THE VILLAGE THAT NEVER LET ANYONE LEAVE
Chapter 8
The next morning, Black Hollow looked different.
The houses were empty.
The streets were silent.
No cars.
No people.
Even the church doors stood open.
Maya whispered,
“Where did everyone go?”
Nora pointed toward the mountain.
“They’re preparing.”
“For what?”
She didn’t answer.
They entered the old mine.
The tunnel descended beneath the village.
Deep.
Far deeper than Ethan expected.
The walls were covered with names.
Thousands of them.
Some were decades old.
Some were fresh.
At the bottom, they found a massive underground chamber.
In its center stood an enormous stone structure.
It looked like a well.
But there was no water.
Inside was darkness.
Ethan approached.
A voice echoed from below.
His mother’s voice.
“Ethan.”
He froze.
Maya grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
The voice came again.
“Come home.”
Ethan stared into the darkness.
Then he heard something impossible.
A baby crying.
His own baby cry.
He stepped closer.
Nora screamed.
“Don’t listen!”
Too late.
The darkness moved.
A hand appeared over the edge.
Ethan stumbled backward.
The hand was covered in old scars.
Then a second hand appeared.
And a face slowly emerged.
It was Ethan.
But older.
Much older.
The figure smiled.
“You finally came back.”
