The sun was high overhead, but Avalon still felt cold.
Karen, Alex, and Luca returned to the main lodge, their footsteps soft against the dusty wood floors. No one said much on the way back not out of fear, but because no one quite knew what to say. What they had seen… what they had heard… it didn't belong to the world they'd come from. It belonged to Avalon.
They settled in the old common room beside the reception desk. The fireplace was still functional, though unused in years. Alex knelt to light it, and soon a soft flame flickered, offering the only warmth in the room.
Karen sat on one of the worn couches, legs tucked under her. Her eyes were distant, locked on the fire, but her fingers fidgeted, twisting the thin bracelet Alex had given her days ago. The one he had said was for protection.
"I saw myself," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"But it wasn't me, it felt like Avalon created her… from something I left behind."
Luca stood near the window, arms crossed, back straight. "It did."
Karen looked up at him.
"I didn't say anything earlier," he continued, "because I wasn't sure. But when we were in the tunnel, I saw something too. Words scratched into the wall. Glowing. They said, 'Let her choose.'"
Alex turned sharply. "Choose what?"
Luca shook his head. "I don't know. But I think... this place takes pieces of people. Maybe it feeds on what they leave behind. Fear, regret, secrets."
Karen swallowed hard. "Then why me?"
Alex sat beside her. "Because you survived. Maybe that makes you... different from the others who came before."
Silence stretched between them. Only the crackling fire dared speak.
Then—buzz.
Karen's phone lit up on the side table. One bar of signal, just enough.
A message from Carla.
"Call me. Something's happening at the office. You need to see this."
Karen quickly tapped "Call," pressing the phone to her ear. The line crackled, but connected.
"Carla?"
"Karen, thank God." Her voice was fast, urgent. "I didn't want to scare you while you were still recovering, but… someone's asking questions about you. Higher-ups, HR, Legal."
Karen blinked. "Why? What did I do?"
"They said you were listed as 'absent without proper leave,' and now they're suggesting your disappearance was staged. That you're covering something up."
"What?" Alex asked, hearing the panic rise in Karen's voice.
Karen put her phone on speaker.
"I tried to defend you," Carla continued, "but someone's been feeding them reports. Anonymous ones. And get this..someone tried to delete your employee file from the system this morning."
Alex stood. "So they're trying to erase her, like the people in those photos."
Luca swore under his breath.
Karen's hands trembled. "Carla… be careful. Something's not right, Someone doesn't want the truth coming out."
"I know," Carla whispered. "That's why I'm telling you this now. Stay safe and Karen?"
"Yes?"
"I think Avalon's curse didn't end when you were found. I think it followed you back."
The call dropped.
Karen stared at the screen.
Then she noticed something....her bag, sitting beside the couch, was open.
She hadn't touched it.
Slowly, she walked over and checked inside.
Everything was in place… except one thing.
The leather-bound guest logbook they had taken from the library was gone.