Chapter 3 – Enver and Xelix
> "Before you can approach me, you must pass through all the hidden trials here. Trials that are not mere tests... but mirrors of your own sins."
Enver's voice wasn't loud, yet it echoed as if it slipped from ancient bamboo roots. Stillness—but it wounded nonetheless. Xelix stood frozen. Her face was pale, her body trembled like a lone autumn leaf on its final fall.
From the hanging mist appeared that figure—a thin woman draped in red cloth, her raspy laughter like shards of broken glass dragged across stone. They were called Ki: shadows born of hatred. Vengeance that forgot how to sleep.
Xelix took a step back—yet the ground refused her movement. Her eyes widened, locked in terror. From beneath her own shadow, two little figures crawled up, clawing at her ankles with broken fingers. Their bodies were small, bloodied, faces shattered, ears torn. Yet their eyes were alive—and accusing.
Memories flooded her, like wounds that never healed.
That night. Those two starving children begging her on the street. Xelix—out of irritation, out of cold heart—had kicked them. They flew into the road. Then—a crash. Headlights. Screams. Silence.
A silence that never returned.
Now they returned, no longer children. They were wounds made flesh. And they demanded repayment.
Their bodies shattered, then reformed. Then shattered again. An endless cycle. Torture made law. Xelix vomited—but not only her stomach's contents emerged. Thousands of baby snakes, blood, insects spilled out. From her thighs slithered long worms, dancing in the dark.
The Ki laughed—they picked up the snakes and swallowed them alive. Their laughter did not come from any human throat. It was the laughter of death.
Xelix screamed as loud as she could, but no sound emerged. Only silence. Only cold. Only her...
Enver.
Ruler of the bamboo forest. Listener of souls. Interpreter of sins.
From afar, he sat calmly. A thin smile brushed his face like a winter breeze sweeping across a silent altar. Beside him, Marva stood stiff. Pale—not from the creatures surrounding Xelix, but from the man who looked like a god delivering judgement.
One Ki roared—calling the others. In an instant, they circled Xelix, ready to consume her body and memories.
Then—a blinding red light shot down from the sky. Everything froze.
Xelix fell. Around her, only bamboo and silence remained. She wanted to stand—but her stomach felt as if pierced from within.
The two children appeared again. This time standing. No longer bleeding. No longer crying. But their eyes... still accusing.
> "Return what belongs to us… or we will follow you forever."
> "We were never asked to come into this world. Our father and mother fought because of us. But you destroyed everything. At least... free us from this torment."
Their voices spoke in unison. With no echo, yet they pierced straight into the depths of consciousness.
Xelix stood silent. She knew who they were. The children of the man who had once slept with her. Children who saw their father kissing Xelix in a cheap motel room, while rain lashed the city. Their wound was formless. But now... it had become a curse.
The two children were dragged to the ground by the Ki. Xelix ran, trying to reach them, but failed. In her hand was a photo. Their father. With his wife and two little children—hers.
"This..." she whispered. A moment too late.
She staggered forward. Breathing ragged. The bamboo stalks seemed to close behind her—leaving only one direction: forward. In the distance stood a house. Grand. But a dark aura dripped from its walls like blood from an old wound.
Her hands trembled as she touched the door. Its hinge felt icy.
BRAAASHHH…
The door flew open. Silence welcomed her, like the embrace of a spirit.
Inside, Enver sat—silent, undisturbed. His gaze was sharp. Commanding. Consuming. Yet his smile remained. A smile more enchanting than candlelight in a gas-filled room.
> "Welcome, Miss Xelix," he said. His voice deep. As deep as a chasm without a bottom.