
When the wall creaked open, a horrifying stench of blood, rust, and thick sweat slammed into them. For a few heavy seconds, silence hung in the air before Jayden cautiously stepped forward. Rhea followed him, her eyes scanning every shadowed corner as if the darkness might slap her soul into submission.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAlN3vPKUCiP
The next room looked like a demonic laboratory steel tables, surgical tools, and bizarre photographs plastered on the walls. Some were graphic images of the human anatomy; others showed the disfigured faces of tortured individuals... but the worst ones were photographs of them, taken while they were asleep long before they ever arrived in this place.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAj5Fr6zrt7F
Jayden touched one of the pictures. It was of him, sleeping on the couch in his old apartment. He had never given that photo to anyone.
74Please respect copyright.PENANA6DuQGEbofi
"This person knows us," Jayden said, turning to Rhea. "Knows everything about us... before we even got here."
74Please respect copyright.PENANAPf2iGcv5AH
Before they could speak further, a voice echoed again through the speaker system. This time it was different. Not calm like before but intelligent, smooth, and sinister. The kind of voice that delighted more in psychological torment than physical pain:
74Please respect copyright.PENANAjkeXI9deL0
"Everyone hides something. Some have lied. Some have killed. Some forgave those who deserved punishment. But all of you... owe a debt. And this is where debts are collected."
74Please respect copyright.PENANAAWAT8EJfqa
Then two new doors hissed open one to the left, the other to the right. Each marked with chilling words:
74Please respect copyright.PENANAKwPs7Hbjiw
Left: "Judgment of the Heart"
74Please respect copyright.PENANA3MiA8vdzYt
Right: "Judgment of the Mind"
74Please respect copyright.PENANA9ofFWidEEZ
Rhea looked at Jayden. "What does it mean?"
74Please respect copyright.PENANAt7z6QuqNwT
Jayden didn't answer. He moved toward the door on the right, slowly pushing it open. As soon as they stepped through, the door slammed shut behind them with a bone-jarring thud.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAB2dc700FTD
Inside was a long corridor lined with massive glass panels but these were not ordinary mirrors. They acted like cinemas, projecting scenes from their past lives.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAtkmjxwi6gP
Jayden saw himself at work, investigating the murder of his girlfriend. Over and over, the footage painted suspicion around him conflicting witness testimonies, lost evidence, and then... the infamous leaked video showing him near her body just minutes before the police arrived.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAqyK0tpIUXB
"It's not true..." he whispered. But the screens didn't care they pressed on.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAd29Xz2hbIS
Then he remembered. A detail he had buried deep. That night... he didn't kill her. But he saw the killer leaving and he said nothing.
74Please respect copyright.PENANA1bYe56VlJu
On the other side of the corridor, Rhea trembled. She was watching a memory of a teenage boy who once begged for her help. He claimed he wasn't a drug dealer, but had been framed. Rhea, lured by a fat paycheck, chose to work with the prosecution to ensure the boy would be sentenced to at least twenty years.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAT70PoRZ6LL
The camera zoomed in on the boy's face-anguish, tears... then death. He died behind bars, broken by the system.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAbKIPDaYGL4
"I knew... I knew, but I took the money," Rhea murmured, tears spilling from her eyes.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAm9o70yJodn
Suddenly, the voice returned:
74Please respect copyright.PENANADklmsDP4Ba
"Truth weighs heavier than blood. Now, it is time to pay. Jayden, you are given a choice. One person in the next chamber can be saved. But saving one... means one must die. Either someone who deserves a second chance... or someone meant to rot in a prison of their own sins."
74Please respect copyright.PENANAnW20Z2WAna
A glass window slid open. Inside were three unconscious individuals strapped to metal beds, each hooked to a lethal injection system.
74Please respect copyright.PENANA760bcDz4go
Jayden stepped forward, recognizing one of them. Marcus his former colleague. The man who once risked everything to shelter Jayden during the fallout. Marcus had been arrested months ago for destroying government documents to protect Jayden.
74Please respect copyright.PENANADd8XZNaiVf
Jayden's hands shook.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAB5lGl7vRLb
"Choose," the voice demanded. "But every choice has a cost."
74Please respect copyright.PENANADIaoUQVa7n
In seconds, Jayden stood at the edge of an impossible decision. A maze of guilt and duty twisted within him, deep as roots in a bleeding heart. Everyone has shadows. Everyone carries invisible scars.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAOh4zHqglMX
He closed his eyes.
74Please respect copyright.PENANA7lwo0qv9XI
He grabbed the scalpel from the tray.
74Please respect copyright.PENANATtHwW8Beej
And then... he sliced the tube feeding poison into Marcus.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAJgjyauFbxE
Alarms blared. The doors flew open. Jayden and Rhea sprinted into the shadows of the next chamber.
74Please respect copyright.PENANA24txfq6xUx
But as they ran, a hidden camera zoomed in on Marcus's face. He was awake. And he was smiling softly, calmly as if this had been his plan all along.
74Please respect copyright.PENANA9HrqxKeM8f
From the darkness, that same cold, brilliant voice returned this time like a whisper laced with knives:
74Please respect copyright.PENANAP0s4Jvj8yZ
"Round two is complete. Well played, Jayden. But remember... sometimes the one you save... is the one who ends you."
74Please respect copyright.PENANAcnnslMKDkX
Jayden's eyes flickered with something new: doubt.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAMUMFlxbgvj
He no longer knew if he was playing a game... or trapped inside a war of minds with someone who knew him better than he knew himself.
74Please respect copyright.PENANAfAUrlFQNTj
To be continued......... 🔥🔥