All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 19 Welcome Home, Elias The words echoed softly beneath the hanging bells. Not threatening. Not triumphant. Warm. That somehow terrified Elias more than anything else that had happened since entering Valemere. Every townsperson in the cavern knelt silently facing him while golden lantern light flickered across the underground chamber. … Read more
All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 18 The Memory Beneath the Mountain The moment Elias saw the eyes beneath the pit, something inside his mind broke open. Not painfully. Quietly. Like a locked door finally opening after years of pressure behind it. Elias Ward staggered backward on the bridge while memories flooded violently through him … Read more
All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 17 Emily Beneath the Bells The tiny bells hanging across the cavern ceiling continued ringing softly in the darkness. Hundreds of delicate metallic sounds drifting through the underground chamber like whispers made of silver and rust. Elias stood frozen near the edge of the bridge while Emily smiled at … Read more
All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 16 The Thing That Heard Him The inhale echoed through the underground tunnels like a living storm waking beneath the earth. Every lantern flame flickered violently toward the staircase as cold air rushed upward through the cavern. Elias physically froze while something enormous shifted below the roots in the … Read more
All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 15 Beneath the Roots The cavern fell completely silent after Thomas spoke. No humming. No footsteps. Only the distant ringing of bells somewhere above the earth and the faint crackling glow from the lanterns held by the townspeople. Elias Ward stayed perfectly still within the darkness beside Mara while … Read more
All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 14 The Scream in the Tunnel The scream echoed violently through the underground tunnels. Human. Raw. Full of terror. It lasted only a few seconds before suddenly cutting off deep within the darkness beyond the cavern. Then silence returned. Not even dripping water remained afterward. Elias Ward felt every … Read more
All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 13 The Faces Scratched From the Photographs Elias stared at Emily’s photograph while cold uneasiness spread slowly through his chest. Deep scratches carved violently across her face distorted the image beneath jagged lines, as if someone had desperately tried to erase her from the picture completely. Not just her. … Read more
All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 12 The Tunnel Beneath the Forest The tunnel smelled like wet earth and old stone. Cold air drifted through the narrow passage while darkness swallowed everything beyond the weak lantern light Mara carried ahead of them. The hidden hatch above sealed shut with a heavy wooden thud, cutting off … Read more
All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 11 The Fingers in the Walls The finger pushed slowly through the packed earth beside the cellar shelves, bending at too many joints beneath pale stretched skin. Dirt crumbled softly onto the floor while more whispering drifted through the walls around them. Not random whispering. Voices. Human voices speaking … Read more
All Are Welcome Here – Chapter 10 Footsteps Above the Cellar Door The footsteps upstairs moved slowly across the house. Not dragging like the Hollowed on the roof. Normal footsteps. Careful. Deliberate. Each creak of the floorboards above the cellar made Elias’s chest tighten harder while the weak lantern light flickered across the cramped underground … Read more
