Chapter 106

Owen

I didn’t want to be in Grandma’s cabin anymore.

Infact, I didn’t want to come down this damn hole. But Abigail’s memory seems to be wiped every twenty four hours on why sticking her nose in things is a bad idea.

And as her brother, I couldn’t just let her out of my sight. Not again. She was my responsibility no matter how much she ticked me off.

You would think being cursed by a Moon Goddess would be enough but I guess not.

My mind kept replaying the strange feeling that had crept over me the second I stepped into the basement. It was like something was watching us, lurking in the corners, waiting for the moment we got too comfortable to strike.

But that was ridiculous, right? It was just an old house, filled with old things, and most of it didn’t make sense to me.

Abigail was already engrossed in the old book she’d found on the table, flipping through the yellowed pages with an intensity that reminded me of when she’d read the same fantasy series over and over again.

It was her thing—get lost in a world that wasn’t hers. Sometimes, I envied that.

I glanced around the basement, trying to distract myself from the odd tension in the air. Old crates lined the walls, covered in dust, and shelves full of jars and vials of unknown substances that made the air feel heavier. But then I noticed something else—something I hadn't seen at first.

There were toys.

Boys' toys.

Not just any toys—action figures, toy cars, and stuffed animals that looked like they'd been abandoned for years. I couldn’t remember Mom ever mentioning anything about a boy in the family. Then again we didn’t have a grandma a couple days ago.

But there they were, scattered on the floor, in what seemed like deliberate disarray, as though someone had been playing with them not long ago.

I stepped closer, my heart picking up speed. Who could have been locked down here, playing with these toys? Someone who wasn’t a girl, obviously.

So… it wasn’t mom down here? Unless she was some tomboy. But mom always seemed girly. SHe liked her dresses and makeup… maybe she had changed from a kid?

Regardless… someone was locked down here, and that was unnerving enough.

I glanced back at Abigail, who was still absorbed in the book. She didn’t notice me hovering at the edge of the room, eyeing the toys. The longer I stood there, the more the basement felt like a tomb. Every toy, every jar, felt like it was somehow connected to the same dark energy. Something that was not supposed to be uncovered. Something... dangerous.

Then, I saw it.

Eyes.

Two eyes. Peering at me from the shadows, just beyond the shelf in the farthest corner. For a second, I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but then the eyes blinked, slowly, and my heart skipped a beat.

“Abigail,” I whispered, backing up a step. “Abigail.”

She didn’t answer. She was too far gone in whatever she was reading in that cursed book. I felt my throat tighten as I stumbled backward, my foot knocking over one of the jars, sending it rolling across the floor. The sound echoed, loud and jarring in the stillness.

The eyes didn’t move.

I swallowed, trying to gather my courage, but every inch of my body screamed for me to leave. I wasn’t sure if it was the toys or the eyes that freaked me out more—I didn’t want to be here anymore.

Before I could take another step, I heard footsteps.

“Abigail,” I called again, louder this time.

“What?!” She snapped, lifting her eyes from the text. “I just got to the part—”

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. Something on the other side of the room.

A shadow.

A figure.

Grandma Lily.

I froze. When had she come downstair? Her presence, so silent and sudden, made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

“You shouldn’t have come down here,” Grandma said, her voice low, like a warning.

I opened my mouth to say something—anything—but my mind went blank. I wanted to tell her about the eyes, about the toys, but I couldn’t. My tongue was heavy in my mouth.

Besides… she must have known.

“I told you to stay away from this place,” she said, stepping forward. The coldness in her eyes was enough to freeze the air around us. “Some things are better left untouched.”

Before I could respond, I heard Abigail gasp behind me.

I turned to find her standing, clutching the book in her hands, her eyes wide. She hadn’t seen Grandma yet, but now she did. And I saw it. That shift in her expression—the way she tensed.

Grandma’s gaze flicked to the book in Abigail’s hands, and something shifted in her expression. Fury. Pure, unfiltered rage.

“You should never have read that,” Grandma hissed, her voice sharp and brittle. “Some knowledge should stay buried.”

Abigail took a step back, clutching the book tighter. “Grandma, we didn’t mean—”

“I don’t care what you meant!” Grandma snapped, her voice rising. “You think you can just waltz into my house, into my life, and uncover things that should never be known?” Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve been playing with fire, and now you’ll pay for it.”

Abigail stepped forward, ready to protest, but I grabbed her arm, pulling her back. I had no idea what was going to happen next, but I wasn’t about to stand there and let her go off on Grandma alone.

“Grandma, calm down,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “We didn’t know—”

“It doesn’t matter!” she shouted, her voice breaking through the air like a crack of thunder. “You children have no idea what you’ve found. You should have never read that book. Now you’ll never leave this place.”

I felt a chill run through me as Grandma’s words hit like an icy gust of wind.

“What are you talking about?” Abigail said, her voice trembling now. “We don’t know what any of this means! We’re just—”

“You’re just meddling with things you don’t understand,” Grandma said, her voice low and venomous. She stepped forward, her eyes darkening with an intensity that almost made me take a step back.

I glanced around, desperate for an escape, but all I saw were the walls closing in on us.

“... the manhole,” Abigail said, looking at me. “We need to go back—”

“Get over here!” Grandma shouted, her voice cracking, her eyes wild with fury.

In a panic, we both turned back, scrambling to get back to the dirt hole in the wall, only… she stopped dead in our track. The second figure, massive and huge blocked the path.

He was nothing but a dark shadow.

Abigail yelped, clutching the book as we nearly fell back to our bums.

“Stay back!” I snarled

I felt my stomach churn with fear as I yanked her close, harder this time. “Let us go!” I yelled, panic rising in my chest. “Lauren will never forgive you if you lay a hand on us!!”

Abigail’s hands were shaking, her eyes wide with fear. “Grandma, please! We just want to leave! We didn’t mean to—”

But Grandma wasn’t listening. Her face was twisted in anger as she advanced toward us, but before she could reach us, the basement door slammed open, and a new voice entered the fray.

“Enough!”

Every part of me flushed with relief.

Mom. It was mom. My knees almost gave.

She stood in the doorway, her face a mask of rage. Her body was tense, her eyes locked on Grandma. For the first time since I’d known her, I saw something in her eyes—strength.

“Lauren?” Grandma’s voice cracked, almost like she wasn’t expecting this. “How did you— Get out!”

“God you’re such a selfish mutt,” Lauren said, stepping into the room, her voice steady but filled with a bitter edge. “Mess with me all you want, but you touch my pups I won’t hesitate taking the air from your throat mom! Relax! They are kids!”

Grandma’s face twisted with disbelief. “What are you talking about? You don’t even know what you’re saying.”

“Oh, I know exactly what I’m saying,” Lauren shot back, her voice sharp like a knife. “You made my childhood a living hell. I remember those exact words you said to me, ‘I gave up on you long ago,’ You made me feel like I was nothing. Well, I’m done. You don’t get to hurt them, too. We’re here for answers, so back off women!”

The silence that followed was thick, suffocating. I glanced at Abigail, who was just as wide-eyed as I was.

“I left you because of this, you know,” Lauren continued, her voice cutting through the tension. “Because of everything you did. But I never thought you’d go this far. Not with my kids. Not with them. Don’t you want to do right by one part of your family?!”

Grandma’s expression faltered for a second, then shifted back to anger. But Lauren didn’t flinch. She stood her ground, her eyes locked on the woman who had never truly been her mother.

“This ends now,” Lauren said, her voice low and final.

And for the first time, Grandma didn’t argue.

“Abigail, Owen,” Mom waved us over. “Come here, and get away from—”

She paused, like she had finally noticed the figure behind us, blocking the dirt tunnel. Mom’s eyes widened, frozen before her voice cracked.

“Mark?”