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Chapter 1: The Letter
It was an ordinary day at Westbridge University when Ivy Montgomery found the letter. Hidden under her dorm room door, it was thick and sealed with dark red wax, as if it had come from a different century. She picked it up, studying the strange symbol pressed into the wax—a serpent wrapped around a rose.
She glanced down the hallway, half-expecting to see someone lurking in the shadows, but it was empty.
Turning the letter over, Ivy hesitated, then opened it. Inside was a single line, written in elegant script:
“There is danger in curiosity, but danger always makes the story worth telling.”
Ivy frowned, her mind racing. She was no stranger to mysteries; her whole life had been filled with secrets, the biggest one being the strange circumstances around her mother’s disappearance when she was just a child. But this? A strange note? It was something out of a novel.
The next day, another letter appeared.
This time, it was waiting on her desk when she got back from class. It was the same dark red wax, the same symbol. Heart pounding, Ivy opened it.
“Meet me at the abandoned clock tower tonight. Midnight.”
She knew the clock tower. It was part of the old Westbridge Academy before it had turned into a university, now just a towering, forgotten relic at the edge of campus.
Ivy’s fingers trembled. Every rational part of her screamed that this was a bad idea, but there was something about the letters, the mystery, that she couldn’t ignore. She had questions, and whoever was leaving these messages seemed to have answers.
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Chapter 2: Midnight Meeting
That night, Ivy made her way across campus, the only light coming from the occasional street lamp. The clock tower loomed in the distance, and as she neared it, she noticed a figure standing in the shadows.
Her pulse quickened. She couldn’t see his face, but she could tell he was tall, with an air of mystery that made her shiver. As she approached, he stepped forward, revealing dark, intense eyes that seemed to see right through her.
“You came,” he said, voice low and smooth. “I wasn’t sure you would.”
“Who are you?” Ivy asked, crossing her arms to hide the nervous tremor in her hands. “And why the letters?”
The man tilted his head, studying her. “My name is Leo. And the letters… let’s just say I know something you need to hear.”
Ivy took a step back. “Why should I trust you?”
“Because I’m the only one who can tell you the truth about what happened to your mother,” he replied, his eyes never leaving hers.
Her breath caught. No one had spoken about her mother in years. “What do you know?”
“More than you think,” Leo said, his gaze softening. “But this place isn’t safe. They’re watching.”
Ivy’s mind spun, torn between fear and the hope that someone might finally have answers. “Then where should we go?”
Leo looked around, then took her hand. “Follow me.”
He led her through the winding back streets behind campus, eventually stopping in a hidden alleyway. The world felt distant, as if they were the only two people left.
“Your mother didn’t leave on her own,” he whispered. “She was taken.”
Ivy’s heart pounded. “Taken by who?”
“By people who wanted her secrets,” Leo replied, his voice barely above a whisper. “Your mother was part of something dangerous, Ivy. And they want you, too.”
A chill ran through her. “What… what are you saying?”
“I’m saying you’re in more danger than you know.” Leo took her hand, his gaze intense. “You need to trust me. There’s a lot more to this than you realize. And if you want to find the truth, you’ll have to be willing to go deeper.”
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To Be Continued...
