Dark Path (Part 6)

It was the same street. The same crowd of people. But the small bakery that had stood in front of them that morning… was gone.

Anaïs suppressed a smile. "It's alright. You both look exhausted. Would you like to stay somewhere else tonight?"

Elara's heart pounded with an unfamiliar fear. "No… we need to leave."

Anaïs lowered her gaze for a moment as if in thought. "As you wish…"

But as Rayen and Elara began to walk away, they noticed something unsettling—

Anaïs's shadow wasn't where it should have been.

The sunlight fell in one direction—yet her shadow stretched the other way.

Elara held her breath.

Elara and Rayen quickened their pace. Their only goal was to get out of this town.

But as they walked, a strange realization hit them. The roads were leading them back. At first, they reached a crossroads that should have taken them straight out of town. But the moment they turned, they found themselves in the same alley—

The one where Anaïs was standing.

Frustrated, Rayen ran a hand through his hair. "What kind of joke is this?"

Elara glanced around. The summer sun burned brighter, and people passed by with umbrellas, carrying on as if everything was normal.

But everything wasn't normal.

They took another street—

And ended up in the same place again.

Anaïs was still there. As if she had known this would happen.

Elara turned to Rayen, panic creeping into her voice. "Rayen, we—"

Rayen gripped her hand tightly. "We need to try again."

But this time, as they rushed down a new path—

A soft laugh echoed behind them.

Anaïs's laugh.

And when they turned around—

She was gone.

Only the wind remained. And the streets kept turning back.

Rayen clenched his jaw, pressing his fingers against his forehead. "What the hell is happening? Why do we keep coming back?"

Elara, her eyes darting anxiously around, swallowed hard. "Rayen, this can't be a coincidence."

They tried another street. Then another.

But no matter where they turned, they kept looping back.

This time, they found themselves standing in front of the bakery where they had woken up that morning.

The woman who worked there, who had smiled at them before, now looked startled to see them.

"Oh! You two came back?" she asked, wiping her hands on a cloth.

Rayen opened his mouth to speak, but Elara quickly squeezed his hand.

In a low voice, she asked, "Have you ever seen anyone leave this place?"

The woman pretended to think, then laughed. "Of course! People leave all the time."

But for a split second, something flickered across her face. As if she had lied. As if she couldn'tremember the last time someone had actually left.

Elara met Rayen's gaze. They needed to find another way out.

Just then, a small girl who had been playing near the bakery whispered, "Find the door."

Rayen crouched down. "What door?"

The girl only smiled.

Before he could ask again, the bakery woman grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her inside, her face dark with anger.

Rayen and Elara exchanged a glance before rushing toward the narrow alleys without wasting another second.

Elara whispered, "If there's a door, it has to be somewhere."

Rayen nodded. "But… I have a bad feeling. Like someone's watching us."

Elara had felt it too—an eerie stillness in the air. It was as if everything was frozen in time, waiting. As if someone lurked just behind a wall, observing them, anticipating their next move.

They spotted an old, abandoned building ahead, surrounded by an unsettling silence. No signs of life.

"This place feels… wrong," Rayen muttered.

But the moment they took a step forward, the wind howled violently. A shadow moved behind the wall. And in an instant—like a shifting illusion—the entire street changed. Rayen spun around in shock. They were standing in front of the bakery again.

Elara's face paled. "This… this isn't possible."

Just then, an old woman passing by stopped and eyed them with mild curiosity.

"Are you two looking for a way out?" she asked, her voice low.

Rayen immediately nodded. "Do you know how to leave this place?"

The woman smiled—an odd, knowing smile. "You must find the door. But be careful… some doors only open from inside."

Elara's breath hitched. "Inside?"

The woman didn't answer. She simply turned and walked away.

Rayen exhaled, his voice barely above a whisper. "This city… it's like a maze. And we're trapped inside it."

Elara clenched her fists. If this was a maze… then there had to be only one way out.

Elara and Rayen searched everywhere, but the door was nowhere to be found. No matter which path they took, the alleys always led them back to where they had started. The city had become a loop, an endless circle.

Slowly, night began to fall. The air grew colder, carrying an eerie stillness.

Rayen, exhausted, leaned against the wall of an old building before sinking down onto the ground. "This is pointless. This city… it's shifting like a maze."

Elara let out a tired sigh and sat beside him. "Maybe… we have no choice but to stay here for the night."

Suddenly, a sound pierced the silence.

A soft, heart-wrenching cry.

Fragile, broken, and filled with sorrow.

Rayen and Elara immediately exchanged glances.

Elara whispered, "Is that… a child?"

Rayen scanned the surroundings, but no one was in sight. And yet—the crying grew louder. Closer.

They both rose to their feet, following the sound. As they stepped into a dark, narrow alley, they finally saw her—a little girl.

She stood there with her head lowered, dressed in tattered clothes, her feet bare, her face streaked with tears. She couldn't have been older than ten.

Elara cautiously approached her. "What are you doing here all alone?"

The girl slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying for days.

"I'm trapped here," she said in a hollow voice. "I want to go home. Back to my mummy and papa."

Rayen hesitated before asking, "What is this city? Where did you come from?"

The girl was silent for a moment, as if trying to remember. Then, she softly replied, "I don't know what this place is. But I do know… there's only one way out."

Elara knelt beside her. "What is it?"

The girl's voice was barely above a whisper.

"There's a clock tower. A big one. If you stop the clock… everything can go back to normal."

A sudden gust of wind rushed through the alley. The buildings around them flickered—just for a moment—as if reality itself had turned blurry, unstable.

Rayen turned to Elara, his expression tense. "The clock tower."

Elara took a deep breath. "We have to find it."