The words written inside Elena’s diary remained open on the table, and for a long moment, Alex and Mia could only stare at them. The message was short, but it carried more fear than any of the strange events they had experienced since entering Blackthorn Hotel. The hotel was no longer pretending to be an abandoned building filled with forgotten secrets. It was no longer hiding behind whispers and shadows. It had made its intentions clear. It was watching them. It was counting them. And now only three remained. Mia slowly closed the diary, but her hands were shaking. She wanted to believe that Noah, Emma, and Lily were still somewhere inside the hotel, searching for a way back. She refused to believe that they were gone, because accepting that meant accepting that the hotel was taking them one by one exactly as the old stories had described. But the silence surrounding the living room felt different now. Before, the room had felt like a place where they could gather and plan. Now it felt like a place where the hotel was waiting for them to realize they were alone. Alex walked around the room, checking every corner again, even though he already knew nobody was there. He called their names repeatedly, hoping that one of them would answer. His voice echoed through the empty hallways, but the hotel gave him nothing in return. No footsteps. No reply. No sign that anyone was nearby. Then Mia noticed something. The diary had changed. The page they had just closed was no longer the same. A new sentence had appeared. She slowly opened it again. “THEY ARE NOT LOST.” Alex looked at her. “What does that mean?” Mia stared at the words, feeling a strange sense of dread. Because underneath that sentence, another line appeared. “THEY ARE WAITING.” The two remaining friends decided they could not stay in the living room any longer. If Noah, Emma, and Lily were still alive, they needed to find them. If the hotel was keeping them somewhere, then maybe there was still a way to bring them back. They gathered their flashlights and the documents they had collected, then started searching deeper into the building. The hotel seemed almost different now that only two people were walking through it. The hallways felt longer, and the darkness seemed heavier. Every painting they passed looked like it was watching them. Every closed door felt like it was hiding something behind it. The silence was the worst part. After everything they had experienced, they almost preferred hearing whispers because at least whispers meant they knew something was there. As they searched the second floor, they discovered a room filled with old newspapers. The walls were covered with articles about Blackthorn Hotel from the time before it was abandoned. Many of them talked about the disappearances, but one article caught Mia’s attention. It was about Elena Voss. The article claimed Elena was not a victim. It claimed she was the person who caused everything. Alex immediately disagreed. “That’s not true.” Mia looked at him. “How do you know?” “Because of her diary. She was trying to stop it.” But as they read further, they discovered something confusing. The article explained that Elena had been the last person seen entering Room 13 before the hotel closed forever. After that night, she disappeared, and nobody knew what happened to her. But the final line of the article made them both freeze. “Witnesses reported hearing Elena’s voice inside the hotel years after her disappearance.” Mia slowly looked toward the hallway. Because suddenly, they remembered. The voices. The voices were not always random. Sometimes they were people who had disappeared. Sometimes they were people who were already gone. While searching another hallway, they heard something. A voice. This time, they recognized it immediately. “Alex…” Alex stopped. It was Noah. His friend’s voice was coming from the room ahead. Mia grabbed his arm before he could move. “No.” Alex looked at her. “But that’s him.” Mia shook her head. “That’s what it wants you to think.” The voice came again. “Alex, please…” It sounded exactly like Noah. The same voice. The same fear. The same desperation. Alex closed his eyes, fighting against the urge to open the door. He wanted to believe Noah was alive. He wanted to believe his friend was waiting inside. But then he noticed something. The voice was repeating the same sentence. Over and over. Like a recording. Like something trying to copy a person without understanding them. Alex stepped away from the door. And immediately, the voice stopped. The silence returned. They continued searching until they reached a hidden staircase leading to an underground section of the hotel. At the bottom, they found a room filled with old notes and symbols covering the walls. Unlike Room 13, this place looked like someone had been studying the hotel rather than living in it. There were drawings of the building. Maps of the rooms. Descriptions of the voices. And in the middle of everything was a message written in large letters: “THE HOTEL DOES NOT TAKE PEOPLE.” Mia moved closer. Below it was another sentence. “PEOPLE GIVE THEMSELVES TO THE HOTEL WHEN THEY CHOOSE TO FOLLOW.” Alex stared at the words. Suddenly, everything made sense. The hotel never forced anyone. It waited until someone made the choice. It waited until someone opened the door. It waited until someone answered. As they searched through the notes, they found one final page hidden beneath the others. It was written by someone who had escaped Blackthorn Hotel before. The handwriting was rushed. Almost desperate. The person explained that the only way out was not through the entrance. It was through Room 13. But there was a warning. “Do not enter Room 13 looking for answers.” “Enter only when you are ready to leave something behind.” Mia looked at Alex. Neither of them understood what it meant. But they knew one thing. They had no other choice. They needed to return to Room 13. Because somewhere inside that room… was the way out.

Chapter 13: The Last Three