The Kustnas Mansion stood isolated on the edge of the forest, its silhouette looming like an ancient relic of forgotten times. Its windows were the eyes of a long-forgotten past, staring into the present with an eerie emptiness. The mansion was not just a structure of wood and stone—it was a place of secrets, of shadows that had long since grown tired of hiding. For those who sought it, it promised answers, but at a price no one could truly understand until it was too late.
The moment he stepped onto the grounds, the mansion seemed to breathe—alive in its own strange way. Something had changed since Sebastian had arrived, and Lucas felt it to . The tension, the weight of something dark and unavoidable, lingered in the air like a storm waiting to break.
Sebastian:
"Logic alone is not enough to understand this place, but I don't believe in ghosts… yet."
---
I started with the basement.
I opened the door leading to it, and the cold air hit my face like a slap. The humidity was sticky, and the scent of old wood filled my nose. I used a handheld flashlight… step by step, I began to notice that the right wall wasn't symmetrical—two bricks were a different color.
I pressed them… and a secret wall opened with a mournful creak.
Behind the wall, a narrow passage covered in dust. On the walls, old drawings of a child without features, always drawn next to a well. And beneath each drawing, a phrase written in a trembling hand:
"He sees us, and we don't see him."
At the end of the passage, a massive iron door locked with a rusty chain—no sign of a key.
---
(Back to the upper floor)
In an attempt to understand the family's behavior, I decided to observe them.
Lara (the victim's sister):
Very quiet, too quiet. She sings hymns as she cleans books in a library no one visits.
Tony (the brother):
Wears a massive wooden cross and murmurs most of the time. He says the mansion is "haunted by the spirit of the great-grandfather who wasn't buried properly."
Falk (the uncle):
Doesn't talk much, but keeps a record of everything the family members eat… and writes strange dates next to their names.
Maria (the grandmother):
Sits in the corner, whispers to unseen people, laughs suddenly, then cries, then falls silent…
Once, she held my hand and said:
"Mikhail is digging… digging beneath his room… he will open the door… and the coming ones will enter."
---
The next morning, I went to Mikhail's room.
The room was empty… but it was unusual. The wooden floor had open cracks, as if they'd been opened and closed repeatedly. Under the bed, I found digging tools, and notebooks written in a disturbingly neat and tiny handwriting.
"They don't believe me… but I see him in the mirrors."
And on the last page, it said:
"Tonight he will come… from the lower passage… be ready."
---
Sebastian (in the journals):
"The mansion hides more than it shows… and each member holds half the truth or pretends to know nothing.
But things aren't solved with superstitions… I'll reach the truth, even if I must walk into hell itself."
---
(Midnight – days into the investigation)
Sebastian finally opens the iron door in the secret passage beneath the basement, after finding the key inside an old doll in Maria's room. The doll whispered in a mechanical voice:
"Blood doesn't forget… the cult is returning."
Sebastian (in his journal):
"Everything is becoming clear. All the strange details were signs… Risky wasn't killed randomly. He was part of a secret cult called The Fifth Hand.
A cult that doesn't believe in salvation, but in transformation through pain and blood."
---
(Inside the secret chamber)
The walls are covered with stone masks, and a symbol of the cult: a hand with five eyes, each eye facing a different direction.
In the center of the room: an altar, with traces of old blood… and a black leather book titled:
"The Five Generations – Sacrifice is inevitable."
Sebastian began to read:
Risky wasn't just a member… he was "the fifth priest," the final link in an ancient ritual that must end with death.
---
(Implied flashback through)
The cult was formed by five men from the family: the uncle, the brother, the father, the grandfather, and Risky.
Each one sacrificed something… but Risky refused to complete the ritual, so he was sentenced to death.
The killer? One of the family members… maybe more than one.
---
(At that very moment – a voice behind him)
Maria appears, holding an upside-down book, laughing and whispering:
"Blood… blood… they are still here, my son. He's not dead… he is waiting."
Suddenly: an attack from Tony, the fanatical brother.
Tony (madly):
"You don't understand, Sebastian… this mansion doesn't belong to us—we are merely vessels for their rituals!
I was meant to be the next priest, but you defiled everything!"
Sebastian fights back, a violent struggle. He uses the metal flashlight to block the axe. Injuries to his shoulder, but he wins…
Yet before he can escape, Lara sedates him from behind with a syringe.
---
(Maria's voice laughing madly):
"The cult never dies… it only changes faces!"
---
Lucas had been searching for days. A few phone calls, an old address, and whispers that carried on the wind led him to the outskirts of the village. The mansion was older than the townsfolk cared to remember, hidden beneath a veil of superstition and unspoken fear. The locals spoke of the Kustnas family in hushed tones, their words filled with a cautionary reverence, as if the mere mention of the mansion would invite the shadows to stir.
As dusk began to settle, Lucas stood at the iron gate of the mansion, a place he once knew as a friend's refuge. His breath was shallow, his heart heavy with the weight of unknown truths. He had come in search of Sebastian—his friend, his confidant—who had disappeared without a trace after venturing into the mansion several days ago. The last message he'd received from Sebastian had been cryptic: "If I don't return, follow the path, Lucas. It's all connected."
A faint shiver ran through his spine. He couldn't understand it at first, but now, standing here in front of the mansion, everything felt wrong. The mansion seemed to be watching him, its windows like eyes peering into his soul, waiting.
He knocked twice on the old wooden door, the sound echoing in the stillness of the night. The door creaked open, revealing a half-asleep guard whose eyes barely registered Lucas's presence.
Early morning,
Lux stood at the gate of the Kustnas Mansion, his face tense, eyes scanning for any trace. He knocked on the door, and the guard opened it with sleepy eyes.
Lux: "Good morning… I'm looking for a man named Sebastian. I was told he came to this mansion a few days ago."
The guard (coldly): "There's no one here by that name. Maybe you got the wrong address."
Lux thanked the guard quietly, but he was certain that what he heard wasn't true.
Sebastian doesn't disappear like this—not without leaving something behind…
Especially after their old agreement: if either of them were in danger, he'd write notes in a journal and hide it in a place they'd agreed upon.
He waited until nightfall. Slipped quietly into the mansion, avoiding any sound.
The mansion was still, wrapped in a strange darkness, and a heavy silence—as if all breath had stopped.
He headed toward the bathroom on the upper floor—the place Sebastian used in such situations.
---
Lux knelt before the cabinet beneath the sink. He reached toward the inner wooden panel until his fingers touched an uneven surface… He pulled out the notebook.
He opened it hastily and began to read…
His mind was struck with disbelief, and his face grew paler with every line he read.
He murmured,
"Oh my God… Sebastian… what did you find?"
He closed the notebook slowly, then tucked it into his inner pocket. He had to find out what had happened here.
He started moving through the corridors of the mansion. His steps were silent, but his heart beat with anxiety. He passed by the old living room, and his eyes caught a wall adorned with a series of old family photographs.
He approached one of them, dated 1870—a group portrait of the Kustnas family.
Then he looked at another, dated 1890. Then one from 1920… and another from 1950…
Lux (whispering):
"This… can't be real…"
The great-grandfather appeared in every photo… with the same figure… the same features… as if time had not touched him.
Before he could fully grasp what he was seeing, the lights suddenly went out.
And the door slammed shut behind him.
He gasped and turned quickly… but darkness engulfed everything.
Then slow, heavy footsteps began to approach.
And in the background, a whispering voice rose… the voice of Maria—the old woman everyone thought was lost in Alzheimer's—now speaking with a tone that was confident… and terrifying:
"One went out… one came in… and the game has begun again."