The castle path stretched endlessly ahead—ancient stone steps wrapped in shadows, vines, and a chill so sharp it felt like tiny ghosts were nibbling on their ankles.
Aiden walked fast, bow in hand, every muscle in his body tense with desperation.
The eight friends followed behind him… at eight very different paces.
Zoya clung to Mira.
Dev walked like a human tank.
Kian kept muttering, "Why did I agree to this. Why. Why."
Yuvan tripped over nothing every ten steps.
Rhea was overthinking scenarios where they all died and became castle wallpaper.
Ravi was quietly panicking because he realized he accidentally became the story's therapist.
Aria, as always, marched in front like she owned the plot.
The night wind howled through the trees.
"Guys…" Mira whispered. "Does anyone feel like… we're being watched?"
Everyone froze.
Except Yuvan—who froze after bumping into Dev's back and nearly dying from ricochet.
Aria squinted into the darkness. "If something is watching us, I hope it's blind."
A branch cracked loudly.
Kian jumped. "NOPE. Nope nope nope. I don't do horror. I don't even watch horror trailers. I watch horror memes at best."
Aiden turned sharply.
"It's following us."
"WHAT IS?!" half the group screamed.
"The thing Elise fears."
Silence.
Wind.
A soft sound.
Then—
SKRRRRRRRSHHHHHH.
Something scraped across stone.
A shadow moved behind the trees—long, crooked, crawling unnaturally fast.
Zoya grabbed Dev's arm so tightly he squeaked.
"Is that a dog?" Yuvan whispered.
"That is NOT a dog," Aiden snapped.
The shadow darted again.
"OH MY GOD IT'S SUPERNATURAL FAST," Mira cried.
"OH MY GOD I'M ABOUT TO SUPERNATURALLY PEE," Yuvan added.
The creature growled—a low, distorted rumble.
Aiden pulled out an arrow. "Stay behind me."
Rhea whispered, "I didn't sign up for monster-hunting therapy sessions."
Kian whispered, "And I didn't sign up for cardio."
Aria lowered her voice. "Everyone listen. This is Round 1. That means this is probably the easiest monster."
The group stared at her like she had lost all her brain cells.
"If this is EASY," Zoya said softly, "what is round 25? A dinosaur with trauma?"
Before Aria could reply—
A HUGE FIGURE LEAPT OUT OF THE TREES!
Eight screams filled the forest.
But the creature—
dark, hunched, with glowing yellow eyes—
didn't attack.
It… stopped.
Staring at them.
Its movements were glitchy, like lagging frames in a corrupted video file.
Ravi's eyes widened. "Guys… look at that. It's—it's glitching."
The creature twitched violently.
Then it whispered—
in a warped, broken voice:
"E…li…se…"
Dev's face drained of color. "Nope. Nope. A monster with voice cracks. I'm done."
The creature screeched, glitching forward—disappearing and reappearing in jerky movements like bad Minecraft lag.
Aiden shot an arrow—
It phased through the creature.
"Oh that's cheating!" Yuvan yelled.
Aria grabbed Ravi's arm. "Tech boy. What is that thing?"
Ravi stared at the creature intensely.
"It's not part of the medieval story. It's something from the game.
Something leaking into the story world."
Kian gasped. "LIKE A VIRUS?"
Ravi nodded. "Or a corrupted NPC."
The monster lunged at them—
And suddenly—
BOOM!
Blue light exploded from the scroll in Aria's hand.
Everyone froze.
The scroll rewrote itself mid-air:
CLUE UNLOCKED:
The creature reflects Elise's memories.
It appears when she dreams…
because it is made from what she fears the most.
Rhea whispered, "We have to help the creature… not kill it."
Dev blinked. "HELP? THAT?!"
Aria stepped forward. "What do we do?"
The scroll glowed again:
"To find Elise… follow her fear."
The creature screeched and darted down the path—
straight toward the castle.
Aiden paled. "It's going to her."
Zoya gasped. "And we're going to run AFTER it?!"
Aria inhaled sharply.
"We have no choice. RUN!"
And so—
they ran.
The monster dashed through the forest, glitching through trees.
The friends sprinted behind it—tripping, screaming, pushing each other, yelling motivational threats.
"STOP SHOVING ME, YUVAN!"
"I'M TRYING TO RUN BUT MY SHOES AREN'T RUNNING!"
"KIAN MOVE YOUR LONG LEGS!"
"I CAN'T CONTROL THE LENGTH OF MY LEGS, OKAY!"
Branches whipped past them.
Torches flickered.
The castle loomed closer—dark, ominous, ancient.
The creature stopped in front of the gate.
It screeched—
and phased through it like a ghost.
Aria skidded to a halt.
Yuvan slammed into her.
Dev slammed into him.
Zoya slammed into Dev.
Kian just lay down on the ground dramatically.
Aiden gripped the gate bars.
"Elise is inside.
And the monster… it's connected to her dreams.
To her fear."
Ravi touched the bars.
They glowed faintly blue.
"This gate isn't locked with a key," he murmured.
"It's locked with a memory."
Rhea's eyes widened. "A memory puzzle?"
The scroll unrolled again with a soft chime:
NEW OBJECTIVE:
Enter Elise's forgotten memories.
Solve the emotional puzzle.
Unlock the castle gate.
Aria looked around at the group.
"We're entering someone's memories now," she said.
Yuvan sighed deeply.
"Great. Now we're therapists, monster-chasers, and memory divers. What's next? Taxes?"
Aria placed her hand on the gate.
It glowed brighter—
blue, then white—
engulfing all eight of them.
And then—
They were pulled inside the memory.
Falling again.
Spinning again.
Screaming again.
ROUND 1: MEMORY DIVE initiated.
And somewhere, deep within the castle…
Elise opened her eyes.
She whispered:
"Someone… is coming."
---