chapter 1
It was December, the month of bitter cold that devours everything in the town of “Noran,” where the snow falls endlessly, as if time itself had frozen in a single moment. That night, the sky was dark—nothing but the whiteness of the snow covering the ground like a shroud of death.
I stood by the window, a cold glass of wine in my hand, while soft music seeped from a small radio in the far corner of the room, echoing as if it came from another world.
Then, suddenly, I heard the voice:
“Jack… stop looking out the window… someone might see you.”
At first, I didn’t understand—maybe because her voice was strange, tense, as if she was trying to warn me about something I couldn’t see.
I was in Noran, an isolated town, with no place for the weak. Its laws were strict—alcohol was forbidden to drink or sell. And if you drank in secret, someone might see you… and surprise you with what you least expect.
But she—she was always there. Sarah. My wife, who knew everything about me, and from whom my heart hid nothing.
“Jack, dinner is ready,”
she said as she set the plates on the table, but I could only think about something else. My heart was beating fast, as if something unnatural was looming on the horizon.
I started eating, but there was an unsettling feeling in the air. Sarah smiled gently, but her smile concealed something mysterious, something that lurked deep in her eyes.
Minutes later, she disappeared into the kitchen and returned carrying something heavy. Her silence weighed on the room more than the snow outside the window.
“Jack, there’s something I need to tell you.”
I looked at her, certain that something was wrong.
“What is it, Sarah? Please, tell me.”
Then, her answer struck like lightning:
“I’m pregnant.”
The words wrapped around me, scattering in the air, and my heart stopped for a moment. Was it a lie? Could this be real? I looked at her, and her eyes were filled with tears. Then, she confirmed in a weak voice:
“I swear… it’s the truth.”
At that moment, I was drowning in a sea of questions, unable to understand how the story began or where it would take me.
A strange report came from the Miller household… the neighbors spoke of loud arguments. Could this be the beginning of something unexpected?
The Miller family was not like any other. The father was Henry, the wife was Mary—just two people in a remote town. No children. Only silence that consumed the place.
That dark night, with the sky covered in black clouds and the snow blanketing everything, a car was parked in front of the Miller house. Someone stepped out quickly, rushing up the porch steps as if racing against time, knocking on the door with force—unaware of what would happen in the next few moments.
Mary opened the door, her eyes gleaming, and a bruise marked her right eye. Before she could say a word, she lifted a bottle of liquor toward me and said in a quiet voice,
“Come in, Jack.”
I stepped inside and found Henry standing near the dining table. He was a huge man, bald-headed, with pig-like eyes that gleamed with something eerie. His clothes barely held together over his enormous body, as if he lived in a world of his own, far from everyone.
“Henry, you know the laws here… you were arrested three times last week,” I said, gripping my gun, knowing that one wrong move could be the end.
But he cut me off, licking his lips with pleasure, saying,
“I did nothing wrong… I just love liquor… I want liquor.”
His tone was mocking, taunting everything.
“Henry, don’t challenge the laws here. You know exactly what happens if you keep going down this path.”
But he erupted with rage:
“To hell with the laws! To hell with you, Jack!”
His words were thick with threat, carrying an inevitable doom behind them.
I tightened my grip on my gun and said,
“Don’t force me to do something bad… get on your knees and put your hands on your head.”
But the truth was uglier than I could believe. This man—this human pig—was a bigger threat than he seemed. His enormous body, if it fell on you from above, would flatten the ground beneath it.
And Mary… she could barely stand.
How could this nightmare continue? How did Mary survive with this man?
I wanted to kick reality away, but I had no choice but to bear this heavy burden.
Would Henry stay on this dark path?
Would Mary remain trapped in a circle of hell with no escape?
Maybe Henry had a good heart, but he was an enigma that couldn’t be solved—just like Mary was the untold story waiting to be heard.
And in that moment, the truth was closer than we imagined…
But would we uncover it before it was too late?
The true horror began when she sat across from me at the table… my colleague, Sophia, who was also a police officer. I was smoking, gazing out of the office window. Then I asked her, “What is it?”
Let me tell you something about Sophia—she’s the senior here. She has spent her life within these walls, while I only arrived three months ago. Sophia is thirty-five years old, with red hair and hazel eyes that stand out in the dim office. She had a deep secret… She was always spying on people. Yes, spying. She knew everything about everyone in this town.
Sophia looked at me and said, “Have you noticed anything strange around here?”
I glanced at her, exhaling smoke into the air. “What do you mean?”
She stared into my eyes and said, “You’ve been here for about two months.”
I interrupted her to correct her, “Three months.”
“Alright… three months… and you haven’t noticed anything strange in this town? Anything terrifying?”
I took another drag and replied, “I haven’t seen anything strange here… just the snow and the harsh cold.”
“And what else?”
“I haven’t seen anything suspicious… The people are simple, and we’re almost cut off from the outside world. What are you getting at?”
Sophia took a deep breath and said, “The people… Don’t you realize something?”
I shrugged indifferently. “What about them? If you mean they act strange, that’s their business… Maybe it’s just the cold. No one can handle this kind of weather.”
But her response shook me. “It’s not their behavior… It’s something worse.”
“Worse? I don’t get it.”
“Something evil is surrounding this town. Something that makes people infertile.”
The feeling that washed over me was a mix of confusion and fear, as if darkness itself was creeping closer, wrapping around this small town I once thought was safe.
As the snow pounded against my windshield, I was on my way back from the sheriff’s office, replaying Sophia’s words in my mind. How had I not noticed it before? Since the moment I arrived in this town three months ago, I hadn’t seen a single child! But as time passes, and life fills up with distractions, some details begin to fade from memory… or so I had thought.
Midway through the drive, my phone rang. I glanced at the screen. “Who could this be?”
A sharp voice answered from the other end. “Jack… It’s Michael… I think you need to see this.”
“See what?”
“Something strange… very strange.”
“Where are you now?”
“At the entrance of the old forest.”
“Alright… wait for me there. Don’t move.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
A strange tightness gripped my stomach, as if fear itself was coiling around my heart. Why this call now? Why the old forest? Nothing felt right… Something was happening. Something unknown.
At the entrance of the old forest, I found him. Let me tell you about Michael—a veteran hunter, always carrying a massive hunting rifle, his cigarette smoke curling beneath his heavy coat. He wore dark sunglasses that concealed his piercing blue eyes, and not a day passed without the sight of his tangled red beard, a testament to his past.
A long time ago, he had a brutal encounter with a wolf while lining up a shot at a wild deer. The deep scar on his left cheek was a reminder of that battle—a permanent mark of survival, a witness to a moment of near death.
His hoarse voice emerged from behind a cloud of smoke. “Jack… how are you?”
“I’d be better if we got straight to the point. As you know… the cold here is merciless,” I replied, feeling my pulse quicken.
Michael let out a short chuckle, exhaling a thick puff of smoke. “You’re strange… a city boy, but that doesn’t matter now. Last night, I discovered something… something you need to see for yourself.”
The fierce wind lashed against my face as I followed his heavy steps through the thick snow. Walking was nearly impossible—each step felt like sinking into an abyss. There was nothing but the bitter silence of the snow, leaving behind an aching chill in my bones.
Breaking that silence, I asked, “How much farther?”
Without turning around, he answered quickly, “We’re already here.”
In front of us, the cave stood... dark, deep, as if its heart was filled with secrets too terrifying to gaze upon. I stood there, astonished, and asked, “Is this what you wanted to show me?... Just a cave?”
He replied in a calm and quiet voice, “Not the cave, Jack… but what lies within.”
In the pitch-black darkness, Michael lit a red candle, illuminating the narrow path inside the cave. The air was freezing, and every step we took on the cave’s floor felt as though we were sinking into invisible depths. In one hand, I cautiously held my gun, while my other hand clutched the flashlight. My heart pounded rapidly, my mind clouded with confusion—there was something strange in the air.
“Do you smell sulfur, Jack?” Michael asked in a low voice, as if the scent triggered something deep within him.
I inhaled deeply. Yes, there was an odd smell, something similar to sulfur, filling the place. But what could it mean?
“Sulfur? What does that mean?” I asked suspiciously.
Michael didn’t answer right away. Instead, he gave a cryptic smile and said, “There’s something you need to see. Let’s go.”
We continued advancing through the narrow cave passage, and faint, indistinct laughter began to echo in our ears. Laughter... of children?! The sound was eerie, completely out of place in this dark void.
“Do you hear that?” I asked Michael quickly.
But his response was calm and reassuring: “Don’t worry, it’s just an illusion… something in your mind.”
Yet despite his words, the laughter lingered in the air, weaving around us as if it came from every direction.
Then, we reached a dark chamber within the cave. What I saw there truly shocked me: on both sides, there were strange figures—rigid shapes, as if they had been petrified… No, they weren’t just statues. They were corpses!
“These… are bodies?!” I uttered the words with difficulty, my eyes widening in fear. “Who did this?!”
Michael cast a contemplative glance at the scene before replying in a low voice, “I don’t know. But there’s something very strange about these bodies.”
I stepped closer, shining my flashlight over them, only to realize that what I was looking at were not just human corpses… but vampires!
“Stakes?” I asked, trying to make sense of it all.
“Not stakes,” Michael said calmly, puffing on his cigarette. “These are vampire corpses.”
I stared in shock. “Vampires?!?”
“Yes, Jack. Without a doubt. Vampire corpses.”
We returned to the entrance of the forest, where the atmosphere was heavy, mirroring the darkness that engulfed the place. I sat on the grimy seat at the front of the car while Michael approached me, his eyes locked onto mine as if searching for answers to unspoken questions.
“What are you going to do about this cave?” he asked in a low, tense voice.
I stared into his eyes for a moment before replying hesitantly, “I don’t know… Anyway, let’s just—”
But Michael cut me off abruptly, as if his thoughts were racing ahead of him: “Have you ever heard of the ‘Dracul Cult,’ Jack?”
I raised an eyebrow, puzzled, then quickly answered, “The Dracul Cult? Never heard of them, and I don’t want to.”
Michael took a deep drag from his cigarette, and suddenly, the air felt even heavier. “It’s a cult that worships an evil entity… They say it lives on the moon! And the terrifying part is that they’re here, among us, in this cursed town.”
I chuckled at his words, dismissing them as nonsense. “And what’s the problem with that? There are always people worshiping their own gods.”
But Michael was dead serious when he replied, “The problem isn’t just their worship… The problem lies in the lies that spread about them.”
“What kind of lies?” I asked, confused.
“They say they are the reason why everyone in this town is infertile!” His words were heavy, like bullets in the air.
Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds.
“You knew about this?” I asked, studying his cold expression.
He answered in a quiet voice, but his eyes carried meanings that went unsaid: “The only one who doesn’t know… is you, Jack. And I’m not surprised you haven’t noticed—because you’re new here.”
A brief silence followed before he spoke seriously: “Alright… Enough talk. If anything happens, call me.”
“Understood,” I replied, closing the door behind me. But deep down, I felt that something strange was looming on the horizon.
Sara lay beside me in bed while I flipped through the pages of a horror novel titled Forsaken Tales. I realized that Sara was watching me with her green eyes, drifting between the words, not letting me relax.
“What is it?” I asked.
Suddenly, she spoke in a hushed voice, as if afraid someone might hear her: “I have a terrible headache… I went to the Ludwig family’s house to get treatment.”
I looked at her anxiously, sensing that something strange lurked behind her words.
“Why did you go to them? There are medicines in the bathroom.”
She replied in a low voice, “I ran out of medicine... and I’ve been having severe headaches lately.”
A heavy silence filled the room, making time feel as if it had stopped. Then, I quickly interrupted her:
“And what happened after you went to Ludwig’s house?”
“I met his family... Charles Ludwig and his wife, Rebecca, invited me to have a piece of cake. She was a very kind woman, but he... he was a man with dark skin... I couldn’t leave the house quickly; they insisted I stay.”
My heart started pounding as if something unsettling lay within her words. I cut her off with a grim tone:
“The story ends here. Go to sleep.”
But she responded sharply, her eyes glowing in the dark:
“Stop reading the novel! I’m talking to you, Jack!”
I decided to set the book aside and focus on what she was saying. There was something off about her tone. I looked into her green eyes and slowly said:
“Alright, let me tell you something. You know me well... If there’s something important, you should get straight to the point without beating around the bush.”
I spoke softly, “Don’t be mad at me, Sarah... Tell me something I want to hear.”
Then she whispered something that made my blood freeze:
“Did you know that Charles and Rebecca cannot have children? They’ve been married for thirty years and never had any.”
Curiosity gnawed at me, but I remained silent, waiting for her to continue. Then I asked, trying to steady myself:
“Did you see anything strange in their house?”
She looked at me vacantly as if recalling something, then answered in a choked voice:
“Yes... three strange things.”
My heart pounded harder. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and asked:
“Three things? What do you mean?”
She responded, her voice trembling with fear:
“First... there are no mirrors in their house.”
A chill ran down my spine, as if I heard an eerie whisper deep inside me. Something wasn’t right. Then, she spoke in a hushed tone, almost whispering:
“There was something else... something very strange. I can’t explain it.”
The moment I raised my eyebrows, her face was filled with shock.
“That’s impossible! A house... with no mirrors?!”
I only nodded while Sarah remained composed, as if she hadn’t noticed the weight of my question.
I rubbed my face and closed my eyes for a moment before continuing:
“And then what?”
She paused for a moment, then replied in a low voice:
“The second thing... their skin color… it’s strange.”
I was taken aback, but quickly grasped the implication. I whispered:
“Their skin is pale, isn’t it?”
Sarah looked at me with her green eyes, almost interrogating me:
“Yes… but how did you know that?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I thought to myself.
“Tell me about the third thing. What did you see there?”
Her answer was even stranger:
“There is no cross in their house... and that’s unbelievable.”
Suddenly, I felt the air grow cold. I whispered:
“Maybe they’re atheists, that’s why?”
Sarah cut me off anxiously:
“I asked the husband, and he told me they are Christian.”
At that moment, we both looked out the window. Snow was falling, slowly piling up against the glass as if adding another layer of mystery to the scene.
We fell into an eerie silence, where the only sound was the soft rustling of the snow. My mind drifted back to the morning—those bodies I saw in the cave with Michael... the bodies of vampires. Those images haunted me at every turn, becoming an endless nightmare.
“This is nonsense,” I whispered to myself.
But deep inside, I knew that what happened in that house didn’t align with any logic or reality. How could the stories we hear be mere myths? And yet, deep within me, doubts began to creep in. Something strange was taking shape.
“Jaaaaaack!”
The voice struck me like lightning, shattering the silence and pulling me from the world of dreams into a dark reality.
I shook off the remnants of sleep, opened my eyes, and saw Sarah—her face pale, her eyes wide with shock, and her legs trembling.
She rushed toward the stairs, grabbed a gun from the floor, and dashed downstairs.
“Sarah! Sarah!”
I shouted at the top of my lungs, but she didn’t answer.
Suddenly, a sound came from the kitchen. Then I saw her—Sarah—kneeling on the ground, her face streaked with tears.
In the corner of the room stood a man wearing a black mask, cracked around the eyes and mouth like the masks of bank robbers.
A gun was in his hand, aimed directly at Sarah’s head.
“What’s happening? How did he get in here?”
I couldn’t think of anything.
“Leave Sarah!” I screamed, as if my voice was the only hope in that moment. “Drop your weapon!”
The man looked at me with an icy gaze, cold as frozen snow, and spoke in a quiet, almost scolding tone: “I think you understand your wife’s fate if you don’t drop your weapon.”
I couldn’t move—my mind was in shock. In an instant, I saw the gun slip from my hand and hit the ground, followed by the man’s irritating voice: “Throw it farther away.”
As if he had done this dozens of times, he showed no hesitation. I raised my hands and tossed the gun toward the table. Then, I stood up, his words still echoing in my head: “Who are you? And what do you want?”
He answered calmly, as if this story was nothing new to him: “I was paid to bring your wife.”
“Paid? By whom? And why?” I asked, but his answer was chillingly brief:
“That’s none of your business.”
As I tried to make sense of the situation, I asked him, “Are you an assassin?”
His eyes studied me cautiously before he answered with unsettling confidence: “Yes.”
In his left hand, he held a small vial. He tossed it toward me and said in his quiet, unreadable voice: “Drink it. It’s not poison.”
There was something in his eyes that made me second-guess every move. “Is it a strong sedative?” I asked.
He smirked, as if the situation had become trivial to him. “Good. You have some intelligence. Now drink it.”
I couldn’t resist asking, my voice laced with fear: “What if I refuse?”
His eyes flickered toward Sarah before he spoke again, softly but with terrifying weight: “You know what will happen to her if you don’t.”
A strange tension filled the air. Then, in a deathly silence, he said: “I was told to bring her back alive.”
I hesitated for a moment, then sniffed the vial. It smelled like dead flowers—sweet, yet carrying an unspoken threat.
“Drink it. Now.”
I had no choice. I grasped the vial and swallowed its contents... I felt nothing at first, but then, the world around me began to slip away. Time moved strangely fast, and suddenly, I felt myself collapse to the floor. Everything spun, darkness swallowed my vision, and the last thing I heard was the man’s whisper in my ear:
“You’re mine now.”
I woke up suddenly, sprawled on the wooden kitchen floor. I got up quickly, my eyes searching for my weapon. The gun was near the table—I grabbed it fast, put on my sheriff’s uniform, and called for my fellow officers. Patrols were sent out, searching everywhere.
But in the end... nothing.
She had completely vanished from town.
At that moment, questions burned in my mind: Who were the people behind the kidnapper? Did someone in town hate me enough to do this? Who could be behind it? My neighbors? No... It wouldn’t make sense for neighbors to kidnap my wife just because they dislike me.
A name echoed in my thoughts: “The Darakul Cult”
Could they be the ones who paid him? And why? What would drive them to do this?
I sat in the kitchen, my gun on the table in front of me. Sophia sat beside me, trying to calm me down, but I was lost in a storm of thoughts.
“We’ll find her, Jack,” Sophia said.
But I was starting to lose hope.
Where are you, Sarah? What’s happening to you right now? Are you crying, waiting for an unknown fate?
I will find you, Sarah… trust me.
At that moment, I made up my mind—I would go to The Black Swan Tavern.
Inside, there was only Harold, the massive, bald, dark-skinned bartender. He observed me in silence before saying, “I heard what happened, Jack. I’m sorry.”
I took a sip from my drink, trying to steady my nerves, but I was on the edge of madness. Then, a reckless thought crept into my mind.
“Do you know anything about the Darakul Cult?” I asked him.
His pupils widened slightly at the name, but he tried to brush it off: “I don’t know them, sir.”
“Do you have children, Harold?” I asked again.
“No, sir.”
“Good. Now tell me about the Darakul Cult. Don’t lie to me.”
Sweat started forming on his forehead. His eyes darted away, trying to avoid mine. I couldn’t take any more deception.
“You know lying to the police is a crime, right? If you don’t tell me what you know about them, I’ll take you to the station, and then you’ll have to talk.”
“No... I can’t, Jack,” he stammered.
I pulled out my wallet and placed a hundred-dollar bill in front of him, but I wasn’t planning to wait for him to take it.
I drew my gun and aimed it at his face. He jerked back, crashing into the shelves behind him. Glasses shattered onto the floor. His hands shot up in surrender.
“Please, Jack!”
“You have two choices: Talk, or I put a bullet in your skull,” I said, my voice as cold as steel.
“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything! Just don’t shoot!” he trembled.
What I did might surprise you.
But to me, it was simply the natural response.
The pressure had pushed me to use threats.
“You… a cop? How could you do this?”
Maybe you’ve wondered about me, but I’ll tell you later.
“Alright, tell me everything about them, without lies, Harold,” I said.
“Alright,” he finally replied.
Then, unable to meet my eyes, he said, “They are an evil cult, controlling everything. Their place is on the moon.”
“I want their names, now.”
“I don’t know much about them, but one day, Scar, that drunken fool, got too wasted and started talking about this cult.”
“Scar Tyler?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“I swear on my wife’s life.”
“Alright, Harold, are you going to file a complaint against me?”
“No, sir.”
“Good.”
Scar Tyler lived in his rundown trailer on the outskirts of town, as if he were a shadow himself. A man in his late thirties, unmarried, seemingly caring for no one but himself. His black eyes were as dark as the night, and his long, unkempt hair hung over his forehead in a way befitting only those who chose to live on the fringes of society. But there was something else—something everyone noticed… the tattoos. Covering his body entirely, eerie designs and cryptic symbols, some carrying messages that might never be deciphered.
One cold night, when I arrived in the district, I headed straight for his trailer. I pounded on the door forcefully. “Scar Tyler? I’m Jack Smith, the sheriff… open up.”
A muffled voice filled with contempt came from inside: “What do you want?”
A sudden anger surged within me, and I yelled, banging on the door harder: “Open the damn door, or I’ll break it down!”
Suddenly, the voice inside faltered, followed by the sound of the lock clicking open. Scar Tyler slowly opened the door, as if time itself had slowed. I stepped in quickly. The air inside was suffocating, thick with chaos and haze. Clothes were piled in every corner, and naked pictures covered the walls—a disturbing sight hard to endure.
In the corner, a blonde prostitute sat on a tattered bed, her eyes lost in an eerie calm, as if she were part of the nightmare I was in. I spoke firmly: “Leave. Now.”
She ignored me for a moment before rising slowly and dressing. Before leaving, she gave Scar a faint smile and said, “Goodbye, darling.”
Scar replied in a hushed tone, too low for me to catch, but something in his voice felt… unnatural. “Goodbye.”
He then turned to me and smirked. “What is it, Sheriff?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I shoved my gun against his long nose forcefully. The air was thick with tension, and I felt the void closing in around us. I leaned in, whispering coldly: “Now, you’re going to confess everything… you filthy rat.”
Scar recoiled, but I sensed something deeper behind those lying black eyes. At that moment, everything changed. The air inside the trailer grew darker, heavier.
Scar collapsed onto the floor, his face pale from pain. Blood streamed from his nose, his eyes wide with terror, and he whispered weakly, “Why did you do that?”
“Shut your damn mouth,” I replied icily, pressing the gun against his head harder. “You have two choices—live or die.”
His facial expression twisted in fear, his eyes betraying pure horror. And I… I enjoyed playing the merciless villain.
“Please… don’t kill me,” he whimpered.
But why do they always say that same pathetic line? Whether in movies or stories, if someone is about to die, no one gives them a chance to beg—except in rare cases of revenge. But that’s another topic…
I pressed the gun harder against his head and said calmly, “I told you to choose.”
“I want to live…” he stammered, practically pleading for his life.
“Get up. Now,” I ordered.
Scar stood, clutching his bleeding nose, and I gestured toward the bed where the prostitute had been lying. “Sit down.”
He obeyed, his body trembling like a frightened child afraid of the dark… Death had come too close, and it was written all over his face.
Keeping the gun aimed at his head, I said, “You told me you want to live… Fine, that’s a reasonable choice. Now, tell me—where is my wife?”
“I don’t know,” he stammered.
“That’s your first lie,” I said.
Scar stood abruptly, “I swear I don’t know… I can’t tell you.”
“This question determines your fate… but sit down first.”
He sat down again, sweat dripping from his forehead and chest, as if it would spill onto his white underwear.
“You’re a member of the Darakul Cult, aren’t you?”
He asked in a puzzled voice, “No… What are you talking about? I don’t know any cult.”
Here, my anger began to rise unnaturally… I pulled the silencer from my coat and redirected the gun.
Scar stood up, saying, “Yes… I am one of them, I am one of them, don’t shoot!”
Guess what happened next? I didn’t kill him if that’s what you think… Instead, I fired three bullets beside him on the bed, the holes clearly visible in the sheets. Then, I saw urine soaking his underwear… He had pissed himself out of sheer fear.
I aimed the gun at his head and said, “This is your last chance… Talk about everything related to your cult, or I’ll empty this magazine into your skull.”
He swore, “I’ll talk, but please, don’t kill me!”
He raised his hands in a desperate attempt to show he wasn’t a threat.
“Speak quickly.”
In a low voice, he said, “The Darakul cult… They are trying to save the town from the monsters… And for that, they need to kill a pregnant woman, to extract the child from her womb—for the Brother of the Moon.”
I flinched at those words and said, “What? Do you want me to blow your head off?”
He quickly replied, “I swear to you, it’s real… It’s the truth, sir!”
Monsters? A cult trying to save the town from monsters?
I took a deep breath as I faced Scar, who looked terrified, as if his fear-filled eyes had found no refuge from their horror.
“You don’t understand the meaning well…” his voice whispered before he added, “The monster is part of the cult, controlled by the ‘Brother of the Moon’… that entity no one can escape from. And if they try to understand this creature, they will discover that there will be no hope of survival.”
My heartbeat quickened, and doubts piled up in my mind.
“The Darakul cult?! Are you talking about those wicked beings?”
Scar answered in a low voice, his words barely escaping between his breaths, “Yes, they exist in the dark depths—beings no human mind can comprehend, neither their power nor their form.”
“Scar… I don’t know what’s happening to me, I feel like I’m surrounded by the insanity of the world!” I said, tightening my grip on my thoughts.
Then, a question I couldn’t resist crossed my mind.
“Do you know the secret behind those corpses in the cave? Are they vampires?”
Scar’s eyes widened, and I heard a voice from the depths:
“Vampires? No, those were former cult members who accepted the blessing of the ‘Brother of the Moon’ and became part of those dark shadows—shadows from which there is no return.”
He paused for a moment as if expecting something in the darkness.
“They are not what you imagine… But they are trapped, just like the monster. The reason for their confinement around the cave is that this is the beginning of something coming… something dark.”
“Who is this ‘Brother of the Moon’?” I asked, anticipation filling my voice.
Scar responded, nearly choking on his own words, “He is… the beginning of the curse. A monster that cannot be killed, because when he dies, the curse transfers to one of the cult members.”
I felt something dark seeping into my veins.
“And why don’t they just kill the monster?”
He answered in a trembling voice, “Because the monster is the curse itself, and every time one of them dies, the punishment transfers to another. And if someone kills him, the curse will continue through a family line… until the very blood becomes bound to the cult.”
A suffocating silence filled the air before he asked me, “Do you know the cult leader? Where do they hide?”
“We don’t know. Their meetings take place in the heart of the cave, where they are consumed by fire and vanish into the shadows,” Scar whispered in a disturbing tone, then added, “I don’t blame you if you don’t believe me, but you have to see it to believe what I’m saying.”
Suddenly, I saw him sticking out his tongue, as if moving something strange inside his mouth, his eyes filled with malice.
“What is that?” I asked, my voice unsteady.
“It is the curse… a mark of the darkness you cannot escape,” he answered with a chilling grin.
I said in a trembling voice, “Are you saying the monster is human?”
He answered calmly, as if darkness surrounded every word, “Exactly. At midnight, you will have only two choices: either sacrifice your wife and child to save the town from this monster, or save them—but you will face catastrophic consequences.”
I paused, trying to grasp what he had just said.
“What do you mean?”
Here, Scar smiled under the dim light, his face overflowing with mystery.
“The choice is yours. But don’t think survival will be easy.”
“When you save your wife, you will unleash the monster within you—the monster whose moment of choice will dissolve all hope and free it from the chains of time. You will soon understand what will happen next… what this monster will do to the town.”
His words fell from his mouth, heavy and filled with menace. A low chuckle echoed between his lips as he continued:
“You don’t get it, do you? The fate of the town is now in your hands. The choice is yours… either sacrifice her life to save the town, or save her yourself if you think you can—but then the monster will be released upon the streets. The choice is in your hands, sir.”
A cold tear slid down Scar’s forehead, as if his own words ignited a fire in his mind. He lifted his head with difficulty, while the space for hope seemed to shrink around him. His words were like knives, cutting through the distance of understanding.
I stepped closer to him, the gun trembling against his forehead with icy resolve. His head lowered before my eyes, knowing the end was near. I whispered in a quiet but unmistakably firm tone:
“Alright, let me tell you something, Scar. Humanity… or my wife? I will choose my wife, and humanity can go to hell.”
A dreadful silence weighed down the atmosphere. He did not move, nor could he respond. But with one step, I turned, standing at the door as I delivered my final words to him:
“Don’t even think about filing a complaint against me… Understood?”
His heart nearly stopped from the weight of those whispered words.
“Understood, sir.”
Then, with a sharp tone, he added:
“Fool. Damn fool.”
At midnight, my car stopped at the entrance of the forest, where two police cars stood beside us. Each car had only two officers—after all, the cursed town of Norran had no more than four policemen. Even if they requested reinforcements from the capital, it would take at least a week, especially in this bitter cold.
I stepped out of my car, gripping my gun tightly, while Mary readied hers as well. Sophia, as usual, was not one to back down easily.
She said to me, in a half-sarcastic tone, “Are you sure about what you said?”
“Yes, Scar told me everything about the monster, the corpses of strangers, and the cosmic gods surrounding them… But this… this is just nonsense! There’s a cult planning to sacrifice my wife for a god that resides in the moon!”
Sophia then turned to the team and said firmly, “Ready?”
Everyone responded, “Yes, Chief.”
“Then let’s move…”
As we walked through the snow, a shadow emerged from behind the trees. Everyone froze, raising their weapons, but Sophia lifted her hand and said in a low voice, “Wait… stay calm, don’t shoot!” She looked at his black sunglasses and said, “Michael, what are you doing here?”
He replied coolly, “Nothing, just hunting a deer.”
He was holding a sniper rifle. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “Is there a problem, Chief?”
“No, I just want you to go home now.”
“Alright, but can I help you?”
Sophia answered in a sharp tone, “This doesn’t concern you. Go home, Michael.”
This wasn’t the first time we had trouble dealing with Sophia. Her harsh manner annoyed everyone she met, which was why she was considered the second most disliked person in town.
Michael left our path, but by then, night had fully descended upon us, and the place was engulfed in an eerie darkness. We couldn’t turn on any lights, fearing they might expose us in this desolate night.
After some time, we arrived at a cave, hiding behind one of the giant trees.
In front of us, Sarah was tied to a wooden pillar, crying. Around her stood a cult of about twenty individuals, all wearing white masks and white robes. I didn’t know why, but in that moment, I couldn’t help but remember Scar’s words: “The cult is not evil… they are trying to save the town by sacrificing your wife!”
My thoughts raced in my head when Mary approached and asked, “What do we do now?”
“Go from the eastern side, then distract them. Wisam and I will rescue Sarah.”
“Why don’t we just confront them directly?” Sam asked, his tone oddly resolute.
I had forgotten to introduce Sam—he was my second-in-command. He was known for his recklessness.
I said to him, “Look at them… they’re religious fanatics. If we rush in, they might try to harm Sarah.”
Then Sophia said firmly, “Shall we move now?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
The two women moved with their guns toward the eastern side while Wisam and I waited for the right moment.
But then… in front of Sarah… there was someone wearing a blue robe, different from the white ones the others wore. No doubt, this was their leader.
Seconds later, the figure removed the robe, revealing a bare body.
And suddenly, it became clear that this… or rather, she… was…
The girl stood before me, her eyes gleaming in the darkness as if she held a secret no one could comprehend. Suddenly, I felt something strange in the air, as if the ground beneath me was shifting. Then the bizarre scene unfolded before me: the girl, who seemed perfectly normal, began to kneel, as if pain was seeping into her body.
And in an instant, strange markings appeared on her skin. A long tail emerged from behind her, black fur spread across her body, and her legs twisted into the legs of a goat, as if she were transforming into something else—something from a world unknown to us. Her torso swelled with bizarre muscles, and her head shifted into that of a massive bull with sharp horns and nostrils emitting white smoke.
In that moment, my limbs froze, and I couldn’t move. Terror crept into me so deeply that I could barely breathe.
As for Sam, his eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets from shock, his voice trembling as he asked, “What… is that thing?”
I couldn’t respond. I raised my gun and said, “Hold on, man.”
Suddenly, the monstrous creature advanced, while Sarah’s screams grew louder as it drew closer. At that moment, figures emerged from behind the trees, chanting strange hymns in hushed tones, as if they were preparing for something—something beyond our understanding.
It wasn’t long before the battle erupted. The air filled with gunfire and deafening sounds. In an instant, I found myself shooting at the advancing cultists, watching bodies burst apart as if they were lifeless balloons. The world was collapsing around me.
Then another man came at me with a knife, and a strange realization struck me—these were not ordinary people. With every shot Sam fired, I could see the fury in their eyes. I didn’t hesitate. We gunned down everyone in our way, but suddenly, a voice from behind us shouted, “Freeze! The police have surrounded the area!”
The monster still roared in the distance as we tried to escape. Sam’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he shouted, “What are you waiting for? Save your wife!”
We all ran, with Sam firing in every direction. But suddenly, we heard a scream from behind us… It was a familiar voice—Sophia’s.
We turned around and saw her clothes soaked in blood. The monster had grabbed her by her hair, lifting her into the air like a mere toy in its grip. And then… it tore her in half.
“Sophia… No!” Sam screamed. But we couldn’t save her. At that moment, everything felt blurry, and it all seemed to be heading toward the end.
We rushed toward our cars, which were waiting for us, but in an unexpected moment, Sam’s head slammed into the windshield. We tumbled into the snow covering the road. The night had begun to consume us, and the mystery surrounding us was thicker than ever…
I jerked the car violently and started driving at a speed beyond reason. Every time I looked behind me, a chill ran through my body. Meanwhile, Sarah was crying, her voice trembling as she said:
“What is this hell? We’re going to die!”
I answered, trying to mask the fear creeping into my heart:
“No, sweetheart, I’m here… Nothing will happen to you, believe me.”
But my heart was about to leap out of my chest. I expected the monster to appear behind us, in front of us… or even descend upon us from the sky at any moment.
We reached an abandoned town, then entered our home, but something felt… off. The place wasn’t as it used to be. Something strange, something dark, lurked in the shadows…
“Pack all your things… We’re leaving this town,” I told her.
She glanced through the glass window, and suddenly, she saw something running fast, holding something odd in its hands. Within moments, she stepped away just before something shattered the window and ignited—
A Molotov cocktail.
I quickly tore off my jacket, trying to smother the flames, but the liquid spread faster than I could react.
Sarah rushed down, screaming. “The back door!” I yelled.
We ran swiftly, and as soon as we opened the door, we found a man standing before us, holding a bat—one of the cult members. Suddenly, his head dropped after a single gunshot. He collapsed dead at our feet.
We sprinted toward the car, only to find that the bastards had slashed all four tires.
“What do we do now?” Sarah asked.
“I have a plan,” I replied.
Inside my car was a box containing four grenades. I pulled out two and handed them to her. “Just in case,” I said, slipping the other two into my pants pocket.
We ran through the town’s streets, and upon reaching a narrow alley, we encountered four cult members—unmasked.
One of them, a red-bearded man, sneered, “You’re destroying the town… The monster won’t stop until it kills her!”
At that moment, the monster leaped from the roof of a nearby building. A massive roar echoed, and then it lunged toward us.
We sprinted back, while Sarah turned her head and saw the beast tearing two of the cultists apart, as the remaining two desperately tried to fight it off.
Screams echoed from every corner of the town, as if the ground itself was breathing in fury. Suddenly, fires erupted in the houses, and thick smoke rushed to the sky, painting it in an eerie shade of gray—like the night had fallen before its time.
Above it all, the blue moon stood high between the clouds, watching the chaos unfold as if reveling in it.
We slipped into one of the houses and cautiously shut the door behind us. The place was empty, as if its residents had fled at the last moment.
The sound of an axe pounding against wood reverberated through the air, hammering against our hearts with every strike.
Sarah’s terrified voice broke through, “What do we do? The town is burning!”
I answered, though my words were little more than a lie: “Don’t be afraid, everything will be fine.”
But deep down, I knew we were heading into darkness from which there was no return.
Suddenly, a loud thud struck the door—again and again—the sound shifting between hammer and axe. Then came a furious, agonized scream:
“Curse you all, you sons of bitches!”
The voice shattered the silence, a storm of rage erupting in every direction.
I stepped forward, gripping my gun with trembling hands. Not from fear—but from exhaustion weighing down my body.
Sarah, too, raised her gun, her eyes burning with fury.
The moment the dreadful sound erupted, I saw a masked man charging toward us, a gleaming machete in his grip—like a weapon forged in some forgotten legend.
Sarah fired first. The bullet struck his right leg, sending him crashing to the floor. His agonized scream rippled through the air—like the wounded cries of the earth itself.
I ran toward him, gripping my pistol tightly. The masked man raised his other hand, groaning, “Mercy!”
Sarah answered with eyes blazing with fury, “Shut up!” Then she fired another shot, blowing his head into pieces.
But before we could process what had happened, we heard the door shatter behind us. Sarah screamed, stepping back as an axe tore through the door like it was mere wood.
“Go to the second floor.”
Sarah rushed upstairs while I stood my ground, my heart racing with every strike against the door. With each passing second, the floor trembled beneath us, as if the entire world was about to collapse.
Then suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a figure wielding an axe—like a harbinger of death. In an instant, I pulled the trigger; my bullet was faster than the axe, and his head exploded onto the ground.
Yet, there was no time to breathe. Outside, fires had engulfed everything. The masked men roamed every corner, leaving only death and destruction in their wake. The monster was nowhere to be seen. Houses were being looted and burned, cars were seized by the cultists, and the townspeople were being slaughtered. Screams filled the air.
I quickly shut the door as I saw three men approaching. This door wouldn’t hold for long. I tossed my empty magazine aside and loaded a fresh one. The first man kicked the door open—my bullet greeted him, sending him crashing onto the floor, lifeless.
One of them shouted, “Surrender, Jack! The town is in ruins because of you!”
Another added, “You chose your wife over the town—how selfish!”
The third man smirked, looking up, “Look at the blue moon. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Before I could react, I saw a Molotov cocktail flying toward me. I stumbled back as it crashed onto the floor, igniting flames that spread at a hellish speed. The two men fled. I tried to run upstairs, but the fire was faster than me!
Sarah screamed, as if sensing what was coming, “Jack! Jack, don’t come up!”
But the fire had already claimed its place.
From the top floor, Sarah’s voice trembled through the chaos, “Jack… the fire!”
Panicked, I tried to calm her, “Don’t be afraid, darling… find a window… an exit… now!”
The storm raged outside, and with it, an even greater danger loomed. I turned swiftly, heading toward the back door that led to a small garden blanketed in white snow. But as I lifted my gaze, I saw the window and shouted,
“Sarah! Sarah!”
Moments later, she appeared at the window, her eyes filled with terror.
“How do I get out?” she asked, her voice shaky with fear.
I couldn’t think, but I blurted out, “Jump… jump out the window!”
“Are you insane? I’m pregnant!” she screamed.
And in that moment, darkness thickened. I felt something massive descending from the sky. It wasn’t a hallucination—it was a monster. A bull’s head, a massive muscular body, and goat-like legs moving with terrifying speed.
Before I could react, I raised my pistol and fired three shots, but they had no effect.
What was this creature? I didn’t know.
In mere moments, it crashed through the roof and entered the room behind me.
“Sarah… no… no!” I screamed, my eyes locked on the window.
And then, something heavy fell at my feet.
I looked down… it was the upper half of Sarah’s body.
Everything inside me shattered.
I fell to my knees in the snow, cradling her lifeless torso in my arms, as another part of her body tumbled down before me.
Then, out of nowhere, the beast leapt from the window, marching toward me with heavy steps, reeking of sulfur. A black void consumed everything, and its glowing red eyes locked onto mine.
“Son of a bitch!” I screamed, my tears mixing with the snow.
But no one could hear me.
It came closer, its strikes merciless, until I felt my body being hurled away—far from the snow, far from everything.
Then, above me, before I could even comprehend what was happening, I felt something massive pressing against my back. The pressure was unbearable—I thought my bones would shatter.
I looked into its eyes and whispered, “Goodbye, son of a bitch.”
Its red eyes shifted downward, noticing what I held in my hand.
Two grenades.
There was nothing but a blinding white light…
Then, darkness swallowed everything.
