The mansion had gone silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence—
But the sharp, suffocating quiet before a storm destroys everything in its path.
Rhea and Adrian stood frozen in the dark library as the last echo of Lilith's scream faded into the walls.
A cold pulse ran through the floorboards, like veins carrying poison.
Adrian moved first, pulling Rhea into his arms.
"Are you hurt?"
His voice was low and steady, but his hands trembled around her.
"I'm fine," she whispered.
"But she knows we found the truth. She won't let me reach the Forgotten Garden easily."
Adrian cupped her face.
"She won't stop you. Not while I'm alive."
Rhea leaned into his touch for a brief moment—warmth in a house drowning in cold shadows.
But the floor shuddered again.
A warning.
The spirits were gone.
The mansion's protection was slipping.
"We need to move," Rhea said.
Adrian nodded. "First, we gather what you need for the ritual."
They stepped out of the library, only to find the corridor transformed.
The once-long hallway now twisted unnaturally, splitting into three distorted paths.
Rhea's eyes widened.
"She's warping the mansion."
Adrian squeezed her hand.
"Stay close. Don't look at anything too long."
The left path pulsed with shadows.
The right path echoed with faint whispers.
But the center path buzzed with faint golden light—the mansion guiding her, just as the spirits said it would.
"This way," Rhea said.
They moved carefully, the walls bending like breathing flesh.
Portraits turned their heads as they passed.
The floor rippled like water under their steps.
Suddenly—
THUD.
A door slammed behind them, hard enough to shake dust from the ceiling.
Adrian spun around.
"She's trying to trap us."
"No," Rhea said quietly.
"She's trying to separate us."
As they turned a corner, the hallway narrowed sharply.
Rhea stopped.
"Adrian… wait."
Ahead, the corridor split again.
One path glowed faintly.
The other was pitch black.
But in the darkness… two glowing eyes blinked.
Adrian stepped forward protectively.
"Stay behind me."
The creature stepped into view—
a distorted, twisted form of a woman.
Her limbs bent at impossible angles, head hanging to one side, long black hair dragging across the floor.
Her dress…
Rhea recognized it.
A bridal gown.
Adrian muttered, "Is that—?"
Rhea's heart ached.
"One of the lost brides Lilith consumed."
The creature opened her mouth—
but no words came out.
Only a long, suffocating wail that made the hallway vibrate.
She rushed at them.
Adrian grabbed Rhea and slammed her against the wall, shielding her as the creature clawed at him.
"Adrian!" Rhea cried.
His shirt tore.
Blood streaked his shoulder.
But Adrian didn't let go.
"You want her?" he growled.
"You'll go through me first."
The creature shrieked and lunged again—
But this time, Rhea's mark glowed bright gold.
"STOP!" she shouted.
A wave of light burst from her wrist, slamming into the creature.
The bride was thrown backward, hitting the far wall with a sickening crack—
—and then melted into a pool of black shadow, disappearing into the floor.
Rhea collapsed to her knees, breath shaking.
Adrian knelt beside her.
"Hey—look at me. Breathe."
But tears shimmered in her eyes.
"She was a bride… like me."
"She isn't suffering anymore," Adrian said softly.
"You freed her."
Rhea nodded weakly.
They continued toward the glowing path.
Finally, they reached a tall window—the one overlooking the back of the mansion.
Rhea's breath caught.
There it was.
The Forgotten Garden.
Black roses.
Dead trees twisted like claws.
The soil was cracked and gray, as if drained of life.
A faint golden circle pulsed at its center—
the place only she could reach.
Adrian followed her gaze.
"That's where Lilith was made."
"And where she died," Rhea whispered.
"And where I have to face her."
Suddenly, the room grew colder.
A voice drifted in, soft and venomous.
"You think you can undo me, little bride?"
Rhea stiffened.
Lilith appeared in the window reflection—
pale, hollow-eyed, smiling with razor teeth.
"Come to the garden…
If you're so brave."
The glass shattered.
Rhea stumbled back, and Adrian caught her.
Lilith's mist-like form drifted out of the broken window, circling them.
"You will enter that garden, Rhea.
But not to defeat me…"
Her whisper curled around Rhea's ear.
"You will enter it.
to join me."
And with a violent gust—
Lilith vanished into the night, pulling the shadows toward the garden.
Adrian held Rhea tightly.
"She's waiting for you," he said.
Rhea clenched her fists, her mark burning like fire.
"Good," she whispered.
"Because I'm coming."
Tomorrow…
The Forgotten Garden would open.
And whatever waited inside—
would decide the fate of every bride before her.
And of her own soul.