Three knocks.
Then silence.
The Traveler stood before the door.
The elder sister's fingers tightened around his wrist.
"Don't open it."
He looked at her.
"You know who it is."
Her lips trembled.
"I know who it sounds like."
That distinction was enough.
The Traveler slowly pulled his wrist free.
"What happened to your sister?"
The woman stared at the door.
"She died."
Another voice came from outside.
Soft.
Familiar.
"Big sister…"
The woman stopped breathing.
The Traveler looked at her.
The voice came again.
"It's me."
A tear rolled down the woman's cheek.
"No…"
The Traveler reached for the door.
"Don't!"
His hand stopped inches from the latch.
"Why?"
"Because she's dead."
The Traveler looked at the door.
Then at the woman.
"If she's dead…"
His expression hardened.
"…then something is standing outside."
He opened the door.
The woman screamed.
Cold morning air entered the house.
And there she stood.
A young girl.
Barefoot.
Her clothes were torn and covered with dirt.
Her hair hung over her shoulders.
Her face was pale.
Almost exactly as the elder sister remembered it.
For one terrible second—
she looked alive.
"Little sister…"
The woman stepped forward.
The girl raised her head.
And the Traveler saw her eyes.
Hollow.
Completely hollow.
No pupils.
No reflection.
Just two dark, empty spaces where eyes should have been.
The elder sister froze.
The girl's mouth slowly curved upward.
Not a smile.
Something trying to imitate one.
"Big sister…"
The voice was hers.
But something was wrong with it.
Too empty.
Too perfectly calm.
The Traveler stared at her.
"You're not her."
The girl's head tilted.
Then—
she moved.
Far too fast.
She crossed the distance between them in an instant.
Her hands shot toward the Traveler's throat.
The elder sister screamed.
"RUN!"
The Traveler caught the girl's wrists.
The impact drove his boots backward across the wooden floor.
The girl's strength was unnatural.
Her mouth opened.
A sound came from inside her throat.
Not a scream.
Not a human voice.
A low, distorted growl.
The Traveler's expression didn't change.
He tightened his grip.
The girl's hollow eyes remained fixed on him.
Then she suddenly whispered:
"You shouldn't have come back."
The Traveler's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
Her jaw opened unnaturally wide.
Something black moved inside her mouth.
The Traveler didn't wait.
He seized her.
One violent motion.
CRACK.
Her body went limp.
The Traveler tore her head from her body.
Silence.
The head fell to the floor.
It rolled once.
Twice.
And stopped beside the elder sister's feet.
She stared down at her younger sister's face.
Her hands began to shake.
The head's hollow eyes remained open.
Still watching.
The Traveler released the body.
It collapsed onto the floor.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then—
the corpse twitched.
The elder sister stepped backward.
"No…"
The severed head moved.
Not much.
Just enough.
Its mouth opened.
And her sister's voice came out again.
"Big sister…"
The Traveler turned toward it.
The hollow eyes shifted toward him.
"You opened the door."
The village outside remained silent.
But somewhere in the distance—
a bell rang.
Once.
The elder sister looked toward the village.
Her face went white.
"What?"
The Traveler asked.
She whispered:
"They know."
"Know what?"
"That you opened the door."
A second bell rang.
Then a third.
Doors began opening throughout the village.
One after another.
Villagers emerged carrying weapons.
Axes.
Spears.
Knives.
Their faces were filled with terror.
But none of them looked at the corpse.
They looked at the Traveler.
The village chief stepped into the road.
His voice carried through the morning air.
"You broke the law."
The Traveler looked at him.
"What law?"
The chief pointed toward the open door.
"The Sixth."
His voice trembled.
"Never let the returned enter your home."
The Traveler glanced at the dead girl.
Then back at the villagers.
"She attacked me."
The chief's expression remained grim.
"I know."
"Then why are you pointing weapons at me?"
The chief didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
"Because the law doesn't say the returned are the only ones who must die."
The Traveler's expression became completely still.
The Abyssal Mark beneath his collarbone pulsed.
Once.
And somewhere beyond the village walls—
something answered.
A low sound.
Like a heartbeat beneath the earth.
Boom.
The villagers heard it.
Every face turned toward the forest.
The chief whispered:
"It's coming."
The Traveler looked toward the trees.
For the first time—
even he didn't know what was coming.