THE HIDDEN WORLD OF ALUNA 

Chapter One  The Gray Room

Maya turned back toward the door, but it was gone.

For a second, she thought she had simply missed it — that if she took a few steps back and looked again, it would reappear.

But the wall was seamless.

No frame.
No handle.
No crack in the stone.

Nothing.

Her chest tightened.

“That’s not possible,” she said under her breath, already moving, running her hands along the surface as if touch might reveal what her eyes couldn’t.

The room was small and dim, the kind of space that felt tighter the longer you stood in it. She couldn’t quite tell what it was — not a room, not exactly. More like something closed in on itself.

She moved along the walls, faster now, scanning every inch, searching for anything that didn’t belong — a seam, a shadow, a shift in texture.

There was nothing.

Her breath shortened, her pulse rising as the realization settled in.

She was trapped.

Her gaze fell to the wall in front of her.

At first, she didn’t see it.

Then the light shifted slightly — just enough.

Two words, carved faintly into the stone:

LOOK INWARD.

Maya frowned.

“What does that even mean?” she whispered.

Then something passed close behind her.

Not a breeze — just… movement.

She froze.

“Who’s there?” she whispered.

Silence.

Then came the whispers.

Soft, layered and overlapping.

She couldn’t make out the words, only the tone — not exactly threatening, but not comforting either. They drifted around her, close enough to feel but impossible to place.

Her heartbeat thudded in her ears as she stumbled backward. The air felt heavier now, pressing in on her chest, tightening her breath.

“Hello?” she called again, quieter this time.

Nothing.

Then the whispers got closer, circling her. They layered over each other until they blurred into a single sound.

Her breathing turned sharp and uneven.

“Stop it!” she screamed. “Stop!”

Silence.

Her legs gave out and she slid down the wall, curling in on herself. Her hair fell across her face as she struggled to slow her breathing.

How did I let myself get here?  She pressed her head against the wall and sighed.