Despite the lack of a coin tossed in a fountain, Ava found herself back in Cappadocia. Her habit of pinning every new location on her phone map proved immensely helpful. All she needed to do was open the maps and select the hotel they had stayed at in Cappadocia. The taxi driver was more than happy to take her from the city airport to her destination, a journey that lasted over an hour. Ava was grateful that the driver couldn’t speak English; she had no appetite for a small talk.

  It was a beautiful Friday afternoon, just like the one when Ava and Alessandro had ridden their horses to the valley and climbed the hill with the view. Ava recognized the small town near the hotel. After just a couple of minutes, the driver stopped in front of the empty hotel. There was no one around; the hotel was still out of business. Maybe the clumsy receptionist was sleeping in his chair.

  As she got out of the yellow taxi, Ava’s heart sank when she realized that everything was the same, but even the colors of the trees around the hill seemed faded to her lonely eyes. The driver said something from the window, but Ava had no idea what he was talking about. He eventually gave up, handing her his card and showing her his phone number.

  “Oh!” Ava said apologetically, realizing he had just been trying to warn her that the hotel was closed and that she might need a taxi to go somewhere else. She took his card and thanked him. She might have to call him to pick her up later.

  Suddenly, Ava felt the urge to say something in Turkish. She smiled and said, “Ava, benim ad?m Ava.” The driver returned her smile and replied, “Ava, ben Musa!” He drove away slowly, still a little reluctant to leave her alone at the empty hotel.

  She walked toward the main hotel doors, passing the patio and the tiered terrace balconies on either side. The scent of blooming roses washed over her, waking up her scent memory. She realized she hadn’t noticed the rose engravings on either side of the white-painted wooden door. She knocked several times, her knocks echoing in the silence, and tried to peer inside through the windows beside the door. No one answered, no one was inside. She gave up and turned down the narrow corridor to the right, which led to the stables on the far side of the hotel.

  Three horses were peacefully eating their hay. Someone must have been here recently to care for them, which meant the hotel wasn’t entirely abandoned. Ava glanced at her watch; there was still time before the sun went down. The days were getting longer as the season edged closer to summer. Ava’s eyes met the horse she had ridden with Alessandro, and something in her instinct told her to act. There wasn’t much to lose at this point.

  The stables looked somewhat older than the newly built hotel, as if they had been there long before the hotel, which seemed to have been constructed adjacent to the stables, careful not to disturb their presence. Ava looked around and found a bridle for the horse, then saddled it. The saddles were worn, but still of good quality. She led the horse out of the stables and into the front of the hotel, then hopped on.

  She followed the same path Alessandro had guided her along but wasn’t exactly sure which route they had taken once they reached the valley. It had been much easier to follow Alessandro’s horse. She tried to guess the direction uphill but found herself on the other side of the hill, even further down the valley. Though the faint trail suggested it had been used by people or horses before, from where she stood, she couldn’t see the hill or the direction she had come from.

  “Great!” she muttered to herself. “I got lost in the wilderness with no phone reception. Good job, Ava, well done!”

  The valley, shadowed by the hills on both sides, was growing darker sooner than the hilltops. Ava stopped and let go of the horse’s reins to pull out her water bottle. All this anxiety from getting lost had made her thirsty. Without the reins to control it, the horse wandered off, slowly heading in a direction Ava hadn’t planned to take. It seemed as if the horse was instinctively finding its way home as the light faded. Ava allowed it, letting the horse lead her deeper into the valley. Soon, the animal came to a stop in front of a large rock, standing like a wall before them.

  “Oh, great! So, you had no idea where you were going, huh?” Ava muttered to her horse. She dismounted to give the animal a break from carrying her weight. Strangely, in this wilderness she was exploring for the first time, a narrow pathway appeared, one that seemed to be used only occasionally. It led to the side of the large rock. Ava tied the horse to a nearby tree and followed the path, which eventually opened to a hidden space beside the rock.

  “There are no bears or wildcats in this region,” Ava thought. “If this isn’t the home of some big wild animal, I might have just found Ali Baba’s treasury.”

  She walked a little further into the opening and peeked into the darkness. It was too dark to see, so she turned on the flashlight on her phone and took a few more steps. The corridor was narrow, wide enough for only two people to walk side by side. She continued, her heart pounding and her mind asking, When did you get this stupid to enter a cave alone?

  At the end of the corridor, she reached an opening that revealed a set of marble stairs leading downward. The smooth wooden handrails were securely mounted on the walls, providing just enough support to guide her down in the darkness. This place is absolutely not a wild animal’s den, Ava thought, feeling a little safer as she began her descent.

  After a long descent, Ava reached a pair of double doors, their heavy wooden frames secured by an old, rusty iron lock in the center. She reached for the lock and examined it, noticing the keyhole at the back. Finding a key in the darkness of the cave didn’t seem like an option. Though, with a heavy axe and a strong, muscular arm, she might have been able to force it open. But Ava had neither an axe nor a muscular arm. It was time to turn back and think of another solution.

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  She climbed back to the valley and looked around. The sun was sinking lower, casting the valley into deeper shadow. Ava knew she should get on the horse and follow the trail back to the hotel. As she prepared to mount, her eyes caught a glint of metal shining from beneath the saddle. If I had a key to use somewhere only accessible by horse, I’d hide it under the saddle, she thought, her heart pounding. There it was, secured beneath the saddle, a worn, iron key. She grabbed it and rushed back down the stairs. In no time, she unlocked the door and pulled it open.

  Beyond the doors, there was nothing. Nothing but a thick, suffocating darkness. Ava didn’t dare step inside. The light from her phone was too faint to illuminate anything. She squinted, trying to let her eyes adjust, but no matter how much she strained, her pupils couldn’t open any wider. She fumbled through her purse and found a penny, tossing it into the darkness to see what sound it might make. But there was nothing. No sound at all. She tried a bigger coin, but still, no noise. The ground must be too soft to reveal anything.

  She took out the matches she’d brought with her, struck one, and threw it into the void. The flame flickered briefly, then disappeared into the blackness. Ava lit more matches, throwing them in quick succession, but it was impossible to see anything. She needed something stronger, a much larger source of light.

  “Oh my gosh!” she gasped, suddenly realizing her mistake. She frantically searched around for a natural light source, but it was useless, there was no light down here, not at this depth. She had to climb back up before the sun disappeared completely. Sunset was the best time to catch a beam of light filtering through the trees at the hilltop.

  She mounted her horse and rode uphill, aiming for the highest point where the sun was still shining. When she reached the top, she stood under the large tree on the upper hillside and stretched out her hand, trying to capture as much sunlight as she could. She cupped it carefully in her palm, focusing on keeping it steady and strong.

  When she returned to the cave, she didn’t need the dim light from her phone. She descended the stairs to the door and directed the bright beam in her hand toward the darkness inside the room.

  She gasped as the truth dawned on her. It wasn’t darkness in the room, it was a pool of the same black fume she had seen on Alessandro’s hands and arms. It was thicker, denser, and far darker now, but it was clearly visible as it danced with the light she had thrown inside.

  “Ghull!” she said, her voice steady but filled with recognition. “I know you’re here, help me.”

  Two eyes of fire emerged from the smoky fumes, rising from the darkness of the room. They inched closer to Ava, who stood frozen near the door. The smoke began to swirl around her, thick and oppressive.

  “Get your light back,” the Ghull said, his voice a low, resonant growl. “You’ll need it.”

  Ava quickly gathered her light from the darkness, clutching it in her hand as if it were a weapon, something she could defend herself with.

  “Helping you is my passion,” he continued. “When you call me, I burn with pleasure.”

  Ava’s heart raced as she forced herself to ask, “What is this darkness? Is this your home?”

  “No, no, no...” the Ghull answered, amusement lacing his voice. “I created this door with your grandmother’s assent, three thousand years ago. Her name was Puduhepa.”

  Ava’s mind raced, but she focused on the question at hand. “Where does it lead?”

  The Ghull’s eyes flickered, his voice lowering to a darker tone. “If you want to find him, you will walk into the darkness. You told him once that you could walk into his darkness.”

  “Where is he?” Ava asked, her voice tinged with desperation. She wasn’t sure if she should stay any longer, but her legs were anchored to where she was standing.

  “This is a portal,” the Ghull replied, his tone unyielding, “and it leads to another planet where Alessandro is.”

  Ava’s breath caught in her throat. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” she repeated, her words trembling with disbelief. Her heart raced. Her mind refused to accept any more of the unearthly information.

  “God is not available to help unfortunately. It’s just you and me,” the Ghull said, his voice edged with offense. “Only you can walk into the darkness of the Ghull. I can show you the way... and I can protect you from all the harm.”

  “What happens if you don’t protect me? How did Alessandro pass this?” Ava was unable to control her half screaming half crying voice.

  “Calm down my light, I am here for you. Alone, you could get lost in the darkness forever. Never go through the portal alone. Alessandro is not your kind, as you are not his,” the Ghull warned, his voice cold with caution. “He is built different.”

  Ava’s throat tightened, her voice barely above a whisper. “If I go... can I come back?”

  “Yes, you can. But only when I am to help you,” the Ghull said. “Do you trust me?” His arm reached out to Ava as if he wanted to touch her, to comfort her in her desperation. He moved swiftly closer to Ava. The light of the fire in his core was getting brighter. Ava realized he narrowed his eyes almost to close themfor a while.

  Tears spilled down Ava’s cheeks as she wiped them away, her hands trembling. “Yes,” she replied, her voice raw. “I trust you.” The intensity of her emotions overwhelmed her, leaving her dizzy, unsure whether she was in a dream or if it was reality. When with the Ghull, she was never certain. She was almost feeling the compassion in his core when he spoke to her, and then he would be back to his world as if he drifts back to a duty he should comply.

  “Cover yourself in the light,” he opened his burning eyes again and instructed, “Allow yourself to me.”

  Ava concentrated, growing the light from her hand through her arms until it enveloped her whole body, casting a soft, protective glow. The Ghull reached for her, strong and steady in his arms, he carried her into the deep darkness of the dark fumes. His face remained as serene as the still waters of a deep cold lake, while the flames in his eyes flickered, restless as galloping horses. He felt her presence in his arms, heavy and powerful with the light he longed for so long. He took her to his realm, to his darkness, to his fumes of black smoke.