When I woke up, it was exactly 4:00 AM. Jax and Ruby rushed to my side. "Are you okay?" they asked."What happened?" I muttered, still dazed. Ruby softly said "You fainted sunddenly".
"We'll check the rest of the area," Jax said firmly. "You need to rest, Theo."
I shook my head, pulling myself up. "No. I have to go back there myself."
Jax and Ruby nodded, though they looked concerned. "The sun is about to rise," I noted, thinking back to the butler's words about the two shadows. "Jax, Ruby—the riddle. It's almost sunrise. Come on, let's go!"
We returned to the same spot, standing once again in front of the locked study. Jax placed a steadying hand on my shoulder. As Ruby reached for the door, she paused and looked at me.
"Are you okay?" she whispered.
I looked at the door, a strange sensation washing over me. "Never," I replied with a small, haunting smile.
As she opened the door, the room was silent. I nodded to show I was okay. We pulled all the curtains on windows—one on East and the other West.
We waited in the silence, the tension thick. Ruby was pacing, walking in nervous circles until Jax whispered, "Calm down."
We watched as the moon began to set and the sun started to rise. As the light from both sides began to flood the room, a strange phenomenon occurred. Where the two light sources met, a single, inch-wide line of shadow appeared on the wall.
The shadow was thick but pale. I stood up, walked toward it, and pressed my hands against the wall, searching for an opening at eye level. Suddenly, a brick shifted. I pushed harder, and it slid back, revealing a hollow space—as if a brick had simply vanished into the wall.
"I know what to do," Jax said, stepping forward. "Move."
He placed the box into the opening. He positioned it so the sun carving was facing the West (the moon) and the moon carving was facing the East (the sun).
He looked at me, the light of the dawn hitting his face. "An eclipse," he replied. "We're creating an alignment."
A heavy clunk echoed from deep within. For a moment, there was silence, and then a low, bone-shaking rumble started beneath our feet—only to stop abruptly midway. We pushed against the stone, but the gap was narrow; it could only fit a small figure.
We all turned to look at Ruby. "What should we do?" she asked, her expression puzzled and frightened.
Ruby squeezed herself through the crack. Seconds later, she scrambled back out even faster than she had gone in. "Don't touch it! Don't move it any further!" she gasped.
"What happened? What did you see?" we asked.
She went quiet, her eyes locking onto mine. "This is where the curse ritual is performed," she said breathlessly. "There's a skeleton in there. I need to call my uncle; he has knowledge about these things."
I asked her about the book. "There are many books inside," she replied, "but a thick volume is placed right in the center of the ritual area, Theo. The book we are searching for is on the other side of the room, but I can't reach it. If we disturb the ritual, it will lead us to our deaths."
She hurried out of the room. Jax immediately closed every window, shut the door, and locked it tight. We sat in the dim light, waiting for Ruby to return.
At noon, Ruby returned with a man in his forties. He had fine, sharp features and introduced himself as Charlie before shaking my hand. We took him upstairs to the study.
"Watch out," Charlie warned as we pushed the stone door a little further to fit through. The three of us squeezed inside. The room was small with a low, cramped ceiling, and the walls were lined with countless vintage books.
As we looked forward, a foul, rotting smell hit my nose. Strange inscriptions were carved into the floor, and a thick book sat directly in the center of the ritual circle. Every corner of the carvings was decorated with ancient, disturbing objects.
Suddenly, my ears began to ring painfully. A voice, cold and distorted, whispered through the ringing: "You came..."