The secret room was silent.

Too silent.

Mia stood beside the broken mirror, holding the sharp piece of glass in her hand.

Charlie floated near the wall, staring at the message.

THE GHOST WAS NEVER THE VICTIM

For the first time since Mia met him…

Charlie had no joke.

No funny comment.

No silly reaction.

He looked like someone who had finally found the answer he had spent years avoiding.

“Charlie?”

Mia called softly.

He looked at her.

“I remember Victor.”

“Who is he?”

“My brother.”

“Your real brother?”

Charlie nodded.

“We were close.”

“At least…”

“I think we were.”

Mia frowned.

“You don’t remember?”

Charlie touched his head.

“Some memories are there.”

“Some are gone.”

“Like pieces of a broken movie.”

---

Mia opened the old files again.

There were dozens of pages about Charlie.

Experiments.

Notes.

Observations.

But the last page was different.

It contained only one sentence.

The ghost remembers when the door opens.

Mia looked confused.

“What door?”

Charlie looked around the secret room.

“The mansion.”

Mia stared at him.

“You think the house is hiding something?”

Charlie nodded slowly.

“I don’t think this mansion is haunted.”

“I think it is trapped.”

---

Suddenly…

A loud crash came from upstairs.

The entire mansion shook.

Mia grabbed her flashlight.

“Someone is inside.”

Charlie disappeared.

Mia looked around.

“Charlie?”

A small voice came from behind an old box.

“I’m hiding.”

Mia sighed.

“You are a ghost.”

“You can disappear.”

“Yes.”

“That is why hiding is extra dramatic.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Come on.”

---

They moved quietly through the mansion.

The front door was open.

Cold air entered the hall.

Footprints covered the dusty floor.

Someone had entered.

Mia followed them.

They stopped near the old living room.

Inside…

A man was searching through drawers.

He wore a black jacket.

His face was hidden.

Charlie immediately froze.

“I know him.”

Mia whispered.

“Who?”

Charlie answered quietly.

“One of Victor’s people.”

The man suddenly turned.

“You should have stayed dead, Charles.”

Charlie moved backward.

“You can see me?”

The man smiled.

“Of course.”

“You really thought you were the only one who returned?”

---

Mia stepped forward.

“Who are you?”

The man laughed.

“You don’t need to know.”

“You just need to leave.”

He reached into his pocket.

Mia expected a weapon.

Instead…

He pulled out a small music box.

Charlie looked at it.

His face changed.

“Where did you get that?”

The man smiled.

“You remember?”

Charlie moved closer.

“I gave that to my daughter.”

Mia looked surprised.

“You had a daughter?”

Charlie stared at the music box.

“I don’t remember.”

The man opened it.

A soft melody played.

Immediately…

Charlie fell to his knees.

Images flashed through his mind.

A little girl laughing.

A woman crying.

Victor shouting.

Fire.

A locked basement.

And Charlie screaming.

“No!”

---

Mia grabbed Charlie.

“What did you see?”

Charlie looked terrified.

“My death.”

“What happened?”

He looked at the music box.

“I wasn’t killed by Victor.”

Mia waited.

Charlie whispered,

“I was protecting someone.”

---

The man with the music box suddenly laughed.

“You are finally remembering.”

Charlie looked at him.

“Where is Victor?”

The man smiled.

“He has been waiting for you.”

“Where?”

The man pointed toward the basement.

“Below the mansion.”

“The place you never found.”

---

The man disappeared before Mia could stop him.

Not through a door.

Not through a window.

He simply vanished.

Mia stared.

“Okay.”

“Now I believe in ghosts.”

Charlie looked offended.

“Only now?”

“Yes.”

“After all the evidence?”

“Yes.”

Charlie sighed.

---

They returned to the basement.

Near the secret room, Mia noticed something strange.

The floor had changed.

A hidden symbol appeared beneath the dust.

A circle.

With a line through the center.

The same symbol from the glass window.

Charlie touched it.

The floor opened.

A staircase appeared.

Mia looked down.

“How deep does this go?”

Charlie stared into the darkness.

“I don’t know.”

“And that’s the problem.”

They walked down.

The stairs seemed endless.

At the bottom was a large underground chamber.

In the center stood a machine.

Old.

Rusty.

But still working.

Connected to it were hundreds of small glass containers.

Inside each container…

Were memories.

Images.

Voices.

Moments.

Mia stepped closer.

“This is impossible.”

Charlie looked around.

“My memories.”

“All of them.”

Suddenly…

A voice echoed from the darkness.

“Welcome home, brother.”

Charlie turned.

A man stepped forward.

Victor.

Older.

Calm.

Smiling.

Mia raised her flashlight.

“You.”

Victor looked at Charlie.

“You finally remembered me.”

Charlie floated forward angrily.

“Why did you do this?”

Victor smiled.

“Because you found something you shouldn’t have found.”

“What?”

Victor looked at the machine.

“The secret of immortality.”

Charlie shook his head.

“You destroyed my life.”

Victor laughed.

“No.”

“I saved it.”

“You were the first successful experiment.”

Mia frowned.

“Experiment?”

Victor nodded.

“The first human who could survive death.”

Charlie stared.

“You killed me to make me a ghost.”

Victor smiled.

“And it worked.”

The underground room became silent.

Then Victor said the words that changed everything.

“But Charlie…”

“You were never the only ghost.”

Behind him…

Dozens of shadows began rising from the glass containers.

Mia stepped backward.

“What are those?”

Victor smiled.

“My collection.”

The shadows moved closer.

Charlie looked at Mia.

For the first time…

The ghost who failed to scare anyone…

Was actually scared.

End of Chapter 4.