Title: “The Last Place”

Title: “The Last Place”

Silence.

It was the last thing John heard before the black car pulled up and two brutal-looking men stepped out, walking with purpose. He knew this had to be it—the final place, the last chance to find Merry. Two weeks had passed since she disappeared, and something in his gut told him that everything was going terribly wrong.

It all began on March 18th, at 9:00 p.m., when the phone rang. Alice’s voice trembled on the other end of the line.

“She’s gone—Merry is gone! I don’t know where she is… It’s my fault!”

Merry was only four years old—a sweet, bright-eyed girl with a curlied hair who loved blowing dandelions and talking to butterflies. Alice had been her babysitter for 8 months, caring for her every weekday. That day, they played together in the backyard until dusk. Then the phone rang inside the house. Alice stepped away—just five minutes, she said.

When she returned, the yard was empty. No signs of struggle. No open gate. Just... gone.

Alice called John immediately. He was Merry’s older brother. She prayed—desperately—that maybe Merry had gone with him somehow. But that wasn’t the case.

John was terrified. He called the police right away. The sheriff Bruman arrived within ten minutes and began questioning both of them, trying to gather any useful information about Merry’s disappearance.

John and Merry had lived together since winter 2021, after their mother died. No one knew where their father was—he’d vanished long ago. John had always protected Merry. She was the only family he had left. Losing her was unbearable. It shattered something deep inside him.

Two days passed. No clues. No leads. Just silence and endless, gnawing fear.

And then John remembered—the last place he and Merry had visited together before she vanished. It was an old, abandoned house deep in the center of the forest. Locals said it was dangerous, sometimes used by addicts and squatters. But Merry had loved it. She called it her “secret magic house,” and always seemed oddly calm there, as though the walls whispered comfort.

Now, standing before the rotting door, John tried to imagine opening it and seeing Merry inside. He took a deep breath. Silence. Then—he heard a car engine approaching, fast.

The black car.

The same car from two weeks ago.

The same men.

And suddenly, everything clicked. This wasn’t the last place. It was the first. The beginning of something buried and dangerous.

They weren’t here to help him.

John stepped back, heart racing, as the men got out. One of them spoke softly, as if to a child.

“It’s time to go back inside, John.”

John froze. “What do you mean?”

The other man sighed. “Merry was never real. She was part of your treatment. A projection. You created her.”

John shook his head violently. “No. No—she’s my sister!”

But even as he said it, the house faded into white. The forest vanished.

He was back in the facility.

Alone.

Again.

Silence