Right after the scream, Altar and Kaya flinched in shock.
They were completely caught off guard. Thinking that a woman might be in need of help, they rushed without hesitation into the deep darkness between the trees.
Up ahead, they saw a woman standing with her back turned. They called out, asking if she needed help, but she neither answered nor turned around.
The woman slowly walked forward — and with every step, it seemed as if she was fading into a thick mist.
Altar and Kaya tried to follow her, but no matter how fast they moved, they could never seem to reach her. The farther they went, the longer the path seemed to stretch, as if it would never end.
Then Kaya turned to Altar and said, "Did you know there was a forest here? I could've sworn there wasn't."
"I've lived in this neighborhood for years," Altar replied in disbelief. "I've never heard of or seen a place like this."
They kept walking, but the strangeness only deepened.
The woman had become nothing more than a shadowy silhouette.
The tree trunks now glowed with a dark crimson hue — and even stranger, whenever they tried to get closer, some unseen force seemed to push them back.
The woman eventually vanished completely, leaving behind nothing but a dense gray mist.
By then, it was nearly nine o'clock in the evening.
Realizing they could no longer reach her, Kaya and Altar decided to head back the way they came before it got any later, to finally film the video they had come for. Kaya had already explained every detail to Altar—now, it was time to act.
It all started with a book Kaya had seen in a video. He intended to follow everything written inside, but the more he looked at it, the more uneasy he felt. Thin and jet-black, adorned with golden patterns, the book looked ancient. Its surface revealed new details the longer one stared, almost as if it were alive. The cover was filled with letters in a language Kaya couldn't recognize. Inside, each page was a different color, numbered from one to five, and altogether the book contained fewer than ten pages.
When Altar saw it, the last flicker of hope in his eyes faded. He turned to Kaya and scoffed, "You seriously plan to do this with a book like that? You've been watching too many movies lately." He couldn't help but laugh.
Kaya didn't take offense. He answered calmly, "It's not a movie. This book keeps showing up in every horror video I've seen. According to them, by following the instructions, you can reach another dimension—a place called the 'Spirit Realm'."
Altar burst out laughing again. "You can't actually believe that. It's obviously some made-up story to sell more of these books. And come on—'Spirit Realm'? Really?"
This time, Kaya's expression faltered. He looked genuinely hurt. Altar quickly caught on and softened. "Hey, sorry. Whatever happens, I'm with you."
They turned back to the book and began reading the first instruction. It told them to stand on a board that came with the book—one marked with the same unknown symbols. While doing so, they moved on to the next instruction: drink from the bottle placed on the board.
When they opened it, a strange smell filled the room. Inside was a glowing, purple liquid, shimmering with glitter-like sparkles. Altar thought it was a terrible idea, but he said nothing—he didn't want to upset Kaya. So he drank it. Kaya did the same.
They pressed on. The third instruction described a set of movements: six times, take three steps forward; six times, three steps back; and repeat to the left and right. They followed the sequence precisely.
The fourth instruction said to place the book on a marked spot on the board.
Finally, the fifth and final step: speak the words written on the last page. The text resembled Latin—twisted, ancient, hard to pronounce. "Thanks to the phone and some readable letters inside the book, they solved it."
Altar looked over and asked, "So… what's supposed to happen now?"
Before Kaya could answer, a strange noise echoed from the darkness in front of them. A glowing circle emerged in the void, and from it came an unintelligible sound.
"I don't know," Kaya whispered, "but I don't think this is what was meant to happen."
The sound grew louder. Closer. And then—
"NO, NO, NO!"