Chapter 57 – Memories of a Nightmare
William kept eating slowly as he flipped through the small diary. The stew—thick with meat and potatoes—steamed in front of him, its warm aroma filling the room. It felt oddly comforting... almost cruelly so, considering the setting. Angel hovered silently nearby, her glowing sphere pulsing gently.
"What does it say?" she finally asked, her voice a soft whisper of curiosity.
"It's filled with little notes about her daily life... how she explored the woods and crossed a river to the north. Sounds like this whole place is abandoned," William replied without lifting his eyes from the page. "She mentions seeing buildings about two hundred kilometers away, but never found anyone."
He flipped through more pages. Each one painted a picture of solitude, survival, fading hope—and fear. Then he reached the final entry.
He read aloud, voice low and uneven.
> "If someone finds this diary, please... find a way to escape. The end is near. The nights are no longer safe. Even the moon watches me with hate."
A deep silence fell between them.
"The moon... hates her?" Angel murmured, trying to process it. "That's... unusual."
William closed the diary carefully and pressed it to his chest.
"I don't know why she wrote that, but I can't just shrug it off as imagination."
He stood and started searching the house again. Angel activated her scanner and swept every wall for hidden compartments.