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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcNSUj38wN
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SAJ4lqGc6
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXq3MmyyXMy
"This person knows us," Jayden said, turning to Rhea. "Knows everything about us... before we even got here."
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcyyFgoZBr
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:
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPzJgBcHV4
"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."
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVgHV9kwLi
Then two new doors hissed open one to the left, the other to the right. Each marked with chilling words:
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZFINTF6bp
Left: "Judgment of the Heart"
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexl4yc8pec
Right: "Judgment of the Mind"
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaHp9btuqF
Rhea looked at Jayden. "What does it mean?"
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5ArxqxmvX
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zipnLLoYN
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWLRicyEQq
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdNHGZR8W1
"It's not true..." he whispered. But the screens didn't care they pressed on.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPlPVKRRr0
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZ2ywjB0tx
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIWQMmZeVC
The camera zoomed in on the boy's face-anguish, tears... then death. He died behind bars, broken by the system.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYdo3RwBcZ
"I knew... I knew, but I took the money," Rhea murmured, tears spilling from her eyes.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSJDRxwss8
Suddenly, the voice returned:
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wiR1hw1eX
"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."
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNvs6kFKXD
A glass window slid open. Inside were three unconscious individuals strapped to metal beds, each hooked to a lethal injection system.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLreGkhELa
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9dkA3yq0O
Jayden's hands shook.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgIkct6zvW
"Choose," the voice demanded. "But every choice has a cost."
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzU6gG7GEC
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAeqvGogfY
He closed his eyes.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPcsP7Jm5j
He grabbed the scalpel from the tray.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUO8og1LonE
And then... he sliced the tube feeding poison into Marcus.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfOEHSUUKC
Alarms blared. The doors flew open. Jayden and Rhea sprinted into the shadows of the next chamber.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCiBOBl35Rt
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOp4EbswG5
From the darkness, that same cold, brilliant voice returned this time like a whisper laced with knives:
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt02XutHhNu
"Round two is complete. Well played, Jayden. But remember... sometimes the one you save... is the one who ends you."
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrq19pLip70
Jayden's eyes flickered with something new: doubt.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObd8sEmvRe
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.
64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1hryN1k0I
To be continued......... 🔥🔥
and then Add to home screen.