Chapter 45: The Heart's Wrath

Kai's body slammed against the old pew, his vision blurring as the world around him spun. His head throbbed, and the taste of blood flooded his mouth. His fingers clenched, scraping against the cold, damp wood beneath him. The room was spinning, the air thick with the remnants of something evil—a presence that refused to let go. His shotgun was now lying a few feet away, discarded and useless.

His breath came in shallow gasps. He couldn't think straight. The impact had knocked the wind out of him, but there was more than physical pain plaguing him now.

He felt the curse—it was here, inside him, crawling beneath his skin, seeking to claim him once again. The darkness in the room seemed to grow thicker, wrapping around him like a tightening noose.

"Kai…"

The voice was low, almost a whisper, but it was everywhere. In his ears, in his head. The woman from the mirror. Her voice was filled with malice, a sickening sweetness that made his skin crawl. Kai struggled to his feet, pushing through the fog that clouded his mind.

Taylor's voice broke through the haze, distant but urgent. "Kai! Get up, we need to go! Now!"

Kai forced his body to move, even though every muscle in his body screamed for him to stay down. He gritted his teeth, using the pew as leverage, pushing himself back onto his feet. His legs wobbled, but he steadied himself, looking at Taylor, who was already moving toward him, gun drawn.

"We can't just run!" Kai's voice was hoarse, filled with frustration. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes locking onto the shattered remains of the mirror. The pieces were scattered across the floor, glittering shards reflecting the dim light in a hundred directions. But it wasn't the glass that worried him—it was the force that had just erupted from the mirror. That overwhelming presence.

"I won't let this thing win," Kai muttered, more to himself than to Taylor. "We're not leaving until we finish this."

Taylor hesitated but nodded. "Right. But how? What's the plan now?"

Kai clenched his fists. "We don't have all the answers yet, but we need to find a way to disrupt the curse's power. The mirror might be shattered, but I think it's more complicated than just that. We've seen how the curse isn't just about the mirror. It's about the energy, the force—whatever is behind it all. We need to track down the source."

Taylor glanced nervously at the darkening corners of the church. "So, what? We just wander around looking for it?"

"Not just wander," Kai replied with determination. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his mind clearer now. "We've dealt with this before. We've seen how the curse moves, how it warps the world around it. It has to be tied to something—a location, a ritual… something that keeps it alive."

"I don't know, Kai." Taylor's voice trembled. "I've never seen anything like this. You're saying there's a ritual? What if we're just making things worse?"

"It's already worse." Kai turned to face the altar at the front of the church, his gaze narrowing. The altar, untouched by time and decay, stood solid, an ominous reminder of the power that had been unleashed here. He could sense it—something was buried there. Something they hadn't found yet.

"We have to look deeper," Kai said, his voice steady. "I think the altar holds the key. This is where it all began, right? The mirror was only one part. Whatever started this curse—it's tied to the foundation of this place."

Taylor hesitated. "So, we're looking for a—what? A book? A symbol? Some kind of mystical object?"

Kai nodded, feeling the weight of his words settle over him like a heavy cloak. "Something like that. If there's a way to break the curse, we'll find it here. And we need to be fast."

The temperature in the church dropped suddenly, and Kai felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He wasn't alone. The darkness had come alive, and he could feel it closing in. The presence from the mirror was still there, lurking just beyond the edges of his vision, like an ominous storm cloud waiting to burst.

He reached for his shotgun, his grip tight. "Get ready," Kai warned, his voice low and steady.

Together, they walked toward the altar, their footsteps echoing eerily in the silent church. The closer they got, the more Kai could feel the curse pressing in around them. He could sense the power that had once filled this space—the power that had turned this sacred place into a prison of nightmares.

The altar was large, carved from stone, with intricate designs etched into its surface. At first glance, it looked like a regular altar—nothing out of the ordinary. But Kai's instincts told him that there was more to it. There had to be.

"Move the stone," Kai said, stepping forward. His voice was calm, but urgency burned beneath it.

Taylor looked at him, confused. "What stone?"

Kai pointed to the base of the altar. "There's something hidden under here. I can feel it."

With a grunt of effort, Taylor helped Kai move the large stone slab that covered the altar's base. Dust and dirt fell away as the stone shifted, revealing a small, darkened compartment beneath. It was covered in cobwebs and dirt, but there, hidden in the dark, lay something strange—an old, worn book.

"Is this it?" Taylor asked, his voice almost a whisper.

Kai didn't answer immediately. Instead, he reached into the compartment and pulled the book out carefully, its pages yellowed with age. The book felt heavier than it should, as though it contained more than just paper.

The cover was worn, the title barely legible: The Chronicles of Stowntown. It seemed absurd, like a bad joke.

But Kai's instincts screamed at him. This was what they needed. This book held the answers.

He opened it slowly, flipping through the pages, his eyes scanning the old script. The text was written in a language he couldn't fully understand, but there were symbols—runes, he realized—scattered throughout. The more he read, the more he recognized them. These were symbols from the cursed rituals, the same ones he'd seen during his first encounter with the cycle.

"This is it," Kai said, his voice steady now. "This is the source of the curse. These symbols... this book… it's all connected."

But before he could examine the text any further, a loud crack echoed through the church. The walls shook, and the air grew thick with tension.

"No!" A voice, twisted and cold, filled the room. The woman. Her voice was no longer soft—it was a shrill scream, filled with rage. "You can't stop it! The curse is already too deep! It's too late!"

Kai's heart skipped a beat. The walls around them began to warp, shifting as though they were being pulled in every direction. The ceiling groaned as if it was about to collapse. The ground beneath them trembled, and the dark presence grew stronger, filling every corner of the church.

"We need to finish this now," Kai shouted to Taylor, his mind racing.

With the book in hand, he turned to face the altar once more. There was no turning back now. The curse wasn't going to go quietly. It never did.