I sat on the floor, staring at the list.
My hands were sweaty. My breathing, unsteady.
The final task:Choose who stays.
But who was I supposed to choose?
No clue.
No name.
No instruction.
Just that one sentence — heavy like a sentence of judgment.
I retraced everything I'd been through:
Liana's notebook.Mara's red sweater.The box buried in the wall.The lie I uncovered from the audio recording.Photos that shouldn't exist.The iron door in the basement.
And now… a choice.
I tried to think logically. But this wasn't logic.
This was a ritual.A sacrifice.
And in my mind, Liana's voice echoed again.
"If you made it to the end… it means you've been seen."
I stood up slowly. My head spinning.
I walked to the large mirror in the bedroom. The one that used to be cracked, then healed.
It looked normal now. But I knew… something waited behind its surface.
I stared at my own reflection. But it didn't feel like me.
A tired face. Hollow eyes.
And behind the reflection…
I saw someone.
A little girl.
Mara.
She stood behind me. But when I turned around… no one was there.
I looked back at the mirror.
She was still there.
Holding something.
A worn-out doll — one I'd seen in an old photo.
Mara looked at me. Her black eyes empty, yet full of hope.
"Don't choose me," she whispered into my mind."I've stayed too long."
I knelt down. Tears fell from my eyes — I didn't even know why.
I didn't know her.
But I felt guilty.
As if I was the one who'd kept her here.
As if my choice could free her… or trap her forever.
Suddenly, the walls of the room began to shift.
Shadows formed, becoming silhouettes of faces I'd seen in the photos.
Mr. Halden.The neighbor who disappeared.An old woman crying.
And… myself.
They all whispered:
"Someone has to stay.""Someone always stays."
I looked at the list once more.
Now it was stained with faint red marks — not ink, but blood.
From between the pages, a note slid out — one I hadn't seen before.
Liana's handwriting:
To the next:If you've come this far, then you already know.This place isn't cursed. It's hungry.It doesn't want the dead. It wants the willing.So choose. And choose carefully.One goes. One stays.That's the rule.
My hands trembled.
I walked back to the main room, where my suitcase still lay open.
Camera. Books. Passport.
I could leave.
But as I touched the front door handle…
A small voice called:
"Please."
I turned around.
Mara stood in the hallway.
No longer a blur — she looked like a normal child now. Dirty, worn, but real.
She stared at me. Waiting.
"You don't belong here," she said softly."But I do."
I approached her.
"Why don't you leave?"
She bit her lower lip. Then answered:
"Because no one ever chose me to leave.They all chose to save themselves.And I… stayed."
Suddenly I understood.
"Choose who stays" didn't just mean who to sacrifice.
It meant who could be freed.
I returned to the bedroom.
Picked up the list.
At the bottom of the paper, two small checkboxes appeared:
☐ Mara☐ Rayhan
I stared at them for a long while.
The choice was simple.
The consequence was not.
I marked the first box: Mara.
But before the ink touched the paper…
I stopped.
I heard her voice again — Liana's voice.
"Don't repeat the same mistake."
I erased the mark.
Then checked the other box.
☑ Rayhan
And just as the ink sank in…
The entire room went still.
No whispers.
No shadows.
No cracking mirrors.
At the far end of the room, the front door opened by itself.
Mara stood in the doorway. Sunlight lit up her face.
She gave a small smile. Then whispered:
"Thank you."
And disappeared.
Not faded.
But truly… gone.
For the first time, I knew she was free.
I looked around the apartment.
Now empty.
But no longer frightening.
Just silent.
And as I sat again on the rickety chair by the window…
The list burst into flames on its own.
And one final sentence rose from the ashes:
"You are now the keeper."