Great! Here's **Chapter 3: Jacob and Argo Discover the Secret of the Cellar**, a continuation of adventure and mystery:---

## **Chapter 3: Jacob and Argo Discover the Secret of the Cellar**

The darkness was thick, almost tangible. Jacob felt a chill creep through him, and Argo began to growl softly, trying to sense something that humans couldn't see.

"We have to find that door," Jacob said, almost in a whisper. "Where the cellar is… there's the answer."

Argo lifted his nose and roared toward the pantry. Jacob followed, carefully squeezing through the narrow corridor. Finally, behind a shelf full of old jars, they saw a crack in the wall that hadn't existed before.

"This must be it," Jacob said. "But how do we get in?"

Argo approached first, sniffed, then jumped lightly into the crack. Jacob felt a chill as he saw that the space beyond the door wasn't the basement he knew from normal houses. This was something else: a narrow, dark corridor, winding downward like a snake. The walls were damp, and the air smelled of earth and something… ancient.

“Stay close,” Jacob said, and together they descended.

The corridor led to a room containing something Jacob couldn't immediately understand. In the center stood an old stone sarcophagus, a symbol carved into its lid that resembled a labyrinth. Objects were scattered around the sarcophagus: books, strange tools, and photographs of different women in the same house—all in the same place where they stood now.

“It's impossible…” Jacob whispered. “This… this must be some kind of curse, or something that repeats itself every generation.”

Argo barked suddenly, his ears perking up. Jacob turned and saw a shadow moving across the wall. It wasn't human.

"We're not alone," he said tensely.

The shadow stopped at the sarcophagus, and then Mara's voice came from behind Jacob:

"They wait. They always wait."

Jacob turned sharply. Mara stood in the doorway, her eyes full of anxiety but also determination.

"What is it?" Jacob asked.

"The house protects its secrets," Mara replied. "And those who discover them must be ready… for anything."

The Argo growled louder, and the walls seemed to close in. Jacob suddenly felt that this wasn't just about discovering the secret anymore—it was about survival.

"We must find the key," Jacob said. "The key to all this… before the house decides it no longer needs us."

And then, from the darkness, from behind the sarcophagus, something moved of its own accord, as if waiting for them to enter.

---

If you want, I can write **Chapter 4** right away, where Jacob and Argo discover the workings of the house and the first of its dark secrets.

Would you like me to do that?