Dark Path (Last Part)
Elara and Rayen moved cautiously toward the clock tower, their steps quick yet measured. The silence of the night coiled around them like a living thing, as if the very air conspired against them.
"Why is it so quiet?" Elara whispered, her voice barely carrying over the eerie stillness, as if afraid that something—or someone—might hear.
Rayen scanned their surroundings, his muscles tensed. "Maybe because they know we're here," he murmured, his voice colder than before.
The tower loomed just a few steps ahead, a towering, shadowy figure against the silver glow of the moon. Its ancient clock hands ticked steadily, slicing through the silence. With every second that passed, the wind grew colder.
Elara glanced over her shoulder. No one was there. And yet, she felt it—an inexplicable presence lingering just beyond sight.
Then, as they reached the entrance of the tower, the wind suddenly howled, whipping through the lifeless trees. Dry sacred fig leaves spiraled through the air, scattering in all directions.
Rayen instinctively lifted the collar of his jacket—only to freeze.
Because standing in front of the tower's door… was Anais.
Elara's breath caught in her throat.
The girl they had left behind. The girl who had begged them to help her. The girl who had sworn she just wanted to go home.
But now… her eyes were different.
No longer wide with fear. No longer pleading.
They glowed with something else—something unnatural. Something ancient.
As if darkness itself ran through her veins.
Anais tilted her head, a slow, eerie smile curling on her lips. "Going somewhere?" she asked, her voice weaving into the silence like a shadow slithering through the air.
Rayen immediately stepped in front of Elara, shielding her. "Move aside, Anais," he said, his tone sharp and unwavering. "We need to get inside."
Anais' smile deepened. "And you think I'll let you?"
A soft, chilling laugh escaped her lips, sending a shiver down Elara's spine. Step by step, Anais moved forward.
"This city won't let you go so easily."
Elara and Rayen instinctively took a step back.
Behind them—the tower doors.
In front—Anais.
And around her, the darkness thickened, pulsating like a living force.
The wind screamed through the trees. The dry leaves twisted in the air. Something was about to happen.
Elara and Rayen tried to step back together, but their backs collided with the cold, frozen door of the clock tower.
Anais stood before them—but her face was no longer the same.
Suddenly, her eyes began to glow a deep crimson red.
Her smile… it started to shift, slowly stretching, as if her face was just a mask about to slip away.
"Do you really think you can escape?" Anais' voice was no longer her own—it was layered, thin yet hollow, as if hundreds of voices were speaking at once.
Elara turned to Rayen. "Rayen, open the door!" she urged.
Rayen immediately pushed against the massive wooden doors of the clock tower. He shoved with all his might—but they didn't even budge.
Anais was moving faster now.
With every step she took, her body twisted.
Her fingers elongated into sharp, black claws. Her neck stretched unnaturally, snapping with each movement.
One moment, she looked almost human. The next, she was a predator.
And then—just a shapeless shadow.
"OPEN THE DOOR!" Elara screamed.
Rayen gathered all his strength and slammed his shoulder against the doors.
With a loud crash, they burst open.
The two of them lunged inside—just as the doors swung shut on their own.
Darkness swallowed them whole.
Outside, Anais let out a piercing scream, as if something had torn her from the air.
And then—silence.
Inside, there was nothing but blackness.
Rayen reached out, his fingers brushing against the cold stone wall. "Elara…?" His voice was quiet, uncertain.
"I'm here," Elara breathed, her heart pounding.
Then—
Tick. Tick. Tick.
A clock's ticking echoed through the darkness.
Elara slowly lifted her head.
Above them, the giant clock face loomed. But each time the second hand moved… it made a sound.
A distant, eerie scream. And the most terrifying thing of all—
Inside the clock… a face was staring at them.
Anais. Watching them. From inside.
Elara and Rayen's breaths came fast and unsteady.
Inside the glass face of the clock, Anais' face was clearly visible—watching them.
Her red, hollow eyes locked onto theirs, expressionless, as if she were simply sitting behind a glass wall, observing… waiting.
Rayen slowly reached out and gripped the thick, iron chain hanging beneath the massive clock.
"Elara, we have to stop this clock."
Elara's gaze remained fixed on the clock face.
Inside, Anais' face was changing—warping.
With every passing second, her features grew more grotesque, her smile stretching into something unnatural—like a monstrous shadow, grinning from the other side of reality.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
"It's still moving," Elara whispered, panic creeping into her voice. "If it doesn't stop, then—?"
"Then we'll be trapped here too," Rayen said through gritted teeth and yanked the chain hard.
Suddenly—
A violent jolt shook the entire tower.
The bell rang out, its deafening chime reverberating through the air, drowning out everything else.
And then—
Everything froze.
The wind stopped.
The clock's hand halted.
And Anais' face…
It began to melt inside the clock.
"Rayen, something's happening!" Elara gasped.
Anais' face twisted, dissolving into a swirling black smoke trapped inside the glass.
She screamed—but her voice was muffled, swallowed within the clock itself.
And then—
The entire tower trembled. Cracks snaked through the walls, the ground split open beneath their feet.
And in the next second— Everything went black.
The moment the clock's hand stopped, a thunderous explosion echoed.
For an instant, the entire town trembled, as if the earth itself had forgotten to breathe.
And then—
A black wave rose into the air.
At first, it moved slowly, like a faint wisp of dust. But then, it gained speed.
Homes, streets, rooftops—everything was swallowed by the fog.
Elara and Rayen watched in horror as the people around them began to dissolve into smoke. Their faces blurred, their bodies faded—until they crumbled like dust, scattering into the wind.
Anais' screams still lingered in the air, but she was no longer a person.
She was part of the storm now.
The smoke tornado raged, twisting through the town.
A vortex of shadows and dust, filled with the echoes of those who had never truly existed.
Rayen gripped Elara's hand tightly. "Is this really happening?"
Elara's wide eyes reflected the devastation. The entire town was dissolving into the wind.
And then—
Everything stopped.
No sound.
No screams.
No wind.
Where the town once stood, there was now only emptiness.
No houses.
No market.
No people.
Only dust.
And in the sky, the first light of dawn slowly began to rise.
The beginning of a new day—but with no trace that the town had ever existed.
Rayen closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Before him lay nothing—no village, no history, no proof that life had ever been here. Just earth, air, and the rising sun, stretching its golden light across the barren land.
Elara stood beside him, staring at her own hands—as if reassuring herself that she was still real.
Her eyes held a deep sorrow, but behind it, something else lingered—a question she might never find the answer to.
Rayen turned to look at her. Their eyes met, but neither spoke.
Because how could they put into words what they had just witnessed?
Without a word, Elara picked up her belongings and began to walk forward.
Rayen took one last glance at the place where, just last night, an entire village had existed.
Then, exhaling slowly, he followed her.
As they stepped forward into their new journey, a faint echo still lingered in the air.
A soft whisper—or perhaps a distant, ghostly laughter.
A memory that would stay with them forever.