Chapter 8 — Whispers Speak louder

🎬 Scene 1: Outside the Museum — Rainfall, Late Evening

POV: Leo

Rain struck the pavement like static—sharp, relentless, electric.

Leo stood still beneath the flickering streetlamp. His coat clung to him like wet skin, heavy from the downpour. But it wasn't the cold that made his breath hitch.

It was the whisper.

> Whisper (faint, distorted):

"You left the story unfinished…"

His eyes snapped toward the shadows beyond the museum gates.

No one there. No footsteps. Just the hollow hum of night.

Then—

> Whisper (closer now):

"Leo… it's not too late…"

His chest tightened.

> Leo (low, defiant):

"No. You're not real."

But the voice fractured. Multiplied.

Children laughing. Pages flipping. Screams trapped inside ink.

Leo staggered backward. His bag slipped from his shoulder—

And there it was.

The notebook.

The one he tried to burn.

It shouldn't be here.

It shouldn't exist.

He knelt slowly, trembling fingers brushing its surface.

It was warm.

The cover rippled like skin, bleeding beneath his touch. New words wrote themselves in jagged ink:

> "Dear Natalie, would you like to hear a story?"

> Leo (staggering, shaken):

"No… No. Who the hell is Natalie?!"

He looked up—and the city was gone.

Buildings vanished. Replaced by floating pages suspended midair like puppets on strings.

Each one whispered.

Each one bled.

---

🎬 Scene 2: Elina's House — Natalie's Room

POV: Elina

The room was too quiet.

Elina stood frozen beside her daughter's bed, clutching the envelope. Her fingers trembled.

Inside it—

A single page. Aged. Yellowed. Ice-cold to the touch.

No date.

No name.

Only a title, scrawled in ink that shimmered like dried blood:

> "The Gossipers' Karma"

Her lips moved without sound, reading the first lines.

Then her breath caught.

> Elina (barely whispering):

"No… This isn't just a story…"

The page described her daughter.

Natalie's toys. Her stitched teddy bear. The small birthmark behind her ear.

Things no one else could know.

Elina dropped to her knees, brushing Natalie's hair from her face.

> Elina (soft, shaking):

"Sweetheart… wake up."

"Please, baby… open your eyes."

Natalie stirred, sleepy and smiling.

> Natalie (groggy):

"Mama… can you tell me that story?"

"The Gossipers' Karma…"

> Elina (eyes widening in horror):

"No—!"

She lunged forward to cover her daughter's mouth.

Too late.

The air thickened.

The walls groaned.

The shadows leaned in.

The Whispers began.

> Voices (layered, echoing):

"Too late…"

"The story has begun…"

"Blood remembers…"

Elina scooped Natalie into her arms, heart pounding.

And ran.

---

🎬 Scene 3: Elina's House — Living Room

POV: Elina & Marcus

Marcus stepped out of the kitchen, towel over his shoulder, confused.

> Marcus (frowning):

"Elina? What's going on?"

> Elina (urgent, breathless):

"We need to run. Now. Get our son. Don't ask—just MOVE!"

> Marcus (stumbling):

"Wait, what? What are you—"

> Elina (snapping):

"NOW, MARCUS!"

He ran toward the hall, alarmed.

The whispers coiled in the air behind him like smoke from burning words.

> Voices:

"You read it…"

"She spoke it…"

"Another page turns…"

Elina shut her eyes, clutching Natalie close.

> Elina (whispering):

"Not again… Not like before…"

---

🎬 Scene 4: Leo's Mind — Inside the Page

POV: Leo

He wasn't on the street anymore.

He stood inside a forest made of paper.

Trees with spines like bookbindings. Pages hanging from branches like nooses.

Each one whispered.

Names. Dates. Last words.

Leo reached up and flipped one.

A drawing—Elina and Natalie.

Their faces scratched out.

Thunder rolled above.

> Whisper:

"Elina… she's remembering…"

A figure stepped through the trees.

The woman.

Gray cloak. Crimson smile. Eyes blacker than void.

> Woman (softly):

"You're late, Leo. So many stories have begun without you."

> Leo (growling):

"What did you do?"

> Woman (gently):

"I gave the child a gift. Just a single page. She read it."

> Leo:

"If you touch them—"

> Woman (smiling):

"I already have."

She blew a kiss.

The pages exploded into crows.

---

🎬 Scene 5: The Forest — Present

POV: Leo

Leo collapsed in the street outside the museum—gasping, drenched, wild-eyed.

The notebook was gone.

He stood up, shivering. His fingers stained with ink.

Branches scraped his coat as the city blurred behind him.

He was somewhere else now.

Somewhere in-between.

Above him, hundreds of crows perched in the trees. Silent. Watching.

Then—

> Whispers (surrounding):

"Finish what your father started…"

"Write the ending… or bleed for it…"

"She's opened the door…"

Leo stared into the woods.

> Leo (whispers):

"Elina… please be safe."

Lightning flashed.

The crows screamed.

Leo ran.

Into the dark.

Into the forest.

Into the story.

---

🩸 TO BE CONTINUED…

🩸 The story has begun… and it's not done with them yet.

Will Leo find a way to stop the curse before it devours Elina's family?

Tap "Next" if you dare.

Comment your theory: Who really wrote the first page?