Zayn was about to leave when an odd feeling made him pause. For some reason, he felt the urge to check on Lateen before heading out. Without thinking much about it, he turned around and walked toward her room.

  Inside, Lateen was finishing her hair, weaving it into a neat braid. She wore a simple red dress, clearly getting ready to go out. At the sound of the door opening, she glanced at him through the mirror.

  "Where are you going?" Zayn asked, leaning against the doorway.

  "Shopping," she replied casually.

  "Alone?"

  "Nope. With Eva."

  Zayn’s expression shifted slightly at the name. He knew Lateen and Eva were close—Eva was one of the few people around her age—but something about it unsettled him now. He wasn’t sure why.

  "You’re going somewhere, too, right?" Lateen asked, eyeing his slightly more put-together appearance. "All dressed up for something?"

  "Yeah," he muttered. "Just heading to a friend’s place to talk about the Curse of Burial."

  Lateen turned, giving him a skeptical look. "You guys

  believe in that?"

  Zayn clenched his jaw. "No. It’s just… Eva performed that ritual. If—if—the curse is real, I want to know everything about it. Just in case.

  Lateen stopped in front of him, her expression unreadable. For a second, she considered teasing him about his concern for Eva, but something in his eyes stopped her. He’s genuinely worried. That realization amused her more than anything.

  "Well, do whatever you want," she said with a shrug. "But you should focus on your studies instead of chasing ghosts."

  As she turned away, her gaze flickered down to his hand. A bunch of old, worn-out photographs peeked between his fingers. Before he could react, she snatched them.

  "Hey!" Zayn barked, reaching for them, but she stepped back quickly. Her fingers shuffled through the top few images—grainy photos of different people, strangers—except they weren’t just strangers. Her stomach twisted.

  "Why…?" she muttered, her fingers tightening on the edges. "Why do you have these?"

  Zayn yanked them back before she could see more. "It has nothing to do with you," he said coldly, stuffing them into his jacket.

  But Lateen had already seen enough. She recognized the people in the photos. They were all visitors. Tourists. Outsiders who had once come to Willowmere—and then vanished within weeks of arriving.

  Lateen narrowed her eyes at him, a strange feeling creeping up her spine. What the hell is he up to?

  Zayn didn’t wait for more questions. Without another word, he turned and walked away.

  Lateen stood there for a moment, watching the door he left through. She shook off the uneasy feeling with a sigh. He's just a kid playing detective, she told herself. Let him have his fun.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  With that thought, she pulled out her phone and texted Eva.

  "Come outside. Let’s go."

  "Is it good?" Lateen asked, holding the dress against her body.

  Eva glanced at her, tilting her head slightly before reaching for another dress and pressing it against Lateen instead. "This one’s better," she said with a small nod.

  Lateen was about to agree when her eyes caught something—an ugly cut on Eva’s hand. She frowned.

  "What happened to you?" she asked, her mind immediately drifting to a troubling thought. Was it from that night? But that didn’t make sense—she had seen Eva just yesterday, and her hands had been fine.

  Eva followed her gaze and pulled her hand back slightly. "Just a small cut from chopping vegetables," she said casually.

  Lateen hesitated but eventually nodded, deciding not to press further.

  After spending some more time in the mall, they finally stepped outside. The night air was crisp, sending a chill down Lateen’s bare legs. Unlike her, Eva was dressed in trousers and a shirt, seemingly unbothered by the cold.

  As they walked, Lateen suddenly spoke up. "Eva, do you remember some of our old neighbors? The ones we got close to really quickly… and then, out of nowhere, they disappeared?"

  Eva didn’t respond immediately—just kept walking, listening.

  Lateen continued, her thoughts unraveling as she spoke. "It was strange, wasn’t it? Things like that never happened in Willowmere before." She let out a short breath, not realizing how much she was rambling. "It all started so suddenly…"

  The words left her mouth before she could stop them.

  "It all started four years ago. That’s… that’s when you first moved here and became our neighbor."

  Eva stopped abruptly, her sharp gaze meeting Lateen’s.

  "Lateen," she said, her voice quiet but firm.

  Lateen’s heart pounded. That’s right… Everything started when Eva appeared.

  And that thought refused to leave her mind.

  Katherine and Cara sat in the dimly lit cyber café, eyes fixed on the screen as they edited the footage from that night. The glow from the monitor cast eerie shadows across their faces.

  "This is going to break the internet," Cara smirked, clicking through the final edits.

  The Curse of Burial—Willowmere’s most infamous ritual. In the past, people had forced others to perform it, ensuring their deaths without committing actual murder. Years later, it became a game, something people did for fun, dismissing it as a myth.

  But then it happened.

  A boy who had performed the ritual died two years later, far outside of town. His friends claimed that he was plagued by accidents every single day until his death. That incident revived the ritual’s terrifying reputation. And now, after four years, it was perform again—to prove it was all fake.

  Cara hovered the mouse over the upload button. With one final click, the video began to process.

  "Hey, kids, time’s up!" the cyber café owner called out, signaling that it was time to leave.

  Cara ran a hand through her short, dark hair before standing up. Katherine followed, but an uneasiness lingered in her chest.

  Outside, the air was cold, but it wasn’t the chill that made her shiver.

  "Katherine, are you okay?" Cara asked, noticing her expression.

  Katherine hesitated before speaking. "Cara… what if it’s real? What if something happens to that girl?"

  Cara let out a short laugh. "Nothing’s going to happen. It’s been two days already. If the curse was real, something would’ve happened by now."

  Katherine bit her lip. "But remember that boy? He didn’t die immediately. It took two years."

  Cara’s face tensed, the amusement fading from her eyes. "Katherine, his friend exaggerated everything for attention. Besides, the curse only targets people who have done something unforgivable in their past. That girl is Zayn’s neighbor—there’s no way she could have done anything that bad."

  Katherine stopped walking, her mind racing. "But… what’s your definition of unforgivable?"

  Cara looked momentarily confused, then shrugged it off. "I don’t know."

  Katherine wanted to let it go, but the thought wouldn’t leave her mind.

  Did that mean that boy had done something unforgivable? No… that couldn’t be true. They had grown up with him. He was the kindest person she had ever known.

  Then why did he die?

  And if his friend had lied about the cause of his death… how did he know about the Curse of Burial in the first place?

  Because until then, that curse had only ever been known in Willowmere.