the secret hole

The three of them stepped into the cemetery, their movements cautious yet deliberate, until they reached its heart, pausing to survey the shadows that cloaked everything in silence، there was no new grave; only the same as before, locked in the endless night, Eileen drifted toward the last grave, where her strange dream had led her, standing lost in her thoughts, unaware of Leo and Tyler beside her, she flinched when Leo's hand suddenly touched her shoulder.

"Did you find something?" he asked, his voice touched with concern: Last night, you mentioned something about a woman. What did you mean?

Leo and Tyler exchanged questioning glances, waiting, Eileen took a deep breath, her voice trembling as she spoke: "I had a dream... I was here, in this cemetery, and there was a girl lying in this grave, She spoke to me, and led me to something like a well, filled with bodies, She said… they were waiting for me." Her fingers trembled as they brushed against the grave's soil, her gaze distant and filled with unease.

Both men listened intently, Leo looked skeptical, but Tyler's eyes narrowed in intense focus, each word seeming to spark something in him,Leo finally broke the silence, trying to reassure her: "It's just a dream, Eileen, Just the fear playing tricks on you." But he fell quiet when he saw Tyler's expression of deep thought, Pulling him aside, Leo whispered: :Do you know something I don't? Why are you so interested in a mere dream?"

At first, Tyler hesitated, but Leo's persistence wore him down. "Alright," he admitted, "I'll tell you, I had my suspicions about Eileen last night, so I asked the commander about her, especially after he ended the mission, He told me she's still too young to fully use her abilities; it exhausts her, and he wouldn't say more, I think… maybe there's a connection between her visions and what the commander knows."

Leo's brow furrowed, his voice carrying a hint of reproach: "You hide too much, Tyler, It's hard to trust you."

Tyler merely laughed off the remark: "I tell you what you ask for, Leo, Ask, and I'll answer."

Just then, Eileen turned toward them, speaking with determination : "I think we need to search for that well," despite his earlier doubt, Leo nodded in agreement, Tyler said skeptically, "But there's no well around here, Where should we even begin?" Eileen gestured toward the dilapidated room where they had found the shovels last night, "That room is as good a start as any, It was full of old records."

They entered the decrepit room, a crumbling mess of forgotten remnants, Tyler picked up an old map from a drawer, inspecting it carefully, "Looks like I've found something…" he muttered, spreading the map for the others.

Leo squinted at the unfamiliar symbols on the parchment, "But it's written in some strange, unreadable language."

Eileen's gaze narrowed, "It's an old Armenian dialect, How in the world are we supposed to understand this?"

Tyler smirked at their surprise: "Speak for yourselves, I know Armenian just fine,"Their eyes widened, momentarily thrown by this unexpected skill of his, Ignoring their reaction, Tyler continued reading until he stumbled upon the word "crematorium" Crossing his arms, he mused: "There's no well here, but there is a crematorium; probably what you saw in your dream, Eileen, that would explain why it wasn't deep and had no water, but oddly, this crematorium was closed down about fifty years ago."

He led them to the far end of the cemetery, to a barren patch of ground, untouched by any graves, Tyler knelt, pressing his ear to the earth, prompting Leo to ask: "What are you doing?"

"Just give me a second," he replied, tapping the ground until a hollow sound resonated, a grin spread across his face, "Found it, "taking a shovel, he struck the ground hard, but the shovel rebounded with such force it nearly threw him backward, strange symbols began to glow in a circle on the ground.

"What on earth was that?" Leo shouted, shaken.

Tyler wiped a smear of blood from his mouth: "It's protected by dark magic, Not strong, but enough to sting," a thought crossed his mind, and he looked at Leo with a playful glint in his eye, "How about using your powers and that sword of yours to break through?"

Leo gave him a doubtful look: "You're just trying to use me so it doesn't strike back at you."

"Come on, partner," Tyler said, smirking, "Don't be a coward"

Leo finally drew his sword, plunging it into the center of the enchanted circle, A black light burst from it, cracking the circle at last, and Leo staggered, his breathing heavy, as the magic broke.

Tyler flashed him a grin: "Told you, you'd manage."

Leo glared back: "Damn you, Where does this overconfidence of yours come from?"

Eileen took up the shovel, digging carefully now that the barrier was lifted, she shone a light into the opening that emerged, but soon had to cover her nose; the pit was full of corpses, mostly young women, some decayed, others disturbingly recent, Tyler decided to descend into the hole to examine them, Eileen passing him a lantern, He carefully made his way over the bodies, the stench of decay clinging to him.

He reached a freshly deceased figure, a girl with golden hair and blue-tinged skin, A chill crept over him; this was the same girl Eileen had described from her dream, her eyes were still open, so he tried to close them, but they wouldn't budge, the stiffness of death already setting in He looked up, intending to call to Eileen and Leo, but the figure standing above wasn't Eileen, It was something else; a pale face, a long white dress, black hair cascading down, and pitch-black eyes that held an inhuman emptiness.

Tyler felt his breath catch, but Eileen acted quickly, pushing the creature back, while Leo reached down to pull Tyler out of the hole, once safe, Tyler looked at his friend, shaken: "What was that? Leo replied:"It wasn't human… more like a monster in a woman's form."

Eileen tried to strike at it with her blades, but every attempt was useless; she was no match for its strength, The creature's focus wasn't on her, but rather on Tyler and Leo, Tyler motioned for Eileen to run toward the gate, but the creature merely waved a hand, slamming it shut with dark magic, Tyler attempted spell after spell to unlock it, but nothing worked.

As the woman in white advanced, her talons glinting under the moonlight, they realized they were truly trapped, her dark intent written in every slow, deliberate step she took. There was no escape.