Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Alice's footsteps echoed in the cave, each step seemingly synchronized with her heartbeat, heavy and rapid. The air was thick with humidity, making it hard to breathe. She lifted her head, the beam of her flashlight illuminating the strange rock walls and narrow passages around her. These stones seemed to whisper an ancient secret to her, the truth she had longed to uncover—about her parents, about the mask, about her past.
"Fox, I will go in by myself." She glanced back, her voice firm yet tinged with an undeniable resolve.
Fox stood at the entrance, his brow furrowed. "Alice, this place is too dangerous. You can't go in alone..." He paused, letting out a sigh. "I know what you want to do, but can you really handle it?"
Alice didn't answer immediately; her gaze pierced through the darkness of the cave entrance as if she could see far into the past beyond those rocks. There were her parents, memories she had never truly recalled. She shook her head gently and managed a faint smile. "I can't stay here any longer, Fox. I need to find the real answers."
Fox was silent for a moment before finally nodding. "Alright, but you must be careful."
Without another word, Alice turned and stepped into the cave. Each step felt like treading on unknown fears; however, the force driving her forward far outweighed the fear itself. She could not turn back or stop.
The air inside grew increasingly oppressive, and gradually, the light began to dim. She instinctively quickened her pace as the surroundings became more bizarre; indistinct symbols occasionally appeared on the rock walls, resembling some ancient language that silently told a story long forgotten.
Suddenly, the beam of light fell upon a hidden rock wall ahead. Alice approached and noticed that the surface of the stone did not seem naturally formed; it looked as if it had been deliberately excavated. She crouched down and gently touched the rock with her hand, feeling a chill at her fingertips. Just then, the stone suddenly trembled slightly and emitted a low rumble.
"This is it..." Alice murmured to herself as her heart began to race. Taking a deep breath, she pushed against the stone with all her strength. It slowly moved aside, revealing a dark passageway. Without hesitation, Alice squeezed through.
The passage was narrower than she had imagined; she had to bend down and lower her head to advance. A decayed smell filled the air, causing her to wrinkle her nose involuntarily. Each step seemed to test her patience, but she knew that the deeper she went, the closer she would be to finding her true answers.
Gradually, the passage widened and light began to brighten. Before her lay a vast underground chamber filled with dust and cobwebs; the air was thick with the weight of time. In the center of the room stood an ancient wooden table cluttered with scattered papers and some indistinct fragments. On one wall hung a tattered oil painting; although the figures were blurred, one indistinct face made Alice's heart skip a beat—she felt as though she had seen it somewhere before.
She approached the table and lightly touched the pile of papers with her fingers. The fragments appeared to be abandoned memories; some words were nearly consumed by time and difficult to decipher. She bent down to examine them closely, trying to piece together clues within them. Suddenly, several edges of paper aligned perfectly together, revealing a complete passage:
"Alice, the mask will guide you to the truth, but behind it lies a fear you cannot escape within yourself."
These words sent a jolt through Alice's heart. She remembered this phrase; someone had once told her, a voice from her memory, vague yet deeply imprinted in her mind. Her hands trembled slightly as she picked up more papers, piecing together another message:
"You have never truly faced your past; your fear is the true face of the mask."
Alice's thoughts became chaotic. Her parents, the missing mask—everything seemed intricately connected to these words. Suddenly, she recalled her parents often warning her in her childhood: "Never touch that mask; it can change you and everything you see."
"What does that mask hide?" she murmured to herself.
As she pondered, a faint sound of footsteps echoed in the room. Alice abruptly lifted her head, her gaze locking onto a corner of the room. There stood a figure, shrouded in shadows, dressed in a long black robe that seemed to be consumed by darkness. The figure remained still, quietly standing there, eyes glimmering with a profound and complex light.
"Who are you?" Alice's voice trembled slightly, but she fought to maintain her composure. She knew this person must hold the truth she had been seeking.
The figure smiled faintly, an expression tinged with an indescribable pity. "You have finally found your way here, Alice." His voice was deep and magnetic, as if it came from a great distance.
"Who are you?" Alice's heart raced; she felt herself drawing closer to an unnameable truth while simultaneously sensing an invisible pressure.
The figure did not answer but continued to approach her, each step steady and slow, as if he were in no hurry to unveil the mystery before them. "You have been searching for answers but have overlooked the most fundamental fact. You do not need external truths because your own heart is the greatest enigma."
Alice furrowed her brow slightly. "I don't understand what you're saying."
He stopped just a few steps away from her, his eyes flashing with complex emotions. "Alice, you do not fully understand yourself. The truth you perceive is merely a projection of your inner fears. The reason you have found these fragments is that you have been evading your past all along."
“Past?” Alice's voice trembled slightly. “Are you saying that my parents... why did they leave me?”
The man sighed softly. “Your parents did not abandon you. Everything they did was to protect you. But you have never truly faced the fears within yourself. You have avoided and suppressed them, yet these things will ultimately resurface.”
Alice's heart jolted. She could almost feel those forgotten memories flooding back like a tide. Her parents' faces, the warnings from long ago, the mask in the darkness—everything began to piece together into a startling truth.
“You are... you are a friend of my father's, aren't you?” she asked in a near whisper.
The man nodded gently, his eyes filled with deep compassion. “Yes, I was once a friend of your parents. I know what they went through, and I know everything they did for you.”
Alice's heart raced. “What do you know? Why didn't you tell me?”
He did not answer immediately, gazing into the distant darkness as if recalling something. “Some memories are simply too heavy to bear. Your parents chose to make you forget in order to free you from the curse of the mask. But that was not the end; it was a new beginning.”
Alice could hardly bear the weight of his words. She knelt on the ground, gripping the scraps of paper tightly, her eyes filled with confusion and pain. She had never imagined that all the secrets lay hidden deep within her own heart, and that she had been running away all along.
“Everything your parents did was to help you face yourself,” he continued. “Only you can break this curse.”
Comment 0 Comment Count