Chapter 3 Echo's beneath the manor

The next morning dawned cold and gray, the sky heavy with clouds that pressed low against the hills surrounding Blackwood Manor. A heavy silence clung to the house, broken only by the slow, steady tick of the grandfather clock in the main hall, its hands frozen at midnight.

Aria woke with a strange weight pressing on her chest, the key warm and solid against her skin as if it had merged with her very heartbeat. Her dreams had been restless-visions of shadowy corridors, flickering faces, and that impossible mirror world. The Keeper's words echoed in her mind, sharp and unrelenting.

The Binding begins.

She sat up, pulling the thin blanket tighter around her shoulders. The small room felt suffocating, the faded wallpaper curling at the edges like peeling skin. Outside, the forest whispered, its branches scraping against the windows like long fingers trying to reach inside.

She slipped from the bed and moved toward the window, looking out at the endless sea of pines. Somewhere beneath those trees, the Hollow waited, hungry and restless.

A soft knock startled her. She turned to see Aunt Miriam standing in the doorway, arms crossed, her face unreadable.

"You're awake," Miriam said, her voice steady but low.

Aria nodded. "I... I went into the cellar last night. The door-the one behind the pantry-it opened."

Miriam's eyes darkened. "You shouldn't have done that."

"I had to," Aria said, her voice firm despite the tremor inside. "There's something beneath this house, something alive. The journal says it's called the Hollow. And that it's connected to my family."

Miriam sighed and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. "Your father never wanted you involved in any of this. He tried to protect you."

Aria's fingers tightened on the key. "But I'm here now. I can't just ignore it."

Miriam's face softened for a moment, but the tension remained. "There are things about your bloodline you don't understand. Powers, curses... bindings. The manor has its own will, and it has marked you."

Aria swallowed hard. "What do you mean, it's marked me?"

"Only those of Blackwood blood can open the door. Only they can walk the Hollowway without being consumed. But that doesn't mean you're safe. Far from it."

A chill crept down Aria's spine. "What happens if I don't seal it?"

Miriam's eyes darkened again, shadowed with fear and regret. "Then the Hollow will rise. And the darkness will consume everything."

Aria looked away, the weight of it all pressing down on her like the heavy stone walls of the manor. She was alone in this ancient fight now - or so it seemed.

Later that day, Aria wandered through the manor's dim corridors, the journal tucked under one arm. The house was still and watchful, every creak and groan making her pulse quicken. She found herself drawn toward the library, which yesterday had been unlocked but was now firmly shut.

Her hand lingered on the cold brass doorknob, hesitation crawling up her arm. She opened the door with a slow push.

Inside, the library smelled of dust and forgotten dreams. Tall shelves, crammed with brittle tomes and yellowed manuscripts, rose to a vaulted ceiling lost in shadows. At the center, a heavy wooden desk bore an ancient candleholder, its wick long burnt out.

Aria approached the desk and laid the journal down, flipping it open to the frantic last entries. Her eyes scanned the scrawled handwriting, piecing together fragments of lore about the Hollow and the Binding.

The Hollow is a wound in the earth, a place where the veil between worlds thins.

The Binding is a pact made long ago to keep the darkness tethered.

The Key calls to the bloodline, demanding a guardian.

Her fingers brushed a loose sheet tucked between pages. It was a map-sketchy and faded, showing the manor's grounds with strange symbols marked around the perimeter. One mark circled the cellar door, another a small clearing deep in the woods labeled "The Veil."

The thought of the woods made her uneasy. Aunt Miriam had warned her not to wander too far, but Aria's curiosity flared stronger than caution.

Determined, she tucked the map into her jacket pocket and slipped from the library, the manor's shadows lengthening behind her.

Outside, the cold air bit at her cheeks as she walked toward the forest edge. The trees stood tall and silent, their dark trunks rising like silent sentinels. The wind whispered through the branches, carrying voices that weren't quite words.

She followed the map's rough directions, stepping carefully over roots and moss. After a long walk, she reached the clearing marked "The Veil."

The space was unnaturally still. The ground was soft, almost spongy beneath her feet, and a faint mist hovered low to the earth. In the center stood an ancient stone archway, half swallowed by vines and time.

Aria stepped closer, feeling the same low hum that vibrated beneath the manor. She reached out, fingers trembling, and brushed the cold stone.

The moment her skin met the archway, the mist thickened and swirled, forming shapes-ghostly figures flickering like candle flames. Faces stared at her, pale and desperate, their mouths opening in silent screams.

"Who are you?" Aria whispered, heart pounding.

A voice answered-not from the mist, but inside her head.

We are the lost. The broken. Bound by the Hollow.

The archway pulsed, a dark pulse that seemed to echo the beat of the key at her neck. The lost souls reached out to her, begging for release, for the Binding to be completed.

Suddenly, a sharp crack tore through the air. From the shadows stepped a figure cloaked in black, a pale face framed by silver hair and eyes like obsidian stars.

"The Veil is thinning," the figure said, voice cold but not unkind. "And you've stirred forces that should remain buried."

Aria squared her shoulders. "Who are you?"

The figure bowed slightly. "I am Silas, Guardian of the Hollow's edge. I've watched the manor for centuries, waiting for the bloodline to return."

"Waiting for me," Aria said softly.

Silas nodded. "You hold the Key, but the choice is yours: to bind the Hollow once more, or to let it rise."

The weight of his words crushed her. The ghosts writhed in the mist behind him, their faces pleading.

"How?" she asked.

"The Binding requires a sacrifice. The blood of one who belongs to the Hollow and one who is pure of heart. Only then will the Hollow be sealed."

Aria's breath caught. "Sacrifice? Who?"

Silas looked at her, sorrow deepening his gaze. "That is the choice you must make."

The forest seemed to hold its breath as Aria stood at the edge of the Veil, the ghosts swirling, the stone archway humming with power. Her heart pounded like a drum in her chest, the key glowing faintly.

She had no answers, only questions-and a destiny she could neither refuse nor fully understand.

As the sun sank behind the hills, casting long shadows across the clearing, Aria knew one thing for certain:

Blackwood Manor was not just a place of forgotten memories and hidden doors.

It was the beginning of something far darker.

And she was the only one who could face it.