The storm from the previous night had abated, leaving the air crisp and cold. Morning sunlight spilled into the manor, illuminating its ornate details, yet the brightness did little to chase away the lingering unease.
Rachel had barely slept. The figure she thought she'd seen near the woods haunted her thoughts. Was it a trick of the storm, or had someone been watching them? She wasn't one to dismiss her instincts easily.
At breakfast, the group gathered, though the tension was palpable. Raven sat at the head of the table, the journal now tucked safely away. Alice, unusually quiet, picked at her food. Vance leaned back in his chair, his casual posture betrayed by the sharpness in his eyes as he observed everyone.
Rachel broke the silence. "We need to talk about what we found yesterday."
Raven looked up, her expression carefully neutral. "I thought we did."
"Not enough," Rachel replied. "The journal—it's not just a collection of memories. It's a warning. Someone—maybe even you—wanted us to find it. Why?"
Raven hesitated, her fingers tracing the edge of her cup. "I don't know. But if it's a warning, it's as much for me as it is for you."
"Convenient," Vance muttered under his breath.
Raven's eyes flicked to him, sharp as a blade. "You think I wanted this? To wake up in a world I barely recognize, with people I can't trust?"
"Trust is earned," Vance said coolly. "And right now, you're doing a poor job of earning it."
"Enough," Rachel snapped, her voice cutting through their bickering. "We don't have time for this. Whoever—or whatever—is behind all this, they're not going to wait for us to figure it out. We need to work together."
Alice spoke up for the first time. "What about the figure in the woods?"
All heads turned to her.
"What figure?" Raven asked, frowning.
Alice glanced at Rachel. "She saw someone outside last night. Near the edge of the woods."
Raven's frown deepened. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Rachel shrugged. "I wasn't sure it was real. It could have been my imagination."
"Or it could be someone watching us," Alice said.
The room fell silent as the implication sank in.
---
By midday, the group had decided to investigate the woods. The dense trees loomed like silent sentinels as they ventured deeper, the ground still damp from the rain.
"This feels like a bad idea," Alice muttered, her eyes darting around nervously.
"Do you have a better one?" Rachel asked, her tone sharper than intended.
"Enough," Raven said. "We need to stay focused."
They split into pairs, Rachel and Raven taking one path while Vance and Alice took another. The forest was eerily quiet, the only sounds their footsteps and the occasional rustle of leaves.
Raven walked ahead, her movements deliberate, as if she was searching for something she couldn't name. Rachel watched her closely, her suspicions gnawing at her.
"You seem... different," Rachel said after a while.
Raven glanced over her shoulder. "Different how?"
"Since we found the journal. It's like you're more certain of yourself, but also... more guarded."
Raven stopped and turned to face her. "Wouldn't you be? If your past was a mystery and everyone around you questioned your every move?"
Rachel held her gaze, searching for cracks in her armor. "Maybe. Or maybe you're not as lost as you want us to think."
Raven's expression darkened. "Careful, Rachel. Suspicion is a double-edged sword."
Before Rachel could respond, a shout echoed through the forest. Both women froze before taking off toward the sound.
---
They found Vance and Alice in a small clearing, standing over what appeared to be an old, half-buried chest.
"Found it under a pile of leaves," Vance said, his tone grim.
Rachel knelt beside the chest, brushing away dirt and debris. It was locked, but the wood was rotting, and with some effort, she pried it open.
Inside were more photographs, some faded to the point of being unrecognizable. But one stood out—an image of Raven, or at least someone who looked exactly like her, standing with two men. One of them was unmistakably Ragnar.
"Is this you?" Rachel asked, holding up the photo.
Raven took it, her face pale. "I don't... I don't know. It looks like me, but—"
"But it's not," Vance finished, his voice low.
Alice pointed to the back of the photograph, where a date was scrawled in faded ink. "This is from twenty years ago. That can't be her."
"Unless she's not who she says she is," Vance said, his eyes narrowing.
Raven looked up, anger and confusion warring in her expression. "I don't have answers for you, Vance. I wish I did, but I don't."
Rachel stood, her mind racing. The photograph added another layer to the puzzle, but it didn't solve anything. If anything, it made the mystery deeper.
"We need to get back to the manor," she said. "There's more to this than we can figure out out here."
---
Back at the manor, Rachel spread the photographs and other contents of the chest on the dining table. Among the items was a map, marked with strange symbols and locations that none of them recognized.
"This is a trail," Rachel said, her finger tracing the lines on the map. "It's leading us somewhere."
"But where?" Alice asked.
"And why?" Vance added.
Raven stared at the map, her jaw tight. "We won't find answers here. We have to follow it."
Rachel nodded. "Agreed. But we need to be prepared. Whoever left this map didn't do it out of the kindness of their heart."
As the group began making plans, Rachel couldn't shake the feeling that they were being led into a trap. But what choice did they have? The truth was out there, waiting to be uncovered. And Rachel was determined to find it—even if it cost her everything.