THE PLACE THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST
Every mystery begins with a question.
The dangerous ones begin with an answer.
And somewhere beyond forests, cities, mountains, and forgotten roads, an answer had just revealed itself.
The compass had finally chosen a destination.
---
Eva hadn't slept.
Not properly.
Not since the compass showed her the silver message.
Not since the symbols began appearing.
Not since she discovered the direction never changed.
For three days the needle remained fixed.
Northwest.
Always northwest.
No matter where she stood.
No matter where she traveled.
No matter what she did.
The compass wanted her to go somewhere.
And for the first time in her life—
Eva decided to follow.
---
The morning sky was covered with clouds.
A storm lingered beyond the horizon.
The same storm that seemed to follow every strange event.
The same storm that appeared in dreams.
The same storm connected to the gate.
Though Eva didn't know that yet.
Not completely.
She placed the compass inside her backpack and stepped onto the bus.
The needle immediately began vibrating.
Excited.
Almost impatient.
As if it knew she had finally listened.
---
Miles away, beneath the branches of the Elder Tree, Parna stared toward the forest.
Every bird had gathered in one direction.
Every branch pointed toward the same path.
Every sign led northwest.
The exact same direction chosen by Eva's compass.
Parna felt it deep inside her chest.
Nature was trying to guide her somewhere.
The feeling was impossible to ignore.
She followed.
---
At Saint Marrow Orphanage, Riva sat beside her window.
Her notebook rested on her knees.
The gate appeared again.
Line after line.
Stone after stone.
Symbol after symbol.
This time she added details she had never seen before.
Broken towers.
A circular courtyard.
A giant clock frozen in time.
And beneath the drawing she unconsciously wrote two words.
Black Hollow.
Riva stared at them.
Confused.
She had never heard that name before.
Yet somehow she knew it.
As if the memory belonged to someone else.
Or perhaps—
To another life.
---
Across the city, Aarvi sat beside the mysterious box.
The golden light inside had become stronger.
More frequent.
More alive.
The carvings glowed whenever she touched them.
And today something changed.
When her fingers brushed the surface—
The box opened another inch.
---
Golden light filled the room.
A memory exploded before her eyes.
Not a dream.
Not imagination.
A memory.
---
She stood within a city of silver towers.
People filled the streets.
Children laughed.
Golden banners moved in the wind.
The city felt alive.
Beautiful.
Ancient.
Then she saw a name carved into a stone archway.
AURELIA.
The vision shattered.
Aarvi fell backward.
Her breathing became uneven.
The city had a name.
The kingdom was real.
---
Meanwhile, the caretaker watched everything unfold.
From the underground chamber.
From the ancient map.
The four lights were moving.
Slowly.
But moving.
Toward the same destination.
Toward the same forgotten point.
Toward a place hidden from modern maps.
---
His eyes narrowed.
The location was familiar.
Too familiar.
A place he hoped never to see again.
A place buried beneath fifty years of silence.
Black Hollow.
---
The caretaker's face darkened.
"No..."
The word escaped before he could stop it.
Because Black Hollow wasn't supposed to exist anymore.
The place had been destroyed.
Hidden.
Erased.
At least that was what everyone believed.
---
The ancient map glowed brighter.
The four lights continued moving.
And the black light followed.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Like a predator tracking wounded prey.
---
Far away.
Inside an abandoned temple.
The forty-year-old man smiled.
The villain.
The man with the crimson eyes.
He watched a similar map.
The same four lights.
The same destination.
The same awakening.
His fingers traced the location.
Black Hollow.
"Finally."
---
Back on the road, Eva reached the final bus stop.
The compass reacted violently.
The needle spun once.
Then pointed toward an overgrown trail.
The path was hidden beneath weeds and broken stone.
Nobody appeared to have used it for years.
Maybe decades.
Yet the compass insisted.
This was the way.
---
The air grew colder.
The forest became silent.
Every instinct told Eva to turn back.
She continued forward.
---
Elsewhere.
Parna followed birds.
Riva followed dreams.
Aarvi followed memories.
And none of them realized they were traveling toward the same destination.
---
Hours passed.
The path eventually opened into a clearing.
And there it stood.
An abandoned structure.
Massive.
Broken.
Forgotten.
A railway station swallowed by nature.
Vines covered the walls.
Trees grew through shattered windows.
The station sign had nearly fallen apart.
Only two words remained visible.
BLACK HOLLOW.
---
Eva's heart stopped.
The exact words she had seen hidden within the symbols.
The exact words she had unknowingly translated.
The compass pointed directly toward the station.
The needle stopped moving.
For the first time.
Ever.
---
At that exact moment—
Riva looked down at her notebook.
Black Hollow.
The same name.
The same location.
---
Parna stepped into the clearing.
Birds circled overhead.
The same abandoned station stood before her.
---
Aarvi touched the box.
The golden memory returned.
This time she saw the station.
The exact same station.
The exact same sign.
BLACK HOLLOW.
---
The connection became impossible to deny.
Four girls.
Four different lives.
Four different mysteries.
Yet somehow—
All leading here.
---
A sudden thunderclap shook the sky.
Dark clouds gathered overhead.
The storm had arrived.
Again.
---
The caretaker stood hidden among distant trees.
Watching.
The girls had not met yet.
Not completely.
But they were finally in the same place.
The threads connecting them had become visible.
And soon they would discover the truth.
At least part of it.
---
Then something happened.
The station doors opened by themselves.
Slowly.
Silently.
Revealing darkness beyond.
Ancient darkness.
Waiting darkness.
Remembering darkness.
---
The four girls stared.
Separated by only a few hundred meters.
Unaware of one another's presence.
Yet connected by destiny.
Connected by mystery.
Connected by a kingdom long forgotten.
---
The caretaker's eyes shifted toward the shadows behind the station.
His expression changed instantly.
Fear.
Real fear.
Because he wasn't the only one watching.
---
Two crimson eyes appeared within the darkness.
Gone a moment later.
Yet he had seen them.
And he knew exactly who they belonged to.
The black light had arrived.
The hunt had begun.
---
For the first time in fifty years, the caretaker broke his oldest rule.
He stepped forward.
Toward the girls.
Toward Black Hollow.
Toward destiny itself.
Because if he waited any longer—
It would already be too late.
And somewhere beneath the abandoned station, hidden beneath stone and time, something ancient awakened.
Something connected to Aurelia.
Something that remembered all four names.
And something that had been waiting for them to return.