— Into the Unknown

The house was darker than ever.

The old clock on the wall ticked softly...

Counting down the final moments they would spend inside.

Evelyn tightened the straps of the backpack over her shoulders.

"Ready?"

Ariel looked around the room one last time.

The curtains her mother had sewn by hand...

The little bookshelf beside the fireplace...

The worn wooden table where the four of them had shared countless dinners.

She lowered her eyes.

"...No."

A faint smile tugged at Evelyn's lips.

"...Me neither."

For a brief moment...

Neither of them moved.

As though taking one more step would erase everything behind them.

Then Evelyn reached into her pocket.

The cold iron key rested in her palm.

She stared at it.

This little key had locked this door every night for years.

Protected their home.

Their family.

Their childhood.

Now...

It protected nothing.

She stepped outside first.

The street was empty.

Only the distant glow of burning buildings painted the clouds a dull orange.

She turned around.

Ariel quietly closed the front door behind them.

The old wood creaked one last time.

Click.

The lock turned.

Ariel looked at Evelyn.

"...What do we do with the key?"

Evelyn remained silent.

Then she gently placed it on the stone step in front of the house.

Ariel frowned.

"Aren't we taking it?"

"...No."

"What if..."

She couldn't finish.

Evelyn looked at the house for a long moment.

"If fate ever brings us back..."

she whispered,

"...this door won't be waiting for us."

A cold wind swept through the alley.

Neither of them looked back again.

They stayed close to the walls, moving through the sleeping streets.

Every shadow felt alive.

Every distant sound made Ariel's heart race.

She instinctively grabbed Evelyn's sleeve.

"...Eli?"

"Hm?"

"What if someone sees us?"

"They won't."

"...How do you know?"

"I don't."

Evelyn glanced toward the dark intersection ahead.

"...But standing still is more dangerous."

Ariel swallowed.

She nodded without another word.

Far away...

A dog barked.

Both sisters froze.

A lantern flickered in the window of a nearby house.

Someone coughed inside.

Then...

Silence returned.

Only after several long seconds did Evelyn move again.

"Come."

They crossed the last row of houses.

The stone road slowly disappeared beneath patches of damp grass.

Ahead of them...

The forest waited.

Dark.

Silent.

Endless.

Ariel stopped walking.

"...Eli."

Evelyn looked back.

"...Do we really have to go in there?"

Her voice trembled.

"They say people disappear."

"They say no one who enters ever comes back."

"They say..."

She hugged herself tightly.

"...there are monsters."

Evelyn stepped beside her.

She could hear the fear hidden behind every word.

Truthfully...

She was afraid too.

Terrified.

But she couldn't let Ariel see that.

She gently took her sister's cold hands.

"I've heard the stories."

Ariel looked down.

"...Then why?"

Evelyn took a slow breath.

"Because stories have never frightened me as much as people."

She glanced toward the town behind them.

Smoke still rose into the night sky.

"If we stay..."

Her voice grew quieter.

"...we already know what awaits us."

She looked back at the forest.

"But in there..."

A faint breeze rustled the trees.

"...there's still a chance."

"A small one."

"...Maybe."

She squeezed Ariel's hand.

"I'd rather gamble on hope..."

"...than surrender to certainty."

Ariel stared at the forest for several seconds.

Then...

Without saying a word...

She slowly tightened her grip around Evelyn's hand.

It was enough.

Evelyn smiled softly.

"Stay close to me."

"I always do."

Together...

The two sisters stepped beneath the towering trees.

The darkness swallowed them almost immediately.

Behind them...

Britain.

War.

Their home.

Their childhood.

Ahead...

Only silence.

And a path that no one had promised would lead to tomorrow.

End of Part Four

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