“This object is still being located.”
Brandon was a simple candlemaker who lived a quiet and peaceful life in his small village. One day, while out for a walk in the woods, he stumbled upon an old, abandoned cottage.
Intrigued by the dilapidated building, Brandon approached the front door and tried the handle. To his surprise, it was unlocked. As he pushed the door open, a musty smell filled his nostrils, and he heard the creaking of old, worn floorboards beneath him.
He stepped inside and was struck by how dark and eerie the house was. Cobwebs adorned the corners of the room. The windows were all broken, letting in streams of light that seemed to dance and flicker around.
Despite the unsettling atmosphere, Brandon felt drawn to explore further. He made his way through the hut, peering into each room. Finally, he reached the last room. It was a small, cramped space filled with old, rusted tools and piles of debris.
Brandon rummaged through the clutter, brushing his hand against something cold and metallic. He looked down and saw a flat, intricately molded key lying among the debris. Without thinking, he picked it up and pocketed it.
As he turned to leave the room, he heard a faint whisper behind him. “Don’t leave,” it said. “I’ll give you anything you want.”
Startled, Brandon spun around, but there was no one there. He could feel his heart racing as he hurried out of the house and back into the safety of the daylight.
Despite the unsettling encounter, Brandon couldn’t shake the feeling the key was somehow important. He spent the next few days trying to unlock every door and lock he could find, but nothing seemed to fit.
One night, as he lay in bed, he heard the whisper again. “Use the key,” it said. “I’ll give you anything you desire.”
Terrified, Brandon threw the key out of his bedroom window and tried to forget it. But the whispers continued, growing louder and more persistent each night until he eventually retrieved it.
After becoming desperate, Brandon returned to the abandoned cottage and looked for a door that matched the key. In the room where he had discovered the key, he noticed a hidden door disguised by a shelf in the corner. Brandon removed everything from the shelves and saw a lock. He inserted the key and turned it, causing the wall to open inward and reveal a hidden staircase that led down into the darkness.
Trembling with fear, Brandon descended the stairs, his footsteps echoing through the quiet house. At the bottom, he found himself in a small, candlelit room filled with treasures beyond his wildest dreams.
But as he reached out to take a jewel pulsating red with extraordinary power, he heard the whisper again but this time coming from all around him. “Welcome home,” it said. “You’ll never leave.”
