"You sure this is worth it?"
Officer Cassian Vorell muttered, brushing dust off the rusted signboard that marked the edge of the city. He glanced back at the man behind him.
"Why are we even doing this? It's been months since Aurelia disappeared... You know what kind of nasty stuff happened here. Don't you, Officer Marrow?"
Officer Dorian Marrow, a man in his fifties, sighed, leaning against the jeep's door, crossing his arms.
"you should've asked the president yourself. But if it were my daughter... I'd still be looking, no matter how long it's been."
He looked up toward the nearby cliffside.
"Is she still sitting there?"
Cassian gave a half-shrug. "Yeah, I guess. She's like you. Not scared of heights."
Marrow pushed off the jeep and began walking toward the cliff. boots crunching against gravel.
Cassian scoffed under his breath. "Old man's really taking this too far…"
"Maris?"
The eighteen-year-old girl turned her head at the sound of his voice.
"Uh... hey, Dad."
Marrow sat down beside her, the wind tugging faintly at his coat.
"So, what's on your mind now?"
She kept her eyes on the horizon, where the fog-covered city loomed in the distance.
"about Aurelia... Do you think they took her?"
Dorian furrowed his brow. "They? Who's 'they'?"
Maris let out a short, disbelieving chuckle.
"Didn't Aldric Vale tell you?"
"Language, Maris."
She scoffed, flicking a small stone off the cliff's edge, "Fine... didn't Mr. President tell you?"
Her tone shifted, exaggerated and sarcastic.
"He did, ofcourse," Dorian muttered. "Said it's a cursed city." He shook his head with a faint scoff.
"Stupid bald man…"
Maris gave the jeep's tire a swift kick, "Piece of junk… Can't they give you something better?"
Cassian chuckled without looking up from the torch he was tinkering with.
"Well… it's a—"
She raised an eyebrow.
"a—what? High ranking officers get trash now ..?"
Cassian glanced at her, smirking.
"Hey, Bram... you driving or what?"
Bram Dalren straightened in the driver's seat before answering,
"It's Officer Dalren. We're not on a first-name basis, Mr. Vorell."
Cassian winced as Bram snapped the door shut.
"Ouch."
Maris strolled past them, laughter in her voice.
"Come on, Mr. Vorell...don't tell me you're actually scared..."
"All set?" Dorian asked, snapping his seatbelt into place. Bram fired up the engine, and the jeep rolled past a weathered sign.
Maris leaned forward, squinting.
"Welcome to… Hallowdeep?"
Cassian glanced over, amusement in his voice.
"Where are your specs? It's Harrowdeep... Now Hallow."
Maris waved a hand dismissively.
"It's kind of complicated...I don't wear them."
Her father scoffed, shaking his head. "Smart choice."
"This city's fucked up," Cassian muttered, eyes fixed on the crumbling skyline of Harrowdeep.
Maris propped her elbow on the jeep's windowsill and rested her head, "Emma said this used to be beautiful…"
A scoffed from the driver's seat. "Pretty pointless now.. they all died because of that shit."
Cassian glanced at him. "You mean the ritual stuff?".
Marrow adjusted the dark-lensed aviators perched on his nose, "you could say that. A cult formed here years ago… didn't last long."
"Dad… what's that?" Maris looked up from where her elbow was rested. Cassian leaned forward from the passenger seat, craning his neck to peer out, "A deer…?". Marrow unlatched the jeep door, about to step out, "A dead one, perhaps."
Maris's hand shot out to grip his shoulder from the backseat. "But dad-"
He offered her a half-chuckle, brushing off her concern. "I've got this, Maris. Don't worry."
He stepped onto the gravel. Maris felt a shiver travel up her spine, a cold certainty that something was very, very wrong.
"Maris, stay in the car."
Bram said firmly, already stepping out.
"Don't worry," Cassian added, throwing her a glance before following Bram into the misty woods.
"Jesus…" he muttered, recoiling at the sight in front of them. He let out a sickened groan, pinching the bridge of his nose, "they didn't even spare the damn animal."
Bram knelt beside the body.
"There are needles…all over it."
Three of them stood there, the deer's body had been deliberately arranged, like some ritualistic centerpiece.
Maris, still inside the jeep, felt her breath hitch. Her chest grew tight as her gaze flicked between the shadowy outlines of the trees.
There was someone in the woods, Watching.
"Visitors… do we have visitors here?"
A low voice drifted through the mist. Maris froze, eyes widening as she spotted a tall, broad figure stepping into the clearing. He wore tattered ceremonial robes and carried a single lit candle, its wax dripping onto the chains binding his wrists and neck. Behind him, cloaked followers slipped from the shadows like smoke.
Cassian's hand went to his sidearm. "Marrow… what do we do now?" he whispered, taking a half-step back.
Dorian Marrow planted his feet. "Don't move."
One of the cloaked men glided forward and spoke in a calm, measured tone,
"The Watchers do not forgive uninvited guests, and neither will we. You've chosen poorly… bow now."
Maris's pulse thundered in her ears, but she caught her father's subtle nod, an unspoken signal from her training. She slipped from the back seat to the driver's side, hands trembling as she fumbled with the keys.
"MARIS!" Cassian lunged for the door, but Marrow's grip on his wrist was iron. "Wait for my signal…".
"But she's gonna leave us behind..!", cassian added.
"cover fire. Then fall back to the car." marrow spoke in a whisper.
The cloaked speaker turned to the leader. "Shall we begin, Elyon?"
Maris slammed her foot on the accelerator, the engine roaring to life. The jeep lurched forward toward her father.
"NO, MARIS, GET OUT!" Marrow's shout cut through the fog. She caught a glimpse of the leader.
Stitched mouth, dark, bloody sutures sealing his lips, his ash-gray skin stretched tight over hollow cheeks. His eyes, pupil-less and glistening with dried tears, fixed on her. The leader raised the candle and exhaled through the gaps of his sealed lips. The flame winked out, and a rolling wave of fog poured from his stitched mouth, swallowing the clearing.
The jeep's tires spun in the growing mist. Maris fought the wheel, then everything went black as metal screamed against stone.
Silence reclaimed the night.
And somewhere in that fog, Dorian Marrow, Bram Dalren, and Cassian Vorell vanished without a trace…