t O

treet outside. The silence in her apartment was oppressive, broken only by the fai

hadn't

the growing ache in her chest. She didn't know what scared her more

stared at it, the more questions stirred in her mind. Why had Michael given her this ring so sud

ed him. But trust did

e and tried calling agai

eys. She wasn't going to sit around wh

s knocking on Michael's a

ly. "I know you're in ther

l no

eave - but then, a soft cli

wed, lips tight. He looked like

have come," he

t give me

long moment before Michael s

otographs on the table, the unfolded letter,

this?" she as

eck, then slowly sat down. "It's

. "The ring

longed to my father. And it's connected to something he

Michael... what have yo

t. But I'm going to find out. And

and. "If you think I'm leaving y

: Ghosts

range mix of relief and dread. He didn't want her involved, not i

, then my father didn't just vanish - he was taken. Because of what he knew. An

face. "Then let them co

s thumb across her hand. "Yo

mile. "And you're carrying a burde

he woman who gave me that envelope - I don't even know her name. She just appeared, warned

phs, studying the old estate in th

use. I haven't been there since I was a kid. It was

hen that's where w

angerous. If someone's been watching me, tracking th

If you trust me, let me help you. We find this place, see what your fa

ir. "What if it's nothing? W

them together,

se, thick with

e'll go tomorrow - early. Before

hrough this, Michael. Whatever secrets your f

r met fierce resolve, something unshakable had formed between th

: Shadows

s and adding a strange, almost cinematic stillness to the streets. Emma zipped up her j

of light in the hallway outside her door, had set her on edge. But

with a small duffel bag slung over his sh

ragging you into somethi

k. "You're not dragging me

out a two-hour drive. The place is out past the old Glenridg

shared anticipation. Occasionally, Michael would glance at Emma, as if trying to memorize the calm in

rched overhead like guardians, their branches gnarled and ancient. The

re with my father. He said it was where o

d he ever tell you stor

love. That it held history. That it belonged to the first so

. "But he never gave

quietly. "He left

iew. It was half-swallowed by vines and decay. The house, on

Michael said,

dows dark and lifeless. "Do you rea

a small flashlight and a folded paper. "But we're not here by chanc

ir seemed to shift - heavier, colder.

hose walls, it was mo

as l

s war

only the