On a misty seaside holiday, Marta, Tom, and Lena spot a light in an abandoned lighthouse and decide to investigate, only to find the night hiding something far stranger than a simple secret.
Marta, Tom, and Lena liked a challenge almost as much as they liked being the first to discover something no one else had noticed. That was probably why the old lighthouse at the far end of the bay kept pulling them back. Every day, the same grey tower stood above the beach like a warning. The windows were dark, the paint had peeled away years ago, and the townspeople said it had been empty for nearly a decade. They also said strange sounds drifted from it after sunset.
The children laughed at that. Until the evening the lighthouse answered back.
They were walking along the beach when Lena stopped so suddenly that Tom nearly ran into her. She pointed across the dunes. A pale light flickered inside the lighthouse, quick and uncertain, then vanished. A moment later it flashed again, higher up this time, greenish and cold against the mist.
"Did you see that?" Lena whispered.
Marta stared at the tower, her mind already racing ahead. "There shouldn't be any power there."
"Or someone wants us to think there isn't," Tom muttered, though he tried to sound amused. It came out thin in the wind.
The light blinked once more, as if in answer.
By the time they reached the lighthouse gate, the sky had turned the colour of wet slate. Their torches made narrow tunnels through the dark as they climbed the worn stone steps inside. The air smelled of salt, rust, and something older. Every footstep sent a hollow echo spiralling upward through the tower.
No one spoke. Even Tom had gone quiet.
Halfway up, Lena caught hold of Marta's sleeve. A sound had drifted down from above them, soft and brief. Not a creak. Not the wind. A laugh.
Marta raised her torch toward the landing where the metal door led to the lantern room. The beam shook across the riveted surface, and for one second she was sure she saw the handle move from the other side.
Then the door opened by itself.
A green glow spilled through the gap, washing over their faces. Tom took one step forward, and the lighthouse slammed the entrance door shut behind them with a bang that shook dust from the walls. The sound of the storm vanished at once, as if the tower had swallowed it whole.
From above, something shifted in the lantern room.
And then the light turned blinding white.