Chapter 18 – Echoes of the Hidden Past (Continuation)
Silence settled again in the basement, broken only by the soft rustle of pages turning. Rei, frowning, found a small dust-covered notebook with a barely readable name on the cover: "Yuki." His hands hesitated before opening it.
The words inside weren't just a record but fragments of memories Yuki seemed to have deeply buried, as if the house itself had erased them.
Forgotten Record – Yuki
"I vaguely remember the laughter of other children, a time when I wasn't afraid. The house was a refuge, a place where light filtered through cracks and joy could still exist. But everything changed when Ershem began to change; his pain turned into a storm, and screams took over the halls.
They locked us in the basement, a dark labyrinth connected to the orphanage, where time stopped and hope became a distant echo. I tried to remember who I was before all this, but memory faded, as if the house stole pieces of my soul to feed its darkness."
Rei read softly, feeling Ershem's presence grow stronger, like a shadow watching with invisible eyes—restless and hungry.
Yuki lowered his gaze, eyes lost in a past he couldn't quite reach but was now surfacing painfully clear.
"Not all is lost," Rei whispered. "These memories are the key to freeing ourselves."
Noah, alert, noticed the tension in the air, the growing chill, and shadows stretching from the darkest corners, as if Ershem manifested stronger, demanding his story and the children's to be told.
The basement was no longer just a physical place but the throbbing heart of torment and hope trapped within the old house. The records and forgotten voices of the children began to reveal their truth—a truth crying out for justice and redemption.