The resort settled into an uneasy stillness once the bus disappeared beyond the gates, swallowed by the winding path leading back to the city. No birds chirped, no waves crashed from the distant stream. Just the occasional rustle of wind brushing through the leaves like whispers no one dared translate.
Karen's legs felt heavier now that the others were gone. She took a slow step toward the front garden, pausing by the withered roses planted near the water fountain. The same flowers that once bloomed so brightly when they arrived now looked sickly, their petals curled inward as though mourning something unseen.
Luca walked beside her, his steps alert but quiet. "It feels like we're being watched," he muttered, eyes darting around the overgrown hedges.
Karen nodded faintly. "That feeling hasn't gone away since the time I disappeared."
Alex remained a few steps behind them, phone in one hand, but he wasn't texting or calling...just staring at the black screen, his jaw tightened.
"The resort is wired with more cameras than we thought. Some are well-hidden. I found one near the abandoned cottage out back."
Karen turned slowly. "Wait… cottage?"
"Yeah," Luca added, adjusting the strap of the small backpack he carried. "I spotted it during one of our search nights. It's outside the usual resort map. Looks like staff quarters from a long time ago except no one's mentioned it. Not even in the welcome brochure."
Alex slipped the phone into his pocket. "We check it out. Now."
A thick tension settled in Karen's chest, but she nodded. If there were answers, she wasn't going to run from them.
They moved through the gravel paths, deeper into the neglected part of Avalon where the trees grew closer together and the light seemed weaker even though it was barely noon. Leaves crunched beneath their feet, and strange claw-like scratches marred some of the tree trunks along the way.
"This place doesn't feel like it was made for people," Karen whispered, her voice nearly lost in the wind.
Then, through the trees, it came into view.
A worn-down cottage, its windows boarded up from the inside, stood like a forgotten secret. Vines had grown up one side, and the door leaned slightly off its hinges. A rusted lantern hung near the entrance, swinging gently though there was no breeze.
Alex reached out and pushed the door open with the tip of his shoe.
Creeeeeeak.
The smell hit them first.
Mold, dust, something older... like time itself had rotted inside.
Luca stepped in first, flashlight in hand. Karen hesitated only a moment before following, with Alex close behind.
Inside, the air was thick, and the room was surprisingly intact. There was an old table, three chairs, and a fireplace layered in ash. On the wall hung faded photographs; black and white, blurry, but unmistakably showing people dressed in Avalon Resort uniforms.
Except… their faces had been scratched out.
Karen's breath caught in her throat. "Why would someone do this?"
Alex moved closer to one of the photos. "It's like someone wanted to erase them completely."
Luca, meanwhile, knelt beside a dusty trunk in the corner. With a grunt, he forced it open and inside were bundles of papers. Receipts, visitor logs, floor plans, and at the very bottom... a map. Hand-drawn, with red circles and strange symbols.
"This isn't just a resort," Luca said, voice low. "It was never just a resort."
Karen stepped closer to the map. One red circle was marked right over the area they were standing in now. Another, however, sat over the main lodge where the guests used to stay. And a third…
She traced her finger over it slowly. "What's here?"
Alex leaned in, his eyes narrowing. "That's... the underground wine cellar. I saw it once in the staff orientation file. But it was marked off-limits."
The three exchanged a look, and for the first time since the staff left, Karen felt it again...that chill in her bones, the invisible pressure wrapping around her like fingers in the dark.
"We're not alone," she whispered.
Alex reached for her hand instinctively. "Then we find out who or what is still here."