EPISODE 16
THE PROMISE SHE FORGOT
The second set of footsteps echoed through the darkness.
Slow.
Steady.
Getting closer.
Elizabeth stood frozen near the doorway.
The copy tightened its grip on her arm.
“We have to go. Now.”
But Elizabeth couldn’t move.
The voice still echoed inside her mind.
“You promised you would come back.”
The words felt familiar.
Not like something she had heard before.
Like something she had once said.
A cold wind drifted through the corridor.
The carved symbols around the doorway flickered weakly.
For a moment, the pale light returned.
Just enough for Elizabeth to see deeper into the prison.
The distant shadow had not moved.
It remained exactly where it was.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then another figure appeared behind it.
Smaller.
Human-shaped.
Walking slowly toward the doorway.
The second footsteps belonged to it.
The copy stepped backward.
Its face had turned completely pale.
“No…”
Elizabeth looked at her.
“What is it?”
The copy stared into the darkness.
“I remember that one.”
The figure continued approaching.
Its features remained hidden.
Only its outline could be seen.
With every step, strange images flashed through Elizabeth’s mind.
A stone room.
A circle of glowing symbols.
Voices speaking in a language she couldn’t understand.
And someone crying.
The vision vanished instantly.
Elizabeth nearly lost her balance.
The house above groaned loudly.
Wood creaked.
Walls trembled.
It felt as though the entire structure was struggling to contain something beneath it.
The approaching figure finally entered the pale light.
Elizabeth gasped.
It looked exactly like her.
Not the copy standing beside her.
Another one.
A third Elizabeth.
The newcomer stopped several feet away.
Its expression was calm.
Almost sad.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then the newcomer looked directly at Elizabeth.
“You stayed away longer this time.”
Elizabeth’s heart pounded.
“What are you talking about?”
The newcomer smiled faintly.
“The same thing you always ask.”
The copy immediately stepped between them.
“Don’t listen to her.”
The newcomer ignored the warning.
Instead, it looked toward the darkness behind itself.
Toward the distant shadow.
“It has waited a very long time.”
The corridor suddenly vibrated.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The ancient symbols along the walls began glowing brighter than before.
Elizabeth felt pressure building inside her head.
Fragments of memory appeared again.
A door.
A promise.
A hand reaching into darkness.
Then—
Nothing.
The images disappeared before she could understand them.
The newcomer sighed.
“Your memory is still broken.”
The copy shook its head.
“That’s why she must leave.”
“No,” the newcomer replied.
“That’s why she must remember.”
Silence filled the corridor.
Somewhere deep inside the prison, a low humming sound began.
The same sound Elizabeth had heard earlier beneath the floor.
Only louder now.
The distant shadow finally moved.
One step.
Then another.
The glowing symbols immediately dimmed.
As if they were losing power.
The newcomer looked worried.
“It’s happening sooner than before.”
Elizabeth turned toward the shadow.
“What is it?”
Neither copy answered.
That frightened her more than anything.
The shadow continued approaching.
Yet strangely, the closer it came, the less threatening it seemed.
Instead, Elizabeth felt something unexpected.
Sadness.
A deep sadness she couldn’t explain.
The feeling grew stronger with every step.
Then a memory finally broke through.
Clear.
Sharp.
Real.
She saw herself standing inside the same corridor.
Not days ago.
Not years ago.
Much longer.
The shadow had been standing before her.
And she had spoken four words.
I will come back.
The memory shattered instantly.
Elizabeth staggered backward.
Breathing heavily.
The copy stared at her.
You remembered.
Before Elizabeth could answer, the entire prison shook violently.
Cracks appeared along the stone walls.
The glowing symbols flickered wildly.
For the first time, fear appeared on both copies’ faces.
The newcomer whispered a single sentence.
The seal is failing.
Far down the corridor, the shadow stopped.
The darkness around it began to move.
Not like smoke.
Not like fog.
Like something waking from a very long sleep.
And then
The shadow slowly raised its head.
The pale light vanished.
The humming stopped.
Everything became silent.
A voice emerged from the darkness.
Calm.
Ancient.
Patient.
Elizabeth… do you finally remember why you left me here?
TO BE CONTINUED…