Darkness surrounds the stone cabin now as night blankets the world outside. The fireplace within burns brightly, fueled by wood logs stacked neatly against the building. Everyone is comfortable inside, but Markus is staring out the window next the wooden door. All of his gear is off now, placed behind him beside the stone bed.

The fire pit just outside is burning too, but the darkness seems to be endless. The light from the fire is an island in a sea of pitch black. Markus sighs, and turns around to retrieve his pistol. He grabs the handgun from the combat vest lying on the floor. Simultaneously, his left hand is removing the angle-head flashlight from the vest too.

With the pistol in his right hand and flashlight in the other, Markus heads back to the door. As he's about to open it, he talks to the fairies standing next to the fireplace. “Okay girls, enjoy your bath. I'll be outside.”

Eclair and Aurora are standing beside a large pot on the floor left over from previous visitors. The pot is full of water which had been heated over the fire, and now cooled off enough to allow the fairies a nice bath. Eclair pushed for it, even though Aurora was adamant she was okay with the soot covering her. In the end, Eclair convinced Aurora, which also lead to Markus being temporarily put on guard duty outside.

“Thanks for the help.” Eclair says back. “Oh! And no peeking! We'll be quick.”

Markus smiles and nods, before pushing himself out the door. He closes the door behind him and turns the angle-head flashlight on. The beam of light separates the dark, and other than the fire pit, little else can be seen.

Minutes pass without much to see or do. Occasionally, the voices from the fairies reach outside as they have their own conversation. Markus is vigilant with the light, scanning left and right to make sure unwelcoming surprises don't show. He's standing right in front of the wooden door just as any guard would do.

The air is chilly and still inside the cave. Markus' hands feel cold without the gloves on, but it shouldn't be long before the girls finish. He occupies the time in his own mind, until sounds catch his attention.

To the right of the stone cabin, Markus begins to hear the sound of metal clashing against metal. It sounds distant, and the noise fades away just as soon as it arrived. The flashlight reveals nothing in the darkness.

Suddenly, the murmurs and whispers of voices occur behind Markus. He spins around with his flashlight expecting to see people. He sees nothing instead. The flashlight begins to scan all around the area, yet nothing can be seen. Once again, the sounds of clashing metal slowly get louder.

Turning around, Markus quietly listens. The sounds are still distant in the cave, but Markus can sometimes pick out fierce yelling and screams within the noise. A fight or battle? Then the sounds disappear again.

Moments pass before more whispers begin all around Markus. Vanishing as soon as they're heard. Opposite of the cabin, deep in the dark, sounds of a crowd can be heard. Full of life, like a marketplace or fairground. Children are laughing, people are talking, and vendors are yelling directly ahead. Just like the others, the voices and sounds fade away until silence remains.

Markus backs himself against the wooden door. His heart is beating fast, and his palms are sweating heavily. The situation is becoming clear to him, the cave and ruins are haunted. These are spirits of a place long ago.

Spirits and ghost are something Markus deeply believes in. There are too many unexplained occurrences and paranormal activities to simply dismiss. Markus' own eyes have seen mysterious things in the forest and buildings of the American West. Fear grows within him as murmurs of past conversations and the distant battle repeat again.

“Find... hidden room.” A deep, manly voice whispers in the ear of Markus. He looks around, but is clearly alone. The voices and sounds of the cave vanish once again.

Markus has finally had enough, and immediately bolts back inside the cabin. In a swift motion, he grabs one of the wooden chairs to jam the door knob. He knows it's a worthless idea against things he can't see or touch, but being inside the cabin calms his fears.

“Hey! We aren't done! Go back outside.” Eclair's voice yells from behind Markus.

“Fuck that! Trust me. You don't want to go outside.” Markus says while turning around. When his eyes meets the fairies, he realizes they're already out of the pot. Unfortunately, he's caught them half dressed.

Eclair and Aurora are embarrassed with slight blushes on their faces. They have hands and arms strung across their breast in an attempt to cover up. Markus quickly places his left forearm in front of his eyes.

“Sorry. Sorry. I'll turn around.” Markus says to the girls. He turns around completely and says “Get dressed. I'm not going back out there.”

Eclair glances to Aurora with a confused look. Aurora simply shrugs, but then stares at Markus. She knows when someone has been spooked.

Minutes pass before the fairies are fully dressed. Neither has their armor equipped now, but Aurora managed to clean up hers during the bath. When they both acknowledge they're ready, they nod to each other.

“Alright. We're done.” Aurora says to Markus. “So what happened?”

Markus turns around and walks to his equipment. He puts away the pistol and flashlight back in the vest, before grabbing everything with a big bear hug. Markus then moves everything next to the fireplace, before sitting down near the girls.

“I'm sleeping next to the fire. This damn cave is haunted. Voice and sounds and everything else.” Markus finally responds to Aurora.

Eclair's face quickly drains of color. She rushes over to her pile of equipment, grabbing them just like Markus did. She then places everything closer to the fireplace too.

“Oh, well I knew that. I've been here enough times to have seen or heard a few things.” Aurora says casually. “It's the spirits of the past, an endless repeat, they can't hurt anything.”

Eclair groans. She then says “Really? How many times have you stayed the night here? I'm surprised you would willingly sleep here.”

“Oh no. I've never stayed in this cave at night. It's close enough to Little Creek that there was never a point in sleeping here.” Aurora replies back to Eclair. Once she hears her own words Aurora suddenly gets embarrassed. “Sorry... I should have said something.”

Markus sighs, then says “It's alright, we definitely aren't leaving now anyways. I've had enough surprises for one day.”