That night, Mara waited, knowing the alarm would go off. Lying wide awake and her heart pounding, knowing at 3:32 a.m., the night filled with the blaring of the alarm. She rose-but not out of fear this time, rather determination.


Her flat faded away, and she was again whisked to the place of the dark chapel: Rosa and Eva were there for this vision, standing at the altar. Rosa's face was lined with sorrow, but there was a newfound intensity in her gaze.


"I'm here to help," Mara said, clutching Eva's bracelet. "To free you both."


But Rosa only shook her head, very slowly, her eyes black and knowing. "There is no freedom here, only silence and shadows. The place collects us, one after another. Long ago I got trapped here, then Eva followed."


Mara sucked in a breath. The weight of her actions, her own connection with this curse, weighed down on her. "So… this curse—it's not just yours, is it?"


Rosa's eyes were unyielding. "No. It's ancient, older than any of us. It feeds on souls who wander too far, who search too deeply. I was one of them, and now it is you."


Mara retreated, but the shadows folded in around her as if thickening, like fog. She tried to scream, but there was nothing to break out of her lips. The chapel so empty and foreboding just a moment before was suddenly alive with dark, predator energy.

Eva reached out, her tiny fingers brushing Mara’s hand. There was no malice in the child’s eyes, only resignation, as though she’d known all along that Mara would be the next to join them. Rosa’s expression was solemn, her gaze fixed on Mara as though to say, Welcome to eternity.


The last thing Mara saw was the flicker of the candle on the altar, casting long shadows that swallowed her whole.

Mara awoke, but this time, she wasn’t in her apartment. She stood in the infinite hallway, doors stretching into the distance, each one slightly ajar, shadows spilling from the cracks. She understood now—she was trapped in this place, just as Rosa and Eva were before her. The curse was a cycle, an unbreakable chain of souls bound to this liminal realm.


She wandered the halls, calling out, but only echoes answered her. As she passed by one of the doors, she saw her own reflection in a dusty mirror—a face lost and fading, blending into the shadows.


In the distance, she heard the faint, rhythmic sound of an alarm, calling out into the darkness. Her heart sank as she realized it was meant for the next victim, a beacon to draw them in.