THE VILLAGE THAT NEVER LET ANYONE LEAVE
Chapter 9
Nobody spoke.
The older version of Ethan climbed from the pit.
He looked nearly seventy years old.
Same eyes.
Same scar.
Same face.
Maya backed away.
“What are you?”
The older Ethan smiled.
“I made the mistake you’re about to make.”
“What mistake?”
“Believing you can escape.”
He explained that the village wasn’t simply trapping people.
It was preserving them.
The people who disappeared weren’t necessarily dead.
Their memories were absorbed into the mountain.
Their identities became part of Black Hollow.
And the village used those memories to survive.
“But why me?”
“Because your family created the system.”
Ethan’s father had once been the keeper.
He had attempted to destroy it.
Instead, he accidentally created a cycle.
Ethan had been sent away as an infant to break that cycle.
The older Ethan looked at him.
“You’re the last Carter.”
Maya stepped forward.
“So what happens if he refuses?”
The older Ethan’s expression changed.
“Then the village chooses someone else.”
Maya understood immediately.
“Me.”
Silence.
The older Ethan nodded.
Ethan grabbed Maya’s hand.
“No.”
A voice echoed through the chamber.
Samuel.
“Then choose.”
He appeared with dozens of villagers behind him.
“You or her.”
Ethan looked at Maya.
She whispered:
“Don’t choose me.”
