CHAPTER 32: THE CHAMBER.

The moment I stepped through the doorway, the air changed.

It wasn’t just cold—it was thick. Heavy. Like stepping into the deep end of a lake where the water pulled at your skin.

Behind me, the students hesitated.

"Yeah, no," Felix whispered. "I’d rather eat my own foot."

Leo groaned. "No one is making you do that."

Cassandra walked forward without a word, Mira close behind. Julien sighed and followed, dragging Felix by the back of his collar.

I didn’t wait for them.

The purple smoke slithered ahead, twisting and curling in lazy spirals. It was slower now, like it knew I was following.

Like it was leading me somewhere.

The tunnel opened into a vast underground hall.

Massive stone pillars stretched high above, vanishing into shadows. The walls were covered in faces—not carvings, not paintings, but actual faces of stone.

Their mouths were open in silent screams.

Their eyes—deep, hollow pits—followed us as we moved.

Felix saw them and immediately turned pale. "Nope. Nope, nope, nope. I refuse. I REJECT THIS REALITY."

Julien gave one of the stone faces a cheerful wave. "Maybe they just want a conversation."

Felix gawked at him. "DO NOT TALK TO THE CURSED WALL PEOPLE."

Mira poked at one. "They’re not cursed."

Felix exhaled in relief.

"They’re trapped souls."

Felix immediately backed away. "That’s worse."

I ignored their usual nonsense and examined the hall.

At the far end stood a massive stone altar. A book lay on it, dust-covered, untouched by time.

And the purple smoke was crawling toward it.

The moment I stepped toward the altar, the air shifted again.

Something unseen watched me.

A feeling of waiting.

I reached out.

The book was old, bound in thick, cracked leather. No title. No markings.

The moment my fingers touched it—

The whispers began.

Soft. Crawling. Inside my skull.

Not words, not voices. Just a presence, pressing against my mind.

It wanted to be read.

I opened the book.

The pages were filled with runes. Unknown, complex... yet familiar.

I didn’t realize I had started reading aloud until I heard my own voice.

The whispers grew louder.

Felix whimpered, "Professor, I hate this."

Julien’s grin faded. "Maybe... maybe close it?"

Mira narrowed her eyes. "No. Let him continue."

Leo hissed, "Are you insane?!"

Cassandra whispered, "It’s already begun."

The runes shifted as I read.

I could see the purple smoke twisting through the letters, rearranging them.

And then—

The walls screamed.

The Hall Comes Alive

The stone faces moved.

Their mouths opened wider, and a chorus of agony filled the chamber.

The pillars cracked.

The ground shuddered.

Felix made an ungodly noise. "NOPE. NOPE. I AM OFFICIALLY DONE."

Julien muttered, "Well. That’s horrifying."

Mira smirked. "Oh, come on, it’s just a little screaming—"

A hand burst from the wall beside her.

She dodged just in time. "Okay, that’s new."

More hands shot out from the walls. Hundreds of them. Gray, lifeless, reaching.

The stone faces wept black tears.

Leo cursed, drawing his sword. "Can we LEAVE?!"

I didn’t move.

Because I finally understood.

They weren’t attacking.

They were begging.

Felix yelped as a hand brushed his hair. "THEY’RE TOUCHING ME, PROFESSOR, I HATE IT."

I exhaled.

Then I slammed the book shut.

The whispers stopped.

The faces froze.

The hands retracted.

The chamber fell into silence.

For a long moment, no one spoke.

Felix slowly slid to the ground, eyes hollow. "I will never sleep again."

Julien nudged the book. "So... that was fun."

Mira grinned. "Let’s do it again."

Leo shot her a betrayed look.

Cassandra turned to me. "What did you read?"

I stared at the book in my hands.

The purple smoke still clung to it.

And I somehow knew...

This wasn’t over.

I kept staring at the book. The runes on the cover looked normal now. Silent. Like it hadn’t just tried to wake the dead.

My students were still recovering.

Felix was sitting on the floor, arms wrapped around his knees, rocking back and forth. "Nope. No thanks. I’d rather die than be in this room another second."

Julien nudged the book with his foot. "So, Professor. You gonna keep that, or...?"

Mira crossed her arms. "Obviously. He’s not the type to leave cursed objects behind."

Leo groaned. "Do we have to take it? Can’t we just—burn it or something?"

I flipped the book open again. The pages were blank.

Figures.

Cassandra watched me closely. "...Did the whispers say anything important?"

"They didn’t say anything." I shut the book again. "They just existed."

Felix twitched. "Like the smoke?"

I tensed.

But no one else reacted.

Of course. He meant the normal creepy smoke in the air, not the purple smoke only I could see.

"Something like that," I said.

Felix groaned. "I hate that answer."

With the book secured, we left the chamber.

The walls didn’t scream again, but the faces watched us go.

Felix kept his back against Julien as we walked. "If one of them so much as twitches, you’re carrying me out."

Julien sighed. "You do realize I’m not your personal bodyguard, right?"

"You say that, but I don’t believe you."

Mira snickered. "I think we should stay a little longer. Maybe solve the mystery."

Leo snapped his head toward her. "There is no mystery. This is just a haunted cave of suffering. End of story."

Mira raised a brow. "That’s exactly what someone in a horror story would say before dying."

Leo looked like he regretted everything.

The cave air was cold, but the purple smoke was getting thicker.

It still didn’t do anything. It just floated. Shifted. Twisted when I moved.

I didn’t tell the students.

They were already on edge. No point making it worse.

Felix jumped at a rock and nearly fell over.

Julien gave him a look. "It’s a rock."

"You don’t know that!" Felix glared at the ground. "It could be a cursed rock. Maybe it’s got, like, evil energy."

Mira crouched and picked it up. "Nope. Just a rock."

Felix narrowed his eyes. "It’s waiting."

I sighed and kept walking.

The Door That Wasn’t There Before

After what felt like an hour, we reached a dead end.

Except—

There was a door.

A massive, old, stone door, covered in runes.

Leo frowned. "That... was not here before."

Mira ran a hand over the surface. "Looks ancient."

Felix threw up his hands. "Great. Another cursed thing. Should we go inside? No! Are we gonna? Yes! Because we never learn."

Julien smirked. "See, this is why we keep you around. For your optimism."

Felix flipped him off.

I stepped closer.

The purple smoke was pouring out from the edges of the door.

Thicker than before.

Almost like it was leaking from inside.

I reached for the handle.

Leo grabbed my arm. "Professor. Please. Let’s not open the obviously haunted door."

I looked him in the eye. "Would you rather stay here?"

Leo stared at the cave behind us, then back at the door.

"...I hate this choice."

I pushed the door open.

Inside the Forgotten Room

The door groaned as it swung inward.

A blast of cold air hit us.

The room inside was... strange.

Massive stone shelves lined the walls, filled with scrolls and artifacts.

An altar sat in the center, similar to the one in the hall.

And at the far end—

A mirror.

A giant, ornate mirror, covered in dust.

Felix frowned. "That’s not ominous at all."

Mira walked in first. "Looks like a storage room."

Leo followed cautiously. "Storage for what, though?"

Cassandra glanced at the shelves. "Knowledge, maybe."

Julien picked up a scroll, unrolling it. "Hey, these have runes on them. Maybe they’re spell scrolls?"

I stepped toward the mirror.

The purple smoke wrapped around it, swirling against the glass.

Like it was trying to get inside.

Or worse—trying to stop something from coming out.

Felix walked up behind me. "Sooo... Professor. Does that thing look haunted, or are we just assuming?"

The mirror’s surface rippled.

Felix took five steps back. "Yup. Definitely haunted."

I didn’t move.

Because in the reflection—

My eyes were not my own.

They weren’t cyan anymore.

They were violet.

And the reflection of the smoke...

It wasn’t around me.

It was coming from my body.