The circular room was impossibly quiet.
The five of them — Daniel, Lena, Ethan, Jules, and Casey — stood like statues, staring at the ring of chairs and the single flickering lantern.
It sat in the center on a pedestal of black iron, its flames unnaturally bright — white and blue, twisting violently despite the absence of wind.
Then, the voice returned.
"Trial Three: Truth in the Fire.
Sit. One at a time.
Confess a truth. One you've never spoken.
If your confession is false... the fire will know."
There was a moment of silence.
Then a soft creak — the chairs shifting slightly, as if impatient.
Lena stepped backward, closer to Daniel. "This... this is like a lie detector from hell."
"Except it kills you," Ethan muttered.
Casey finally spoke. Her voice was hoarse. "What if someone's secret isn't bad enough? What if it doesn't satisfy it?"
"I think that's the point," Jules said bitterly. "It wants real darkness. Things we bury."
Daniel stared at the lantern. His heart beat in his throat.
He'd seen friends die by glass, by mannequins, by walls that swallowed them whole.
Now the house wanted their souls.
---
Jules moved first.
"I'll go," he said, voice hollow.
He sat in the first chair. It creaked under his weight.
He looked into the flame — and it leaned toward him, like it was listening.
He swallowed. Then spoke.
"When I was thirteen… my little sister got sick. She asked me to stay home with her that night. But I didn't. I snuck out to see my friends. I didn't even say goodbye. She died in her sleep. And I wasn't there."
The flame flared — blue and sharp — then settled.
A deep breath passed through the room. Like the house exhaled.
Jules stood, shaken but alive.
"I guess that's truth enough," he said, voice trembling.
---
Next was Casey.
She walked slowly to the chair, knees shaking.
"My parents thought I was the golden child. But I'm the reason our house burned. I started it. Not on purpose — I lit a candle and left it. Lied for years. My brother got blamed. Sent away."
The flame hissed — but didn't grow.
It was satisfied.
She stood quickly, breathless. Her eyes were wet, but she didn't cry.
Two down.
---
Ethan moved next.
He sat like a soldier on trial. No fear in his face, only fury.
"I watched a man die once. A drunk driver hit him. I was walking home from school. He begged for help, and I just... stood there. I was scared. I walked away. Never told anyone."
The flame rose high, white-hot — and then receded.
Ethan stared at it, jaw clenched.
"Yeah," he said bitterly. "That's what I thought."
He stood and stepped back into the circle.
---
Only two remained.
Daniel.
And Lena.
She looked at him.
He nodded once. "I'll go."
He sat.
And the flame leaned closer.
Daniel's hands trembled.
He hadn't told anyone. Not ever.
But the house would know if he lied.
He took a breath.
"When I was sixteen… I got into a fight with my best friend. Not someone here. Someone from back home. He told me he was depressed, that he needed help. But I thought he was manipulating me. So I cut him off."
He swallowed hard.
"A week later, he jumped off a bridge. I never told anyone. I just... went to school like nothing happened."
The flame didn't move at first.
Then it flickered once — low.
Then returned to blue.
He was spared.
But he felt no relief.
Only guilt.
He rose slowly, chest tight.
---
Only Lena was left.
She looked at the flame, then at them.
"I don't know if mine's bad enough."
"It's not about bad," Daniel said quietly. "It's about what's true."
She nodded, stepped forward, and sat.
Silence.
Then her voice.
"When I was a kid… I saw my uncle hurt someone. Another girl in our family. I didn't tell anyone. I was scared. I thought they wouldn't believe me. I let it go. I still do. And I think about it every single day."
The fire reacted immediately.
It swirled, spiraling upward into a glowing cyclone of blue and white.
Daniel held his breath.
Then — it settled.
Lena stood, breath shaking.
"Is it over?" she whispered.
Then the voice returned.
"One lied."
The flame burst into red.
"Reveal."
And the fire lunged toward Casey.
She screamed — a single, horrifying sound — as the white-blue flame turned red and hungry.
It latched to her chest like a living thing, and she burst into fire.
Ethan and Jules tried to pull her away, but she convulsed in the air, limbs snapping at wrong angles as she was consumed.
It was not just fire.
It ate her.
Her flesh.
Her soul.
Her voice.
In seconds, she was nothing but ash.
---
Four remained.
Daniel, Lena, Ethan, Jules.
The room was silent again.
The flame shrank into a normal, weak flicker.
And the voice whispered:
"Next trial begins soon."
Then everything went black.
---
They awoke in another hallway.
Another corridor of horrors, waiting.
No one spoke.
Not even Ethan.
Casey's ashes clung to their skin like dust.
Another one gone.
Just like that.
---
As they walked, Daniel felt Lena's hand find his again.
He didn't look at her.
He just held on.
They were losing pieces of themselves with every trial.
But he wasn't going to lose her.
Not yet.