"Ashes of Yesterday"

Chapter 1: The Silence After

The morning was too quiet. Ava stood at the window of the small apartment, watching smoke rise from the ruins across the street. Her hands trembled as she held the letter he had written — the last one. Noah had gone to the protest, promising he’d be careful. But the world had turned violent overnight. Sirens howled, people screamed, and now, silence. The news called it a clash. She called it the end.

She hadn’t slept. The coffee in her hand had gone cold, just like everything else in her life. His jacket still hung on the back of the chair. His voice echoed in her mind: “Change doesn’t come without pain.”

She didn’t know if he was alive. They hadn’t found the bodies yet. But something inside her had already broken. Grief hadn’t fully arrived. Not yet. Only a terrible, heavy silence — like the calm before the next storm.

Chapter 2: A Name on the List

Ava stood among a crowd of people outside the city hall. A clipboard was passed around with trembling hands, the paper stained by rain and tears. One by one, names of the missing were read aloud. When the official’s voice paused, her breath caught in her chest.

“Noah Elridge,” he finally said.

The crowd murmured. Some gasped. Others bowed their heads. Ava didn’t move. The name echoed in her ears like a death sentence. But it wasn’t confirmation—only a possibility. Missing, not dead. Yet the word felt like a blade.

A woman beside her touched her arm. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Ava nodded politely, but inside, she was unraveling. She walked away, the clipboard still burning in her memory. Her heart beat with wild hope and paralyzing fear. If he was alive, where was he? Why hadn’t he called?

She needed answers. And she wasn’t going to wait any longer.

Chapter 3: The Message

Back in her small apartment, Ava sat in silence. The rain tapped gently against the windows, mirroring the storm in her heart. She clutched Noah’s sweater, the last thing he wore before leaving for his volunteer trip overseas.

She hadn’t slept in two nights. Every corner of the room reminded her of him — the books they read, the records they played, the mug he left half-finished on the shelf. Her phone vibrated. Her heart leapt.

It was an unknown number. The message read: “I’m okay. Don’t trust anyone. – N”

Her fingers trembled. She read it over and over. It was short, vague — and terrifying. Was it really from Noah? How did he send it? Why shouldn’t she trust anyone?

She grabbed her coat and keys, ignoring the questions in her mind. One thing was clear: Noah was alive. And someone didn’t want her to find him.

She was going to try anyway.

Chapter 4: Echoes of Doubt

Ava drove through the night, heading toward the only lead she had — the village Noah had last written from before going silent. Her tires hissed on wet asphalt as thoughts swirled in her head like fog.

At dawn, she reached the sleepy town of Alder’s Reach. It looked peaceful, almost frozen in time. Too peaceful. She checked into a small inn and showed the receptionist Noah’s picture. The woman froze for a moment, then forced a polite smile.

“No, sorry. I haven’t seen him.”

But Ava saw the hesitation in her eyes. She was hiding something.

Later, walking the narrow streets, Ava felt watched. Locals glanced away quickly. Doors shut softly as she passed.

That night, a note was slid under her room door: “Leave now. Before it’s too late.”

Her hands trembled as she read it. Someone knew she was here — and they didn’t want her digging.

But Ava had come too far to turn back.

Chapter 5: Whispers in the Dark

Ava didn’t sleep that night. The warning note burned in her thoughts. She sat by the window, watching the mist roll across the cobbled streets of Alder’s Reach. In the silence, she heard whispers—faint, like voices carried by the wind.

In the morning, she returned to the village square. A man with cloudy eyes and trembling hands sat carving small wooden figurines. She showed him Noah’s picture.

His hand froze mid-carve. “The boy who asked questions,” he murmured.

Ava leaned in. “You saw him?”

“He came looking for the well in the forest. The cursed one.” He looked around, suddenly afraid. “They took him.”

“Who?” she demanded, heart pounding.

But the old man only shook his head. “They see. They always see.”

Before Ava could press further, a younger man grabbed the old man’s arm and led him away without a word.

Ava was left alone again—with more questions, and a name etched in fear:

The Well.

Chapter 6: The Well

The forest loomed like a wall of silence. Branches twisted like hands, blocking sunlight, muffling sound. Ava stepped cautiously onto the hidden path the old man had hinted at. Every crackle under her boots sent chills through her body.

After nearly an hour of walking, she found it.

The well stood in a clearing where nothing grew. It was ancient, its stones blackened with moss and time. Carvings circled the rim—symbols Ava couldn’t read. A feeling of dread pressed on her chest like a weight.

She approached slowly and called out: “Noah!”

Only her echo answered. But then—a faint sound. A breath? A whisper?

She leaned over the edge. Darkness stared back.

Suddenly, a voice—his voice—echoed from below.

“Ava?”

Her heart raced. “Noah?! Are you down there?”

“Yes,” came the answer, distant and hoarse. “But I’m not alone.”

Ava froze. She wasn’t sure if she had truly heard it… or if the well was whispering lies.

Chapter 7: The Voice Below

Ava’s fingers tightened around the edge of the stone well. Noah’s voice had sounded real—but there was something… off. A tremble, a hollow echo.

“Noah, I’m coming for you!” she shouted, her voice shaking.

“No… don’t…” came the reply, weaker this time. “They don’t like the light…”

Ava stepped back. They? Who was “they”? Her thoughts raced. If Noah was alive down there, she had to act quickly—but how could she help without understanding what she was facing?

She retrieved a coil of rope from her backpack and tied it to a sturdy tree nearby. As she began her descent, the air grew cold and damp. The smell of earth and mold filled her lungs.

Suddenly, the rope jerked.

Something—or someone—had grabbed it.

Below her, faint shapes moved in the dark.

And then she heard a second voice, whispering close to her ear: “You shouldn’t have come, Ava…”

Chapter 8: Beneath the Surface

Ava froze mid-descent, the rope swaying gently beneath her. The whisper still echoed in her mind, but no one was there. Just darkness—and movement.

She wanted to climb back up, to run—but Noah was down here. She couldn't abandon him. Gritting her teeth, she descended farther. Her flashlight flickered, then steadied, casting a dim beam across the stone walls.

At the bottom, her feet touched cold, muddy ground. She turned slowly. The chamber opened around her, wide and cavernous. Strange markings covered the walls, pulsing faintly like veins.

“Noah?” she called again.

A shadow shifted in the corner. A figure stepped forward—thin, trembling. It was Noah.

But his eyes… they weren’t his. They were black, empty, as if something else was wearing his body.

“Ava,” he whispered. “It’s inside me now. You have to run…”

Before she could respond, the chamber trembled—and dozens of other shadows began to emerge from the walls.

Chapter 9: The Price of Truth

Ava backed away as the shadows crept closer, surrounding her and Noah. The air grew cold, thick with whispers and cries—some familiar, others ancient. She grabbed Noah’s arm, but he pulled back, shaking his head.

“I can’t leave,” he said. “It needs a host. If I stay, maybe you can escape.”

“No!” Ava shouted. “There has to be another way!”

But deep down, she knew the truth. The cave, the symbols, the disappearances—it all pointed to something darker than they had ever imagined. This wasn’t just about a missing brother. It was about something older. Something buried.

Tears streamed down her face as Noah pressed a small stone into her palm—the same one they had found years ago, the one her brother had feared. “Take it to the surface,” he said. “Finish what he started.”

The shadows closed in, swallowing Noah.

Ava ran, her chest burning, gripping the stone that now pulsed with a haunting light.

Chapter 10: Light After the Storm

Ava burst from the cave into the morning light, gasping as if breathing for the first time. The stone in her hand pulsed weaker now, as if Noah’s sacrifice had dimmed its power—or fulfilled its purpose.

She collapsed in the grass, staring up at the sky. Birds flew overhead. The world was still turning, indifferent to the darkness she’d just escaped. But she had changed. Nothing would ever be the same.

Later, the village gathered as Ava told the truth. About her brother. About Noah. About the force beneath their land. Some wept. Others simply nodded. Everyone felt it—something old had ended.

In the days that followed, Ava placed the stone at her brother’s grave, beside a new marker for Noah. Flowers grew around them, wild and unexpected.

She still dreamed of them sometimes. But now, in her dreams, they smiled.

Grief remained, but so did love.

And hope.