Jiho, Yuna, and their daughter Sera were on their way to the mountain holiday house owned by Jiho. The car moved slowly along the rugged mountain road, through thick trees and fog that began to creep between the branches. Silence dominated the atmosphere, except for the sound of the car engine breaking the stillness of the night.

  [Sounds of tires touching gravel - faint car engine echoing between trees]

  Darkness had completely covered the sky, and there was only the pale moonlight and the car lights piercing through the forest gloom.

  Inside the car, Jiho sat behind the wheel, Yuna beside him, and in the back seat was Sera, staring out the window with a strange silence, her eyes—a mysterious blend of blue and black—tracking the fog as if searching for something invisible.

  [Sound of quiet breathing - light ticking from the dashboard]

  Silence filled the air, except for the whispers of the wind and the soft hum of the engine.

  Jiho, while his hands were focused on driving, had his mind elsewhere. He was taken back to that night... when he found Sera. Moonlight... a simple blanket... an infant not crying or moving... As if she wasn’t abandoned, but deliberately placed there.

  The same question crept into his mind again: "Who left her there? And why?" It wasn’t abandonment... but no matter what happened, they shouldn’t have left a child in such an empty place.

  He felt her growing up in front of him every day, but something about her never changed... that quiet mystery surrounding her since the first glance.

  [Sera’s breathing sound—soft, deeper than it should be for a child]

  Every time he looked at her, he felt she was smarter and more mature than any child her age, yet... strange, as if she didn’t belong to this world.

  Suddenly, Sera broke the silence with her confident childish voice: “Daddy... the road is getting darker... are we close?”

  He answered without looking at her: “Soon... just a bit more, and we’ll reach the mountain house.”

  Minutes passed before faint lights appeared on the horizon, as if emerging from the heart of the forest.

  [Sound of a metal gate opening slowly - long metallic creak]

  The car stopped in front of a huge villa, no... more like a grand mansion, built in a luxurious classical style, with a wide garden and an empty fountain in the center.

  Sera looked out the window, then said calmly: “There are two cars... looks like we’re not the first to arrive.”

  Jiho turned to her and smiled, then opened the door [Sound of door opening - soft click followed by cool night breeze] and knelt in front of her to reach her level:

  “Correct, two friends arrived before us. I promised you you’d meet my friends and your mother’s friends... just five families. Two are close to your mother, and three are my old friends.”

  Sera raised her eyebrows with curiosity: “Are they... like you? I mean... do they also live double lives? A clean outward appearance... and inside, full of other ambitions?”

  Jiho laughed lightly, “Smart as always, my little one. Yes, all of them... wear two faces. Outwardly they’re agents and shining figures, but secretly... they run organizations no less dangerous than mine.”

  He continued as he stood up: “The two cars ahead of us... one belongs to (Swan), my old partner, and the other to (Kai), the famous fashion designer. Swan runs the second most powerful criminal organization after mine, while on the surface he owns the second-best electronics company. As for Kai... he’s a foreigner, but he made a name for himself in Korea as the top designer at an unnatural speed.”

  Sera looked at him with innocent cunning: “Do they have children?”

  Jiho nodded: “Swan has a boy, 11 years old, smart but a bit strange and prefers solitude. Kai has a girl your age... cheerful but a bit eccentric, but I’m sure you’ll get along.”

  Then Jiho said as he walked to the villa door: “Now let’s go in so you can meet your new friends.”

  [Sound of door closing behind them - soft thud echoing through the villa]

  The villa from the inside was more elegant and strange than Sera expected. The ceiling was high with intricate wooden details, and chandeliers hung gently to light the place with warm, comforting lights.

  [Sound of soft footsteps on the floor - echoing from afar]

  Sera whispered to Yuna: “Did you hear that?”

  Yuna looked at her in confusion, but before she could answer, a tall man in an elegant black suit appeared, a calm smile on his face and his blue eyes reflecting a kind of cold mystery.

  “Jiho... Yuna... finally, you’ve arrived.”

  Swan said in a low voice, deep and calm.

  Jiho stepped forward and shook his hand firmly, then smiled: “As always... you beat me by a step.”

  A small boy stepped out from behind Swan, with soft features and long brown hair tied and draping over his shoulder. He stared at Sera without saying anything. They exchanged silent looks, as if each was trying to read the other, but there was no hostility... just heavy curiosity.

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  “This is (Hayon), my son.” Swan said, adding with a smile: “I think he’ll find Sera an entertaining challenge.”

  Sera stepped forward quietly, but before she spoke, she suddenly stopped.

  [Faint buzzing sound - only Sera could hear it]

  Something about this place made her heart pound.

  She looked to a corner of the hall... no one was there, but she felt something.

  “Do you see me?”

  A soft... strange voice... not from the outside, but from within her.

  She blinked quickly, then shook her head as if to dismiss a crazy thought.

  Hayon asked: “Are you okay?”

  She smiled and said: “Yes... I just felt something strange.”

  Before anyone could say more, another door from the inner hallway opened.

  [Sound of light, elegant footsteps - then a door opens]

  Kai entered, a foreign man with sharp features and gray eyes like winter mist. Beside him walked a girl in a short black dress decorated with silver pieces, her white hair soft, and her violet eyes unnaturally vivid.

  Kai said: “Seems you forgot I arrived too, and started introducing yourselves without me,” then looked at the girl beside him and said:

  “This is my daughter... Lilian.” Kai said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

  “Lilian, why don’t you talk to the kids and get to know them?” Lilian stood in front of Sera, stared at her for a moment, then extended her hand and shook Sera’s. “Hi, I’m Lilian.”

  After the greetings between families, the adults got busy with their own conversations, while the children quietly drifted away from the noise of the hall.

  Hayon approached first, with calm, deliberate steps. His soft features almost gave a sense of innocence, but behind his blue eyes lay cautious cunning. His long brown hair was tied with a neat black string, hanging over his shoulder.

  He said in his calm voice as he looked toward Sera who was silently observing: “The back garden seems more interesting than this hall... don’t you think?”

  Sera didn’t reply, just moved her head slightly as if silently agreeing.

  At that moment, a girl with a strange, captivating presence joined them. Her long silver hair shimmered under the hall lights, and her violet eyes radiated a strange coldness, as if reading those before her without speaking. Lilian looked at them from afar, then approached and said in a calm tone: “Are you going to the garden?... I hate crowds.”

  Hayon gave a sideways smile and said: “Yeah... let’s see if the mansion hides something interesting.”

  ...

  [Sound of soft footsteps on marble tiles, echoing between high walls.]

  [Sound of a glass door slowly opening, accompanied by faint creaks... then a cold breeze slips inside.]

  The three of them stepped into the back garden. The moon was full, pouring its light on the damp green grass, and the old fountain in the center gave a gentle murmur as if—

  Sera sat on a stone bench under a large tree, her legs dangling in silence, looking at the sky.

  Hayon sat on the edge of the fountain, running his fingers across the water’s surface calmly, then said without turning: “It’s strange... the three of us are here. There’s something connecting us. I don’t know what it is, but I feel it.”

  Lilian sat cross-legged on the grass, holding a small violet flower, turning it between her fingers. She said coldly: “You feel it? That’s funny... kids don’t feel those kinds of things.”

  Then she looked at Sera and asked curiously: “Why don’t you talk? Don’t you like being here?”

  Sera didn’t respond immediately. But after a few moments of silence, she said: “Still, I have the feeling that someone is watching us. Am I the only one who felt that?”

  Hayon looked at her and slowly nodded, as if he fully understood. As for Lilian, she smiled faintly and said: “You’re strange... but I like that kind of strangeness.”

  [A heavy stillness descends on the place, only the sound of wind between the trees... as if nature was holding its breath.]

  Sera raised her eyes toward the fountain, her dark blue eyes gleaming in the moonlight, and said quietly: “This place... I feel like I’ve been here before but never visited it. I don’t know why it feels that way.”

  Hayon stood up slowly, hands in his pockets: “Maybe we were here... in a past life.”

  Lilian laughed, but her laugh was soft.

  At that moment, [a faint cracking sound echoed between the trees, followed by distant, incomprehensible whispers...]

  Their hearts froze for a few seconds, and they all looked toward the source of the sound.

  Sera whispered without moving: “You heard that... didn’t you?”

  Hayon smiled... but he didn’t laugh.

  [The whispers faded, but the air remained charged, as if something was watching them in silence.]

  Hayon stood up first, looked toward the thick trees behind the garden, then said in a low voice: "There’s something... moving."

  Lilian stood up slowly, her violet eyes staring toward the shifting shadow under the trees: "It's small... doesn’t seem dangerous."

  [A soft sound of branches breaking, then a small pup appeared from between the trees, with dark gray fur and glowing eyes the color of night.]

  Sera stood up slowly, her eyes fixed on the pup without blinking, then whispered: "A wolf... but it's small."

  The pup approached them slightly, limping in unsteady steps. He looked tired, and his hind leg was bleeding lightly. He was howling quietly,

  [A faint, painful howl, blending with the echo of the place to sound like an incomprehensible plea.]

  Hayon approached him cautiously, knelt on his knee and said: "He’s injured... but he didn’t run away. That’s strange."

  Lilian let out a soft sigh, and said: "Maybe he wants something... or wants us to follow him."

  Sera looked at the pup for a long time, then stepped forward with steady steps. She sat in front of him on the grass, her eyes never leaving him. The pup looked at her, then let out a faint howl, turned slowly, and started limping away between the trees.

  Without a word, the three followed him.

  ...

  [Soft sounds of their steps on the wet grass, the sound of leaves being stepped on under their feet, and the sound of the pup’s ragged breathing as he silently led them.]

  The path behind the garden became darker. The trees grew closer together, and the air became colder... as if they had left their world and entered a different place.

  Hayon was in the front, looking cautiously left and right, he whispered: "We’re very far from the villa now..."

  Lilian said as she walked lightly: "Strange that no one noticed our absence."

  Sera muttered: "Maybe... it’s better if no one does."

  ...

  After minutes of walking, the pup suddenly stopped.

  In front of them was a strange hole, hidden behind the bushes. Its shape was like an old well, but without clear stone walls. Just a dark opening from which the smell of earth and old moisture emanated. Around the hole, there were strange markings carved into the ground, symbols unlike anything they knew.

  The pup sat beside the hole, let out a faint whimper, then howled again, but this time... the sound felt like a desperate plea.

  Hayon slowly approached, stared into the hole: "I can’t see the bottom... it’s very deep."

  Lilian knelt beside the pup, looked at his injured leg, and said: "He’s bleeding... we’ll need something to tie the wound."

  Sera didn’t move. She was looking at the hole with absent eyes, then whispered: "This place... makes me feel strange. As if I’ve been here before."

  Hayon turned toward her, surprised: "You’ve been here? Are you sure?"

  Sera didn’t answer, she just stepped slowly toward the hole, and the wind blew suddenly, [the sound of leaves flying, and a faint moan from the depths of the darkness.]

  Suddenly,...

  [The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly, as if the hole had breathed for a moment.]

  The pup let out a sharp howl, then collapsed on his side with exhaustion, while a small thread of blood trickled from his injured leg.

  [The darkness became deeper, more opaque...]

  The small pup was still lying beside the hole, quietly whining, and his eyes shone under the moonlight. Sera leaned beside him, placed her hand on his head, and felt the strange warmth of his breath, despite the cold surrounding them.

  Suddenly... (Help me...)

  The voice was not heard, but slipped directly into her mind. It wasn’t just a call, but a deep feeling of pain and plea, as if the creature itself was speaking inside her.

  (I don’t want to die here...)

  Sera slowly opened her eyes, looked at the wolf, then at the dark hole. Something inside her started to stir. Faded memories... incomprehensible emotions... a familiar scene she didn’t know when she had seen before.

  Hayon approached her and said: "We have to go back. This place doesn’t seem safe."

  Sera didn’t lift her gaze from the pup, and said calmly: "I’ll take him with me. I’ll take care of him."

  Lilian raised an eyebrow and said in a light tone tinged with coldness: "Are you joking? How will you explain having a wolf pup in your room? The adults will throw a screaming party on us for bringing a wolf pup."

  But Sera replied with a calm, confident tone: "It’s fine. My parents don’t mind. In fact, they do whatever I ask... no matter what. So there won’t be a problem."

  She looked again at the hole, as if her eyes were diving into the darkness, then whispered: "...I’ll come back tomorrow. I have to come back."

  Hayon said, watching her face closely: "Why?"

  Sera furrowed her brows slightly, and placed her hand on her chest, as if trying to recall something distant: "This place... is familiar. I feel like I’ve seen it before. But I’ve never been here... I don’t know how to explain, I just... know this place."

  Silence fell between them for a moment, except for the pup’s faint whimper.

  Lilian said: "Tomorrow. In the morning. We’ll come back with flashlights, I want to explore this strange hole and these symbols too, I have a weird feeling and curiosity about them."

  Hayon nodded: "And we won’t tell the adults. If they know, they’ll stop us from coming near."

  Sera held the pup to her chest and stood up slowly: "Agreed. Tomorrow, we discover what’s below."

  [The wind blew gently, and with it a mysterious whisper slipped from between the trees, as if the place had heard their promise...]

  ...

  They returned to the villa quietly. Sera snuck into her room and placed the pup on her blanket. He was trembling slightly, but she gently covered him.

  She closed the door, leaned her back against it... and inside her head, the voice returned... clearer than before:

  (You’ve finally come back...)

  But she whispered to herself anxiously:

  "...When was I here to begin with?"

  To be continued...