Chapter 03: The Curse Unveiled
Evelyn’s heart raced, her body frozen in place as the voice from beyond the door echoed in the stillness of the room. The words hung heavy in the air, a cold promise of something terrible and unfathomable, something that had come to claim her.
David’s face had drained of all color, his once strong features now gaunt with terror. His eyes, wide and frantic, darted from the door to Evelyn and back again, as though he were weighing their chances of escape. But she saw the truth in his eyes—there was no escape.
“No,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “They’re already inside the house. We… we have to do something—now.”
The shadows in the corners of the room seemed to pulse with an unnatural energy, as though something ancient and malevolent was stirring just beyond their reach. Evelyn could feel the presence pressing in around her, suffocating her, making it hard to breathe. She reached for David’s arm, her fingers cold as ice. “What are we supposed to do? How do we stop them?”
David’s gaze softened, but only for a moment. He looked at her with a sadness so profound it made her chest tighten. “There’s nothing we can do,” he said, his voice a hollow echo of the man she had once known. “The pact has already been made. There is no breaking it. Not unless…”
He trailed off, his words unfinished, as though the very thought of what he was about to say was too terrible to utter aloud.
“Unless what?” Evelyn asked, her voice shaky with a mix of fear and desperation. “Tell me, David. Please.”
He turned away, his hands trembling as he clenched them at his sides. “Unless you’re willing to pay the price.”
Evelyn’s mind reeled. “What do you mean? What price?”
David’s eyes met hers again, his expression one of unbearable sorrow. “The Shadow Court… they don’t simply take lives. They take souls. And to break the pact, to free us both… you would have to give them something far more precious.”
Evelyn’s blood ran cold. “What could I possibly have to give that would satisfy them?”
David hesitated, his gaze drifting to the window, as though he could see the darkness that loomed just outside. “You would have to offer yourself. Your soul, Evelyn. You would have to surrender everything—your life, your heart, your very essence—in exchange for our freedom.”
The weight of his words hung in the air, suffocating her, crushing her spirit. Evelyn recoiled, her breath catching in her throat. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head as though she could will the words away. “I won’t. I can’t.”
David’s face crumpled with grief, the weight of their shared fate bearing down on him. “Then we are both doomed,” he said, his voice breaking. “There’s no other way. I’ve already tried to fight them, to break free of their grasp… but it’s too late. They’ve marked us.”
The words seemed to hang in the air, heavy with finality. Evelyn’s mind raced, her thoughts spinning in a dizzying whirl. Was there no way out? Was there no way to save herself—and David—from the horrors that awaited them?
Suddenly, the door creaked open.
Evelyn froze, her breath catching in her throat as a cold wind swept into the room, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and something far darker. The figure that stepped into the doorway was a silhouette against the dim light of the hallway—a tall, shadowy presence that seemed to warp and flicker as if it were not entirely of this world.
It was impossible to make out the figure’s features, but the sense of malevolent power that emanated from it was unmistakable. The air grew thick with an unholy energy, the temperature dropping with each passing second.
David took a step back, his face pale with fear. “No,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “You can’t be here. Not yet.”
The figure did not respond, its gaze fixed firmly on Evelyn, who stood rooted to the spot, unable to tear her eyes away from the shadowy presence. She felt as though the world around her had gone still, the space between them stretching infinitely, as if time itself had stopped.
“We’ve come for her,” the figure said, its voice a low, rasping whisper that seemed to scrape against Evelyn’s very soul. The words were not spoken with malice, but with cold, inevitable certainty—as though they had been spoken long ago, sealed by fate itself.
Evelyn’s pulse quickened, and her breath became shallow. “W-what do you want with me?” she whispered, her voice trembling as she took a small, hesitant step backward.
The figure’s form seemed to ripple in the shadows, its outline blurring and shifting as if it were not entirely solid. “You are bound by the pact now,” it said, its voice filled with an eerie, haunting resonance. “You belong to the Shadow Court. Your soul is forfeit.”
“No,” David said again, his voice trembling with desperation. “I will not let you take her. She has no part in this!”
The figure tilted its head, as though considering his words, before it spoke again, its tone cold and final. “The pact is beyond your control, mortal. You cannot defy the Shadow Court. She is ours.”
Evelyn felt a wave of nausea sweep over her, her hands trembling as she reached out for David, but he stepped back, his eyes filled with sorrow and helplessness. “You have to leave now,” he said, his voice cracking. “There is no other choice. This is the only way.”
Evelyn turned to him, her heart breaking. “David, please. I love you. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll fight them. But not like this. Not with—”
But before she could finish, the figure advanced, its presence enveloping her in a suffocating cloak of cold darkness. The shadows seemed to close in around her, swallowing the light, and she felt herself being pulled into their depths, as though her very soul was being drawn away from her body.
“No!” she screamed, her voice torn from her throat as she reached out for David, but the shadows consumed her completely, and the world went black.
