The Curse

Chapter 10: The Signature

Under a sky brushed with the soft hues of dusk, Ellie found her footsteps leading her back to Sebastian's fraternity house. Each step was a mixture of determination and a rehearsed speech that played like a loop in her mind. She was about to bridge a gap she herself had widened, fueled by a discovery she hadn't yet made but felt in her bones was vital.

Sebastian answered the door, his expression a canvas of surprise and cautious curiosity. The air between them was thick with unspoken words, a silent acknowledgment of their last parting.

"I... I need your help," Ellie began, her voice steadier than she felt. "It's about the clock again. I think we missed something, something important."

The reluctance was clear in Sebastian's eyes, a storm of concern and contemplation. Yet, after a pause that felt like an eternity, he stepped aside, a silent gesture of assent. Their shared quest for understanding, it seemed, was enough to bridge any distance.

The clock stood as they left it, majestic and enigmatic in the dimly lit room, its ticks a steady heartbeat in the quiet. Ellie approached with a reverence, her fingers hovering over the wood before touching it, tracing the grains as if they were lines on a map.

"I just... I need to look at it, closely," she said, more to herself than to Sebastian.

With a flashlight in hand and a magnifying glass borrowed from Sebastian's collection, Ellie examined every inch of the grandfather clock. Sebastian watched from a distance, the light casting shadows over his thoughtful face.

Minutes stretched into hours, the only sounds in the room the soft creaks of the house settling and the occasional sigh of frustration from Ellie. Until, in a corner so easy to overlook, her light caught on an anomaly—a small, intricate signature carved delicately into the wood, hidden beneath the varnish.

"Sebastian, look!" she exclaimed, her voice a mix of triumph and disbelief.

He was by her side in an instant, their heads close as they peered at the signature. The name was unfamiliar, yet undeniably there, a clue left by the maker.

"I can't believe it... This... This could be it," Ellie breathed out, her excitement palpable.

In a moment caught between elation and relief, Ellie turned to Sebastian, her eyes reflecting the myriad emotions swirling within. Without thought, propelled by their shared victory and the closeness of the moment, she reached up, pulling him into a kiss that was both a celebration and an apology.

The kiss was brief, a mere brush of lips, but it was enough to send waves of warmth through them both. As they parted, Ellie's cheeks flushed with a mixture of surprise at her own impulsiveness and the lingering thrill of the discovery.

"Sorry, I... I got carried away," she stammered, her heart racing.

He looked at her, his eyes clearly showing hurt. "I guess I'm only visible to you when you need something," he said and looked away.

"You can see yourself out," he said coldly. "And congratulations again on finding more useless information for your make-believe quest," he added, leaving Ellie standing alone next to the grandfather clock.