The forest had no name.
No one remembered it on maps, and no locals dared to mention it.
The trees grew so closely that light couldn't pass between their trunks. Even during the day, it felt like dusk inside. The air was thick—wet, heavy, full of rot and whispers.
Vianna was the first to speak. "This place is wrong. The trees are listening."
Noah nodded. "It's not a forest. It's a graveyard."
Aimee had been silent since they pulled her from the lake. She stood at the tree line, eyes wide, like she was watching someone no one else could see.
Elior walked beside her, the latest letter in his hand.
> "Dig deep.
And do not look away."
"There's something under here," he said. "Something alive."
Aimee didn't blink. "She's waiting."
---
They moved as a group, careful not to disturb the roots too much.
Maren used orange flag markers to remember the path they entered by.
Vianna whispered, "We should leave breadcrumbs."
Elior replied, "In here? They'd get eaten before we turned around."
The deeper they went, the more the trees changed.
Their bark grew dark and smooth, like stone.
Their branches curled downward instead of up.
Their roots twitched if you looked too long.
Noah pointed at one. "That one's bleeding."
A small red drop oozed from the side of the trunk.
Aimee walked up to it and touched the bark.
And then collapsed.
---
Elior caught her just in time.
Her eyes rolled back. Her mouth opened.
And she spoke with another voice.
> "You took my air.
You took my name.
But I still breathe.
I still remember."
They all backed away, frozen.
Aimee gasped and woke up—eyes wide with terror.
"She's buried here. Beneath the roots. I saw her coffin. No lid. Just dirt. She's breathing."
Noah whispered, "Then why didn't she die?"
"She did," Aimee replied. "But something kept her going. Something she made a deal with."
---
They found the grave before sunset.
There was no marker. No stone. Just a single circle of white mushrooms in the middle of the forest floor.
Maren whispered, "Fungal growth like this only happens over a corpse. A deep one."
Vianna knelt and placed her hand on the ground. "She's close. She's not angry. Just… forgotten."
Elior began to dig.
They all joined in.
Their hands scraped through mud and roots.
It took hours. The forest got darker.
And then—a knock.
From beneath.
Three slow knocks. As if someone had tapped once on wood.
Then… silence.
Elior uncovered it first:
A wooden lid.
Old. Splintered. Burned at the edges.
And beneath it—breathing.
---
They hesitated.
No one spoke.
Finally, Elior reached forward and pried the lid open.
Inside was a girl. About seventeen.
Eyes shut.
Skin like frost and ash.
But her chest rose and fell.
She wore a dress soaked in soil. Her fingernails were worn down to the flesh from clawing upward. Her arms bore faint carvings.
#6
Maren murmured, "She's alive…"
"No," said Aimee. "She was alive. What's breathing now isn't human."
Suddenly—the girl's eyes snapped open.
Pitch black.
She smiled.
And whispered:
"The sixth key is not mine to give.
It is his."
Then she vanished.
Gone.
The grave was empty.
---
Something else rose in her place.
Tall.
Thin.
Wearing robes made of shadows.
A mask made of bark and bone.
It had no face. But they felt its smile.
Noah choked, falling to his knees. "That's him. That's the one behind the letters. The one writing them."
The figure spoke without moving.
> "You came for the sixth.
But you forgot the terms.
One key must be paid with a soul.
One of you must stay."
Vianna stood. "We won't give anyone to you."
He didn't answer her.
He looked at Elior.
> "You took her letter first.
You began the unraveling.
You choose."
The group froze.
Maren whispered, "What does he mean?"
Elior's hand trembled.
He felt the choice press against his spine like a knife.
Aimee touched his arm. "Don't. Please."
Elior stepped forward.
And then… the figure laughed.
> "You are too soft."
Then he pointed to the shadows.
And Noah was lifted into the air.
"No!" Vianna screamed.
But it was too late.
The trees swallowed him.
And in his place…
Another letter.
Elior picked it up, hands shaking.
> "Six locks undone.
One remains.
The final key lies in the heart of the house.
Return to where it began.
To the desk.
To the first breath of ink.
And finish the story."
---
The forest behind them grew silent again.
Elior, Maren, Vianna, and Aimee walked back—one less than they arrived.
No one spoke.
Noah was gone.
Not dead.
But taken.
And the final seal awaited.
Back at Elior's house.
Where the first letter had been found.
Where the desk sat.
Where it had all begun.