"You want to fight it, but every part of you is screaming for me."
At Ravenstone University, Charlotte Collins, an average student, struggles to keep up with the intense academic demands while grappling with the dark mysteries of the institution. Wi...
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The night was heavy with an unsettling stillness as Charlotte sat on her bed, the weight of the old journal Margaret had given her resting on her lap. The faded pages spoke of secrets too dark to be whispered aloud, and the recent discovery had left her more shaken than she cared to admit.
Yet, alongside these troubling thoughts, another anxiety gnawed at her—the looming exams. The pressure to perform well was growing unbearable, and she feared that the time she spent unraveling Ravenstone’s mysteries was pulling her away from her studies. The delicate balance she tried to maintain between her academic responsibilities and the society’s demands seemed to be tipping dangerously out of her control.
A soft knock at her door broke her reverie. When she opened it, Margaret stood in the dim hallway, her expression unreadable. She handed Charlotte a sealed envelope, her voice low and firm.
"It's time for your first task," Margaret said, her tone leaving no room for hesitation. "Inside are your instructions. Be careful, Charlotte. The Shadow Curse doesn’t forgive mistakes."
Charlotte hesitated, feeling the weight of the envelope in her hands. "What do I have to do?"
Margaret’s eyes softened briefly, then returned to their usual seriousness. "You'll find out soon enough. But remember, this is as much a test of loyalty as it is a test of courage."
As Margaret turned to leave, she paused, lowering her voice to a near whisper. "Lizzie and Shera has gone missing. No one’s seen her, and the administration is staying silent. Be vigilant."
Charlotte’s heart raced. Lizzie, who had recently confronted her with such intensity, was now missing? A shiver ran down her spine as she realized the situation was far more dangerous than she had anticipated. Yet, amidst the fear, her thoughts kept returning to her upcoming exams. Could she really afford to be involved in this when her future at Ravenstone depended so much on her academic performance?
Later that night, with the campus cloaked in darkness, Charlotte opened the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of paper with the following riddles written in an elegant script:
“In the chapel’s shadowed gloom, Seek the secret hidden room. Find the stone that whispers low, Press it, and the truth will show.”
“When moonlight graces stone and dust, A hidden path will be discussed. Beneath the chapel’s ancient floor, Retrieve the key and seek some more.”
Charlotte’s breath caught in her throat. The riddles pointed to the abandoned chapel, rumored to be cursed, as the location for her task. Determined but anxious, she dressed in dark clothes and slipped out of her dormitory. The empty corridors of Ravenstone felt eerie, each step she took echoing loudly in the silent night.
When she finally reached the chapel, its ancient stone walls loomed menacingly in the moonlight, casting long shadows that only deepened her unease. Inside, the air was cold and thick with the scent of decay. Charlotte moved cautiously, her heart pounding as she searched for the hidden room.
“Find the stone that whispers low,” she recalled from the riddle. She focused on areas that were rarely illuminated by moonlight, searching for a place that seemed out of the ordinary.
As she examined the walls, her fingers brushed against a stone that felt slightly different—worn and loose. Following the second riddle, she pressed the stone gently. To her surprise, it moved slightly, revealing a narrow staircase descending into darkness.
“When moonlight graces stone and dust,”Charlotte remembered, feeling a cold draft coming from the newly revealed passageway. With a deep breath, she began her descent.
At the bottom, she found a small, dimly lit room. In the center was an old wooden chest, covered in dust and cobwebs. The chest fit the description from the riddles perfectly. Charlotte approached it warily and lifted the lid to reveal a collection of ancient books and a small silver pendant, intricately engraved with a strange symbol.
As she reached for the pendant, a cold shiver ran down her spine. The air around her seemed to grow heavier, and she had the unsettling sensation that someone—or something—was watching her from the shadows. Her mind raced with thoughts of the upcoming exams, the missing students, and now this—whatever this pendant represented, it was tied to something dark and powerful.
Clutching the pendant tightly, Charlotte hurried back to her dorm, her thoughts a whirlwind of fear and confusion. What had she just uncovered? And what were the consequences of diving so deep into Ravenstone’s hidden past? How could she focus on her studies with all this weighing on her mind?
Margaret was waiting for her outside the dorm, her sharp eyes immediately catching sight of the pendant in Charlotte’s hand. "You found it," she said, a mixture of relief and something darker in her tone.
Charlotte nodded, still breathless. "What is it?"
Margaret’s expression grew serious. "That pendant belonged to one of the students who died 30 years ago. It’s a key… to something we’re still trying to understand."
Charlotte’s thoughts were interrupted by the cold breeze that swept through the corridor, carrying with it the eerie sensation of being watched. She glanced around nervously but saw no one.
"And my exams are just around the corner," Charlotte muttered, more to herself than to Margaret. The weight of everything she had to juggle seemed unbearable.
Margaret’s gaze softened slightly. "We all have our burdens, Charlotte. But remember, The Shadow Curse is about more than just surviving Ravenstone. It’s about uncovering the truth, no matter the cost."
Charlotte felt a chill at those words, a chill that only deepened when Margaret added, almost as an afterthought, "My mother was one of the professors here 30 years ago. She was killed with those 17 students. That’s why I’m here, why I started The Shadow Curse. We have to find out what happened, to make sure it never happens again."
Charlotte looked down at the pendant, the symbol etched into its surface now seeming even more ominous. She was in deep, deeper than she had ever imagined. And as she walked back to her room, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone, somewhere, was watching her every move.
