THE HAUNTING OF WILDERS RIDGE

known and the darkness that had consumed it. The air around her crackled with power, a low hum vibrating through her bones. Her chest felt tigh

nsciousness. Words she couldn't understand, ancient, forgotten languages wrapped in shadows, echoed in her

world snapped

here ancient. She was inside a cavern, vast and filled with an eerie, unnatural glow. The walls shimmered with a faint, blue light, and at

she was and how she got there. It was as though the world had folded in on itself, transporting her to another realm entirel

e called, soft b

her pulse racin

called, but no

ting energy in the air. And then, from the shadows, a f

figure said, its voic

her throat. The voi

epping closer. The shadows surrounding it seemed to part a

her f

to make sense of what she was seeing. He had been gone for years. Vanished

ently. "But I was once him. I've worn

h. The figure before her wasn't her father, but so

nded, her voice trembling

am what remains of him. The vessel he became. But now... I am something more. The St

her head. "I don't want this

, Mara? You are already bound to this place, to the Stone. Your bloodline has been tied to it for g

faster now. "No... No, that can't be

d, his voice thick with amusement. "I'm not lying. I'm showing you the truth. You h

s? The man-this creature-was offering her power, but at what cost? Her father

wing steadier. "I will never accept it.

sound intensified, vibrating through her body. "You don't have a choice," it hissed. "The S

ground beneath her feet trembled violently, and the symbols on the altar

energy. Mara felt a pull, a magnetic force tugging at her chest, as though t

is voice now filled with a chilli

its grip. But deep inside her, a part of her resisted, the remnants of the girl who

h she could muster,

exploded