Kai's spine.

"Come with me," she said softly. "If you want to survive."

The Rules of the Curse

The woman's name was Eleanor Finch.

She had once been a resident of Stowntown, back when the first recorded cycle had begun. She had lived through it—barely.

They sat in a quiet diner on the outskirts of town, the smell of burnt coffee and cheap bacon lingering in the air. Eleanor stirred her tea, her hands steady despite the weight of her words.

"I was sixteen when I first saw it," she said. "The cycle was different back then. Slower. Less… refined."

Kai leaned in. "Refined?"

Eleanor nodded. "It learns. It adapts. Every time it claims a soul, it gets better at what it does."

Kai felt a deep unease settle in his chest.

Eleanor continued. "The people it takes—most of them don't fight back. They don't understand what's happening to them. They just disappear."

Kai thought of Nathaniel. The way his body had been left. Like he had simply given up.

Eleanor's gaze darkened. "But every once in a while, someone resists. And that's when it gets… creative."

Taylor, sitting across from them, shifted uncomfortably. "So what are we dealing with? A ghost? A demon?"

Eleanor shook her head. "Neither. It's not something you can define. It's not human, not spirit—it's an entity tied to time itself. It doesn't just kill people."

She looked at Kai.

"It replaces them."

Kai's fingers curled into a fist.

Eleanor's voice dropped to a whisper. "Tell me, Officer Kai… have you noticed anything different about yourself?"

A muscle in Kai's jaw twitched.

He had.

The way the air felt heavier around him. The way he saw shadows moving in places they shouldn't. The way he was changing.

Eleanor sighed. "That's how it starts."

She placed a small, leather-bound book on the table. It looked older than any document Kai had ever seen.

"I've spent my life collecting stories," she said. "Tracing patterns. There are rules to this thing. Ways to delay it. But breaking the cycle?"

Her expression turned grim.

"No one's ever done that before."

The Five Rules

Kai flipped open the book, scanning its yellowed pages. Handwritten notes covered every inch of it—names, dates, locations. Accounts of people who had vanished without a trace.

Then, he saw it.

A list.

The Five Rules to Survive the 27 Days

1. Do not acknowledge it when it whispers your name.

2. Do not dream about it. If you do, wake up immediately.

3. Do not speak of your past with it—it already knows.

4. If you see someone you love who has already died, run. It's not them.

5. When the 27th night comes, do not be alone.

Kai's breath felt shallow.

Taylor read over his shoulder, mumbling the rules aloud. When he finished, he sat back, shaking his head. "This is insane."

Eleanor's gaze stayed locked on Kai.

"You've already broken the first rule, haven't you?" she asked.

Kai's pulse pounded.

"Not yet."

It had spoken to him. And he had answered.

Eleanor closed her eyes. "Then you don't have much time."

Kai forced himself to stay calm. "What happens if I make it through all 27 days?"

Eleanor's eyes met his.

"No one ever has."

The Dead Man's Letter

Back at the station, Kai sat in his office, staring at the list. His mind felt like a storm—pieces of the puzzle clicking into place, but none of it forming a clear picture.

Then—

A knock at his door.

Taylor stepped in, holding an envelope. "This just came in. No return address."

Kai took it, his hands steady. The paper felt old, brittle. He slid his finger along the seam, opening it carefully.

Inside was a single sheet of paper.

Scrawled in the same frantic handwriting from Nathaniel's notebook.

"Don't trust your reflection."

Kai's skin crawled.

Slowly, his gaze lifted to the mirror across the room.

For a split second—

Just a fraction of a second—

His reflection didn't move.

A cold wave of terror crashed over him.

Taylor saw his face pale. "Kai? What's wrong?"

Kai didn't answer.

Because deep down, he already knew—

The countdown had begun.