The void felt endless, a swirling pit of despair and shadows. But then, just as the last strands of hope began to slip away, we landed - hard - on cold stone.
When I opened my eyes, the world around us was different. The sky was ash-gray, heavy with dark clouds. We were back at the mansion, but it wasn't the same. This was the mansion before time had worn it down before decay had seeped into its bones.
"Where are we now?" Rena asked, her voice trembling.
"This... this must be before it all fell apart," Tom said, scanning the eerily pristine hallways.
And then she appeared.
Eleanor.
Her figure shimmered like mist, her pale skin glowing faintly against the darkened backdrop of the house. Her eyes were sorrowful but resolute, her expression a mixture of relief and urgency.
"You've come," she said, her voice soft but commanding. "There isn't much time."
"Time?" I asked, stepping forward. My heart pounded in my chest. "What do you mean? Why are we here?"
"You must understand," she began, her voice laced with pain. "Victor's greed cursed this family. The fortune he so desperately sought was tainted, a relic of death and destruction. Anyone who seeks it… anyone who possesses it will pay the ultimate price. Their family will die. Their siblings will be doomed to wander, never able to call a place home for long."
Her gaze fixed on me.
"That is why your family cannot stay in one place. The curse haunts you because you are my blood."
The words hit me like a tidal wave. My knees felt weak, and the room seemed to tilt.
"But... you're saying my family knew?"
Eleanor nodded, her face clouded with sorrow. "They thought they could escape it. They believed if they kept moving, the curse would not catch up. But the curse isn't bound to one place; it is bound to the bloodline."