Chapter 14 - Rituals Forgotten

Shrine Home, Early Morning. The room glows with a faint silver light. Anastasya’s bed is slightly shifted from where it was last night, and her blanket droops off the edge like a guilty dog. She opens her eyes sharply.

Anastasya: “Hey.”

The blanket freezes. Anastasya sits up, brushing her hair back. Her map from the night before is tucked under her pillow. She hides it quickly before the door opens.

Aurelya: “Good morning, little snowflake. Haruki’s already in the garden. He says he made breakfast.”

Anastasya: “Mmh, thanks... I’ll be there in a minute.”

...

Shrine Garden. The sky is misty and blue, dew clinging to the petals. Haruki is crouched over a steaming bowl of some kind of rice porridge with dark berries and swirling smoke. He looks up the moment she enters, grinning.

Haruki:

“There you are. Thought you’d melted into the walls again.”

Anastasya:

“Hey.”

Haruki: “You look suspiciously well-rested. Not plotting my demise, are you?”

Anastasya: “No. That would be inefficient. Poison would be faster.”

Haruki: “I’d taste it anyway.”

Anastasya: “Then I’d lace your tea. And your weird spiritual rice. And maybe your bathwater.”

Haruki: “Romantic. You’re glowing today.”

Anastasya: “It’s spite.”

...

A quiet alley near her real-world home. Anastasya crouches low, heart racing, hoodie up. She watches the house for a few minutes. Her parents aren’t near the windows. She slips in through the back.

Anastasya: “Okay. Three steps. No creaking.”

She tiptoes past the kitchen, up the stairs, and into her room. She drops her school bag and quickly changes. Her eyes dart around nervously before she slides back out, undetected.

...

School. Lunchtime. Tanya, Darya, and Sasha sit around her, munching on snacks.

Darya: “So are we pretending Anastasya’s not acting weirder than usual?”

Sasha: “She’s always weird. It’s her brand.”

Anastasya: Stirs her yogurt silently.

Tanya: “You okay?”

Anastasya: “Hey.”

Darya: “That’s not an answer.”

Anastasya: “I’m just tired.”

...

School Library. Afternoon. Anastasya sits in the dusty corner surrounded by books, some on ancient rituals, forgotten deities, and Eastern European shrines. She flips through page after page, lips pressed thin.

Anastasya: “Nothing. Again.”

She opens another, fingers trembling slightly.

Anastasya: “There has to be something. A name, a picture, a pattern, why is the shrine like it doesn’t exist other than the rumors?”

The librarian walks by. Anastasya quickly hides the books under a random history text.

...

That night. Back in the shrine home. Aurelya has gone off to tend to something in the back hallways. Anastasya kneels at her desk with a candle burning and her map sprawled in front of her again.

Anastasya: “I made it through today... but it’s getting harder.”

The bed creaks. The wind outside carries faint whispers.

Anastasya: “You’re all going to see. I’ll escape before this place swallows me whole.”

The ink glows faintly on her map. Somewhere deep in the shrine, something stirs.

Absolutely. Here's an add-up to Chapter 14, continuing right after Anastasya’s late-night planning. It blends eerie magic with her growing urgency, keeping the tone grounded and mature enough for the story’s weight:

...

Later that night. The candle has burned low. Anastasya wraps herself in a thin shawl and silently slips out of her room. The shrine halls are dark, but faint, shifting lights drift lazily through the corridor like fireflies caught in syrup.

Anastasya: “Alright... east wing. Follow the scent of that old iron.”

She moves past Aurelya’s quiet quarters, clutching her hand-drawn map. Along the walls are talismans that flicker as she walks by, reacting to her presence. She pushes open a wooden door she’d passed before, now cracked slightly open on its own.

Inside is a long hallway lined with old ceremonial masks and hanging ribbons. At the far end, an archway pulsing faintly with a dim silver glow.

Anastasya: “This wasn’t open before. Has this place been shifting?”

She approaches the arch, her breath catching as symbols along the doorway flicker. When she steps past it, the air feels heavier, warped, like walking underwater.

Inside is a circular room. At the center lies a cracked stone basin with dried black residue in its bowl. Behind it, a torn tapestry barely clings to the wall, showing something vaguely human... and another figure with glowing eyes, marked in red ink.

Anastasya: "Is this...?”

She leans closer. Beneath the basin are carvings—one catches her attention. A pattern nearly identical to one from her dream the night she first met Haruki.

Anastasya: “This symbol... I’ve seen this before. In my blood dream. When I stepped through the veil.”

Her fingers trace it. For a brief moment, the symbol glows. She stumbles back as a gust of wind circles the room. The tapestry flutters and from behind it, the faint sound of bells.

Anastasya: “That’s not good.”

She turns to leave but pauses. Her map trembles in her hands as the ink shifts faintly on its own, redirecting one of her drawn paths toward the east shrine chamber.

Anastasya: “Another way?”

She tucks the map back into her robe and hurries down a side corridor before the shrine seems to change its mind.

...

Back in her room. Her blanket has returned to its place. The candle is dead.

Anastasya: “I don’t know if those were actual ways out… or traps.”

She sits down, adding to the scribbles on her parchment. She circles the new location.

Anastasya: “Three possible escape paths: the cracked basin room, the hidden passage near the reflection pool, and... that arch behind the offering stones.”

She stops, hesitating.

Anastasya: “But why do they only appear when no one’s around? Are they hiding from Haruki… or are he and Aurelya hiding them from me?”

...

Just outside her door, something moves faintly. A shadow pauses, then walks away.

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