Fire swallowed it in seconds, a sudden, violent blaze in the night. If anyone had been watching, they would have seen a box erupt into fire, its contents seemingly erased from existence.
But Esme was already gone.
She crawled through the tunnel, the space so narrow it felt like the walls were pressing in, suffocating. The darkness here was absolute—heavy, almost alive.
Gripping a small kitchen torch between her teeth, she flicked it on. A dim, flickering light illuminated the path ahead, casting eerie shadows along the tight space.
She didn't stop.
She didn't hesitate.
She just kept crawling, deeper into the unknown.
After what felt like an eternity of crawling through the suffocating tunnel, a sliver of light finally appeared ahead. Esme squinted, her eyes struggling to adjust after the oppressive darkness.
Without hesitation, she hurriedly dragged herself toward it, desperate for an escape. But the second she emerged from the hole—
Click.
