The sun rose golden over Rome, spilling through the villa's shutters. Breakfast was a hurried affair — fresh bread, fruit, strong coffee. The mood was bright again, almost enough to erase the shadows of last night's dreams.
"First day in history!" Amos announced, slinging his backpack on. "Who's ready to meet Julius Caesar's ghost?"
"Shut up," Rica muttered, though there was the faintest smile tugging her lips. She hadn't slept well, but Ry's hand holding hers gave her a thread of comfort.
Liz, still shaken from her nightmare, forced herself to keep quiet. Telling them would only spark laughter. She pushed the memory away — the crucified bodies, the burning eyes — and clung to the logic that dreams were dreams. Nothing more.
Only Gems noticed her pale face, but said nothing.
At exactly nine, the sound of tires crunching gravel announced the arrival of their guide.
---
The Guide
Alessandro was in his mid-forties, olive-skinned with sharp features and a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a weathered leather jacket despite the warming sun, and his dark eyes flicked over them with a quiet, assessing glance.
"You are the group?" he asked in careful English.
"That's us," Liz said brightly, extending her hand. "I'm Liz. We spoke online."
He shook it once, firmly. "Good. You are on time. Always good." His eyes slid toward the van. "We go now. Appia waits."
As they piled in, Amos whispered, "Man looks like he wrestled gladiators in another life."
"Be nice," Au hissed.
The drive was short, but as soon as the van turned down a quieter road, the atmosphere shifted. The noise of the city faded. Cypress trees rose like sentinels on either side, their shadows long and thin.
And then the stones appeared.
Uneven, ancient, pressed deep into the earth by centuries of footsteps, hooves, and wheels. The Via Appia stretched ahead of them like a scar of time, vanishing into green shadows.
Alessandro parked and stepped out. He turned to them, his voice low but firm.
"This road is not just history. It is memory. Many things happened here. Triumphs. Deaths. Curses. People like to say the stones remember." His gaze swept them, sharp. "Walk with respect. Do not stray from the road."
It was meant as a warning. But Amos clapped his hands once and grinned. "Well then, let's go make some memories."
---
The First Steps
They began their walk, backpacks bouncing, cameras clicking.
The air was different here — heavier somehow, as though the centuries pressed against their lungs. The cypresses whispered with the breeze, and the stones seemed to hum faintly under their shoes.
Marky walked near Gems, sneaking glances at her while pretending to adjust his camera. She, however, was focused on every step, her eyes scanning the path, the trees, the ruins peeking through ivy.
Rica leaned close to Ry. "It looks normal," she whispered, half-relieved.
"Of course it does," Ry said. "It's just rocks and trees. Your brain was playing tricks up there on the plane."
But as they passed a moss-covered mausoleum, Rica froze. For a heartbeat, she swore she saw a pale hand pressed against the stone slit of a window. Fingers clawing silently for release.
When she blinked, it was gone.
She said nothing.
---
Whispers in the Air
The group paused to take photos near a crumbling arch. Alessandro waited with arms crossed, patient but watchful.
As Liz framed a shot, she frowned. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Au asked.
Liz tilted her head. A whisper — faint, just at the edge of hearing. Like a crowd murmuring far away.
"…go back…"
Her breath caught, but before she could speak, Amos wrapped an arm around her. "Say cheese!" Click. The sound vanished.
Meanwhile, Marky felt his own unease grow. His camera lens caught streaks of light that weren't there when he looked with his eyes — faint smears, like figures moving just out of frame. He didn't show anyone. Not yet.
---
The First Vanishing
It happened quickly. Too quickly.
Rica stopped at a low wall draped in vines. Something glittered in the dirt — a silver locket, old and cracked. She bent to pick it up.
When she straightened, the group was gone.
The road stretched empty, silent, endless in both directions.
"Ry?" Her voice trembled. "Amos? Liz?"
No answer. Only the cypresses shifting like tall, dark witnesses.
She spun, panic rising, her breath coming fast. Her shadow stretched unnaturally long against the stones, twisting into the shape of something not her own.
And then—
A hand gripped her wrist.
Rica gasped. It was Alessandro, pulling her sharply back onto the center of the road.
"You do not wander," he said, eyes hard. "Not here."
The moment he touched her, the world seemed to snap back. Her friends stood just a few steps away, laughing, oblivious.
"Rica?" Ry frowned. "What's wrong?"
Her throat was dry. She looked at the locket still in her hand. When she opened it, the photo inside showed nothing but black ash.
"I…" She forced a smile. "Nothing. Just slipped."
But Alessandro's eyes did not leave her. And quietly, almost too low to hear, he muttered in Italian:
"La strada ha cominciato a ricordare."
(The road has begun to remember.)
---
Into the Shade of the Dead
By late morning, the sun was already high, yet the Appian Way seemed to breathe its own chill. The cypresses grew denser here, the ruins larger, looming like stone sentinels. Weather-worn arches, crumbling tombs, and ivy-choked mausoleums lined the road in eerie silence.
Alessandro slowed his pace, lifting one hand.
"Here," he said, voice low. "Mausoleums of the wealthy. Families buried with treasures. Soldiers, nobles, even gladiators' patrons. Many roads of Rome lead to empire, but Appia…" His eyes scanned the shadows. "…Appia leads to death."
The group chuckled nervously. Amos nudged Liz. "Imagine the selfie opportunities."
"Shut up, Amos," Gems muttered. She was already on edge. The stones here felt colder. She couldn't shake the sense that someone was watching.
---
The Echo of Chains
They stopped before a large mausoleum, its entrance cracked open. Marky raised his camera, snapping shots.
"Let's peek inside!" Au said, her adventurous grin widening.
Rica instantly shook her head. "No way. That's grave-robbing territory."
"It's a ruin," Amos argued. "We're not stealing. Just… looking."
Before Alessandro could intervene, Amos ducked inside. His laughter echoed against the stone walls. Liz, groaning, followed.
The others hesitated, but curiosity pulled them.
The air inside was damp, thick with the smell of earth and mold. Stone alcoves lined the walls, some still holding cracked urns.
Amos' voice bounced around, teasing. "Welcome, my friends, to my eternal palace—"
He froze.
From the far end of the chamber came a faint rattle. Metal scraping stone.
Chains.
"Did you hear that?" Rica whispered, clinging to Ry's arm.
Before anyone could answer, the sound grew louder — dragging, scraping, closer.
Amos swallowed hard, his earlier bravado fading. "Okay… not funny. Who's doing that?"
But no one moved. No one spoke.
The chain rattle stopped.
Silence pressed heavy against their ears.
Then, all at once, a voice — low, broken, in Latin, whispering like breath against their necks.
"Servi… ad mortem…"
(Slaves… to death…)
The torches flickered though no wind touched them. Liz screamed and bolted for the exit. The others stumbled after her, hearts hammering, until they spilled back into sunlight, gasping.
Alessandro stood outside, arms folded, watching. He did not look surprised.
"I warned you," he said simply. "The stones remember."
---
Fear vs. Excitement
Back on the road, tension bubbled between them.
Rica clung to Ry's arm, trembling. "That was real. You all heard it!"
Ry, pale but stubborn, shook his head. "Maybe it was echoes. Or some tourist prank."
Liz turned on him, furious. "Prank? In Latin?" Her eyes glistened. "Don't lie to yourself, Ry. We weren't alone in there."
Amos forced a laugh, though his voice cracked. "So what? We caught a spooky voice. Big deal. This is exactly the kind of material that'll make our thesis unforgettable."
"You almost pissed yourself," Au snapped.
"And you didn't?" Amos retorted, though the smirk on his face was thin, trembling.
Gems stayed silent, her gaze fixed on the mausoleum they had just left. She could still hear it — the whisper — as though it had clung to her skin.
Beside her, Marky cleared his throat. "Gems," he said softly, just for her. "You're the only one who didn't run screaming. How do you… stay calm?"
She blinked at him, caught off guard. "I'm not calm," she admitted. "I'm just… trying to hold it together so nobody else breaks."
For a long moment, Marky just looked at her — admiration warming his features. Then he nodded.
"You're stronger than you think," he said quietly.
Her chest tightened at the sincerity in his voice.
---
The Omen
They pressed on. The road grew quieter still, as if the world itself were holding its breath. Even the crows that had circled earlier were gone.
Suddenly, Liz stopped walking. Her face drained of color.
"What is it?" Au asked.
Liz pointed ahead. Her finger shook.
There, on the stones of the Appian Way, lay fresh blood. A dark streak across the ancient path, glistening as though someone had been dragged.
No one spoke.
Rica's voice broke the silence, trembling. "Alessandro… what is that?"
The guide's jaw clenched. He muttered something under his breath in Italian, then turned sharply.
"We end here today," he said firmly. "Back to hotel. No more."
"But we just started—" Amos protested.
"No more." Alessandro's eyes burned with something between fear and anger. "This road does not like you."
---
Nightfall Unease
That night at the villa, no one partied. Dinner was quiet, tense. Every shadow seemed too deep, every creak of the house too sharp.
Rica avoided the window. Liz sat silent, fingers trembling around her glass. Amos kept forcing jokes that no one laughed at.
When they finally went to bed, sleep came uneasy.
And as the moonlight spilled across the ancient city outside, Gems dreamed.
Not of chains. Not of whispers.
But of her friends — one by one — walking down the Appian Way. Each fading like smoke, until only she and Marky remained, bleeding, crawling on the stones.
In the distance, a voice whispered.
"The road remembers. The road takes back."
Gems woke with tears in her eyes.