Chapter: CHAPTER 9 – Broken VowsEthan's POVThe rain had stopped, but the air still reeked of death.I stood at the edge of the hallway, my breath shallow, watching her. Alika. Fragile. Radiant even in fear. The flickering candlelight cast uneven shadows on the wooden floor, warping everything into grotesque shapes. She didn’t see it. Not yet.But I did.Something was reaching for her.A hand—long, grayish, translucent—crept out from beneath the warped floorboards just inches from her bare foot. Its fingers were wrong. Too many knuckles. Nails like splinters. It moved with a dreadful calm, like it knew it had all the time in the world to claim her.“Alika, don’t move.” My voice cracked with urgency, barely masking the horror curling in my throat.She turned to me, eyebrows drawn in confusion. “What? Ethan, what’s wrong?”I took a step forward, slow, controlled—like if I moved too fast, it would pounce.But it was too late.Th
Huling Na-update: 2025-06-26
Chapter: CHAPTER 8 – The Ritual KeyAlika's POVThe air was heavier tonight.It wasn’t just the chill anymore. The Blackwell mansion had turned sentient. I could feel it in the way the floorboards creaked without weight, the way every shadow seemed to stretch toward me like it was hungry.I clutched the old grimoire I had stolen from the study—an ancient book bound in dark leather, written in a language that almost seemed to breathe. It had taken me hours to decipher even a few pages, my fingers trembling with each turn as if the ink itself was judging me.But I had finally found something.A way to undo it.The curse.A reverse ritual. A way to sever the Bride’s Bond and escape this nightmare. My blood, willingly given. My body, willingly seated. In the Bride’s Throne. Before midnight of the third night.And tonight… was the third night.I pressed my hand against the page, rereading the phrase over and over:“She who breaks the
Huling Na-update: 2025-06-26
Chapter: Chapter 07 - The Curse RevealedEthan's POVI couldn’t sleep.The mansion had grown too quiet again—like it always did before something happened. The air was still, heavy, as though the house itself was holding its breath. Especially the west wing. That part of the estate had always held secrets I never dared to touch for too long.But tonight, it was calling to me.The brandy in my hand did little to settle the chill that clawed at my spine. The fireplace crackled behind me, its flames licking shadows across the walls of the study. I stared into it, remembering.The dreams had returned. The whispers. The reflection in the mirror that blinked when I didn’t.And now… Alika was hearing them too.She was trying so hard to pretend nothing was wrong. I could see it in the way she brushed her fingers over her collarbone when she thought I wasn’t watching—the exact place the cursed mark always appeared.She thought I didn’t notice.But I did.Because I’d seen it before. On others. On the brides who came before her.Brides
Huling Na-update: 2025-06-26
Chapter: chapter 06 - The Journal of the First BrideAlika's POVSomething wasn’t right.The air felt heavier as I walked down the west corridor, each step echoing off the cold stone floor. I wasn’t supposed to be here—this part of the mansion was always locked, always avoided. But tonight, the door had been left ajar.Almost like someone was waiting for me.I hesitated in front of the half-open door. A sliver of darkness stared back at me, quiet and unmoving. My fingers hovered over the knob when I heard it.A voice.Soft. Male. Familiar."Alika..."I froze.Ethan?I turned, but no one was there. Just empty shadows and the hum of an old chandelier swaying above me. My breath caught. I knew Ethan was in the east wing tonight, handling guests from Boston. He couldn't be here.Still, I stepped inside.The room was small—dusty and untouched. Cobwebs clung to the corners, and the musty scent of old wood and forgotten things filled my lungs. In the corner sat a table, draped with a torn lace cloth. On it lay a book, thick and dark, like it h
Huling Na-update: 2025-06-25
Chapter: Chapter 5 - Blood in the MirrorsAlika's POVI sat before the vanity in our bridal bedroom, staring at my own reflection in the antique mirror. The golden frame looked too luxurious for a house that smelled of dust and distant memories.But something about today felt… off.My face looked unfamiliar. Not because I was tired or pale, but because my eyes—my own eyes—didn’t feel like mine anymore.I blinked.The reflection didn’t.My stomach dropped. For a split second, I could’ve sworn that my reflection smiled—a twisted, knowing smile that didn’t belong to me.I jerked away from the mirror. “It’s just exhaustion. You’re imagining things,” I whispered, trying to convince myself. But even my voice trembled.Ever since our wedding night, this house had changed. Or maybe it had always been this way, and I was just now starting to see it. The air felt heavier. The shadows lingered too long. And the silence… it wasn't peaceful. It was watchful.I turned, hoping Ethan would be standing by the door like he sometimes did, smili
Huling Na-update: 2025-06-22
Chapter: Chapter 4: Whisper from the WallsAlika's POVI don’t remember exactly when everything started to change.Maybe it was the first night, when the woman in the mirror looked at me as if I were her. Or perhaps it began with that strange dream—the upside-down room, the soulless bride, and a voice that told me I had to kill Ethan before the third night.But this morning... something feels truly different.The sky outside is overcast, yet the light that filters in is strange. Dim, as if held back by an invisible fog. I crack open the window, only to be met with an unnaturally cold breeze, despite it not being winter. A sharp scent of jasmine hangs in the air—too sweet, almost suffocating. And faintly... I can smell blood.Ethan left at dawn. I have no idea where he went. When I asked Mrs. Whitmore, the elderly housekeeper, she only replied in a hushed tone, “Master Ethan has family business to attend to.”Whatever that means, I know I won’t get a clearer answer.Alone in the large bedroom, I start to feel like a prisoner. E
Huling Na-update: 2025-06-22
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