going back to the dungeon

Charlie stood in front of the mirror longer than usual.

He had already made up his mind.

No friends. No one else.

He put on his school uniform, forced down some food, and left the house early. The whole day at school felt distant. Leo tried talking to him. Kie asked if something was wrong. Charlie gave short answers and kept looking at the clock.

The moment the final bell rang, he left alone.

He went straight to Homanies.

By the time he reached the old stone entrance, the sun was already low. The mouth of the dungeon looked darker than before. Charlie switched on his small flashlight and stepped inside.

The cold hit him right away.

He moved carefully through the damp passages until he reached the chamber with the naked idols. His watch was lying near the base of the sculpture, exactly where he must have dropped it. He picked it up quickly, relief washing over him.

He turned to leave.

Then he heard it.

A soft, broken crying coming from deeper inside.

A woman's voice.

Charlie stopped. Every rational thought told him to walk out. Instead, his feet moved forward. The crying grew louder the deeper he went. The flashlight trembled slightly in his hand.

He found her sitting against the cold stone wall of a narrow passage.

A girl in an oversized t-shirt. No pants. Bare legs. Face buried in her arms, shoulders shaking as she cried.

Charlie had never seen her face clearly before.

"Hey… who are you? Why are you crying?" he asked carefully.

She didn't answer. The crying only got louder.

"Listen," he tried again, stepping a little closer. "If you don't tell me what's wrong, how am I supposed to help you?"

Her head snapped up. Tears streaked her face. Her eyes looked empty and angry at the same time.

"Get the fuck out of here."

Charlie froze.

"You have no idea," she whispered, voice cracking. "No idea of anything."

"No idea of what? What's bothering you? At least tell me your name."

She went quiet for a long moment. Charlie waited. Finally she spoke, almost too softly.

"…Molly."

The name hit him like a slap.

Molly.

The park. The bench. The half-naked girl crying under the evening light when he was walking back from the market with his mother's things.

It was her.

Charlie stared at her, the realization settling slowly.

"Molly…?" he said carefully. "I think we've met before. Near the park by the school. You were sitting on a bench that evening, crying. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but I didn't. What happened to you?"

Molly looked at him for a long time. Then she let out a short, broken laugh with no humor in it.

"There is no solution. There's no going back. It's a trap."

"What trap? What are you talking about?"

He kept asking. She kept refusing. Tears kept falling. After a while she seemed to give up. Her shoulders dropped.

"Leave," she said, almost shouting. Then quieter, with tears still in her eyes: "…Fine. I'll take you there."

She stood up. The oversized shirt barely covered her thighs. Without looking back, she started walking deeper into the dark.

Charlie followed.

They walked for a long time. The passages grew wider. The air changed. Finally the tunnel opened into a massive underground chamber. The ceiling was so high the flashlight could not reach it. Enormous mythological sculptures stood in a wide circle, their stone faces cold and ancient.

Charlie stopped.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Molly's voice was flat.

"This is where it started."

She didn't look at him while she spoke.

"I was in high school. Good at studying. Numbers were my thing. There was a boy in my class named Jack. I liked him. One day he threw a birthday party and invited me. We had fun. When it ended, five of us got into a four-seater car. Jack was driving. I sat in the front. The three others were in the back. Somewhere on the way the road just… disappeared. No lights. No sound. The car crashed into the trees. When we woke up, we were already inside this place."

Charlie stared at her. - are you a robot or something. Lol

"So what? That's just a sad story."

Molly finally turned her head toward him. Her eyes looked older than her face.

"We kept walking deeper until we reached this room. Do you see these idols?"

"Yeah."

"They have consciousness. You can ask them for any wish. And they will grant it."

Charlie let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

"Is that a joke? They're just stone. They're not even moving. How the hell are they supposed to grant wishes?"

Molly didn't smile.

She looked at him for a long time, then asked quietly:

"If you had the chance to ask for any wish… and it would become real… what would you wish for, Charlie?"

The chamber fell completely silent.

Charlie opened his mouth.

No words came out.