Chapter 81
The Mark of the Ruins
The air grew heavier as they pressed forward.
Every step felt like trudging through an invisible force, a pressure that clung to their skin, slowing their movements. The jungle had been dense before, but now the trees seemed taller, their shadows stretching unnaturally in the fading moonlight. The vines that draped over the twisted branches looked like veins pulsing with something unseen.
Elena felt it first—a strange hum against her skin, a silent warning that something ahead was watching.
“We’re close,” Amira murmured, her fingers gripping the leather strap of her satchel. “The ruins should be just beyond that ridge.”
Richard wiped sweat from his brow, his rifle still in hand. “Let’s just hope whatever’s waiting for us doesn’t decide to finish what it started back there.”
Naomi winced as she adjusted the bandage wrapped around her arm. “If it does, we’re ready this time.”
Mateo scoffed. “You mean you’re ready. I’m just trying to stay alive at this point.”
Elena ignored the exchange and pressed forward. The sooner they reached the ruins, the sooner they could find the texts that would help them stop this nightmare for good.
But something was wrong.
The further they walked, the more the jungle seemed to shift around them.
The Ruins Appear
Elena was the first to see them.
Rising from the earth like the spine of an ancient beast, the ruins were colossal—stone pillars cracked and overgrown, their surfaces covered in glyphs that pulsed faintly in the dark. The central structure loomed before them, a broken temple, its entrance partially collapsed but still intact.
Amira exhaled sharply. “This is it.”
Naomi nodded, stepping closer to run her fingers along one of the glyphs. “Whatever this place was, it’s still alive.”
Richard moved beside Elena, his voice low. “I don’t like this. It’s too quiet.”
She agreed.
The jungle, which had been buzzing with distant life only moments ago, had fallen into complete silence.
No birds.
No insects.
Nothing.
Mateo swallowed. “Okay, I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that’s never a good sign.”
Elena took a careful step forward. And then she saw it.
A mark—etched deep into the stone at the base of the entrance. Unlike the other glyphs, this one didn’t pulse with energy. It was burned into the rock, jagged and unnatural.
A symbol of binding.
Amira’s eyes widened as she crouched beside it. “This isn’t ancient,” she whispered. “This was placed here recently.”
Naomi frowned. “You mean—”
“Elena.”
Richard’s voice was sharp. Urgent.
She turned—and froze.
Just beyond the ruins, barely visible in the dim light, stood a figure.
It wasn’t moving.
It wasn’t breathing.
Yet Elena felt its presence pressing against her like a wave of cold air.
A whispering voice slithered through her mind.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
Her blood ran cold.
