Shadows In The Ashes

The hidden door shut behind them with a deep, final thud.

Darkness swallowed them whole.

Jungkook felt the weight of it pressing in from all sides—thick, suffocating, alive. His pulse pounded in his ears as his fingers brushed the rough stone walls. The air smelled of damp earth and something older, something… wrong.

A hand gripped his wrist.

He flinched before realizing it was Kim Taehyung.

“Breathe,” Taehyung murmured. His voice was steady, grounding.

Jungkook exhaled shakily. “Where does this lead?”

Taehyung’s grip tightened for a moment before letting go. “Minjun believed it was a passage. A place between.”

“Between what?”

Taehyung didn’t answer.

Jungkook swallowed hard. There was only one way to find out.

Taking a deep breath, he took the first step down.

---

The stone steps spiraled downward, disappearing into the dark.

With each step, the air grew colder.

With each step, the silence grew heavier.

They moved cautiously, their breaths echoing. Jungkook traced his fingers along the wall, searching for anything—markings, carvings, some sign that Minjun had been here.

Then—his fingertips brushed against something smooth.

He stopped.

Taehyung turned. “What is it?”

Jungkook reached into his pocket and flicked on his lighter. The small flame barely pushed back the darkness, but it was enough.

Enough to see the writing etched into the stone.

"DO NOT LOOK BACK."

A shiver ran down Jungkook’s spine.

Taehyung read the words, his jaw tightening. “Minjun wrote this.”

Jungkook exhaled. “Why?”

No answer. Only the suffocating silence.

Jungkook ran his thumb over the rough engraving. The letters had been carved with desperate, uneven strokes.

Minjun had left this message for someone.

For himself.

Jungkook turned away from the words and kept moving.

---

The steps finally ended, opening into a narrow corridor.

The walls were lined with mirrors.

Jungkook’s pulse quickened. The mirrors were old, their surfaces clouded and warped, but their presence felt… deliberate.

Like they were watching.

A whisper curled through the air.

Soft. Incoherent.

Jungkook froze. “Did you hear that?”

Taehyung nodded slowly.

Then—

A shadow moved across one of the mirrors.

Not a reflection. Not their own.

Something else.

Jungkook’s breath hitched. “There’s something here.”

Taehyung didn’t speak. Instead, he reached out and touched one of the mirrors.

The glass rippled beneath his fingertips.

Like water.

(The ripples were like this. Please  ignore this man)

(Taehyung looked like this)

Jungkook took a slow step back. His reflection did the same. But behind him, in the mirror—

There was someone else standing there.

Watching.

Waiting.

He spun around—

But the corridor was empty.

A slow chill crept up his spine. He turned back to the mirror.

The figure was still there.

And this time—

It smiled.

---

Jungkook staggered away from the mirror, his breathing uneven.

The whispering grew louder. Words he couldn’t understand, voices overlapping—urgent, frantic, pleading.

Taehyung grabbed his arm. “Don’t listen.”

Jungkook pressed his hands to his ears, trying to block it out. The whispers didn’t stop.

Then, beneath the chaos of voices, one cut through clearly.

"You are not alone."

The candlelight flickered violently.

And then—

A door appeared at the end of the hall.

It hadn’t been there before.

Jungkook and Taehyung exchanged a glance.

No turning back now.

Together, they stepped forward—toward whatever waited beyond.

The door swung open—
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And Minjun’s voice echoed from the darkness beyond.

"Why did you come here?"