Chapter Fourteen: Beneath the Earth

The Book of the Hollow sat heavy in Elena's hands.

The leather was cold—unnaturally so, like it had been pulled from the depths of a crypt. The pages, thick and brittle, carried the scent of something older than dust.

But it wasn't just a book.

She could feel it.

It was a warning.

And yet, Leon remained silent. Watching. Waiting. His expression unreadable.

Elena swallowed. "We should go back."

Leon raised a brow. "To the grave?"

She hesitated, glancing at Mr. Holloway. The old man looked pale, his breathing uneven. He had risked everything to bring her this book.

And he had been afraid.

Of Leon.

But the answers weren't here, in the pages of a book. They were beneath the earth.

"Yes," Elena said. "We need to go back."

For a moment, she thought Leon might argue. Might try to stop her.

But instead, he smiled.

A slow, knowing smile that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Then let's go," he murmured.

---

They returned to the grave under a moonless sky.

The farmhouse groaned around them, as if the very walls were watching. The lantern's glow stretched long shadows across the dirt floor, flickering over the rusted nameplate, the bloodstained fabric, the hollow in the ground.

Elena's pulse quickened.

Last time, something had stopped them.

But not tonight.

Leon knelt beside the grave, his fingers brushing the edge of the earth. His movements were slow, deliberate—almost too careful.

"Elena."

She stepped closer.

Leon reached into the hollow.

The air tightened.

And then—his fingers closed around something solid.

Something buried deep beneath the dirt.

Elena's breath caught. "What is it?"

Slowly, Leon pulled it free.

The earth crumbled away, revealing something wooden.

A box.

Small. Old. Locked.

And burned into the lid—carved in jagged, uneven strokes—was a name.

Elena stepped closer, her heartbeat thundering.

It wasn't Leon's name.

It was hers.

ELENA HOLLOWAY.

The lantern flickered violently.

The house groaned.

And somewhere, deep in the walls—the whisper returned.

"You were never meant to find this."