"Are you sure you're okay?" Maria asked, her voice low as she walked beside Kyle the next morning.
Kyle nodded, though his hands fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. He hadn't slept again, haunted by the pale figure's hollow eyes and the warning that lingered in his mind.
Was that really a ghost or a person, it looked like both if he was being honest, but he had not seen that woman on the estate before, so who was she?.
Maria leaned in, her brows furrowed. "You seem… off. Did something happen?"
Kyle hesitated. He wanted to tell her, but a strange sense of dread silenced him. Would she even believe him?
"I'm fine," he muttered.
Maria sighed, clearly unconvinced, but before she could press further, Isaac's voice boomed through the hall.
"Everyone, gather in the east wing. There's something I want to show Kyle."
Maria gave Kyle a small smile. "Come on. Maybe this will take your mind off things."
The family gathered in a small sitting room in the east wing, its walls lined with old portraits of stoic ancestors. Kyle's gaze wandered to the largest painting, a stern-looking man with piercing eyes and a faint scar across his cheek.
"That's your grandfather," Isaac said, noticing Kyle's focus. "Thomas Rivers. He built this most of our empire and business from nothing."
"He doesn't look very welcoming," Kyle said quietly.
Isaac chuckled, though it lacked warmth. "He wasn't. But he was a man of vision."
Elise snorted from her seat by the window. "He was a tyrant. Everyone knows it."
"Elise," Elizabeth warned, her tone sharp.
"What? It's true," Elise shot back, crossing her arms. "He treated the staff like dirt and made half the family hate him. Why are we pretending he was some kind of saint?"
"Elise, enough," Clarissa said firmly.
Kyle shifted uncomfortably, the tension in the room thickening. As the argument simmered down, Isaac cleared his throat.
"There's more to the estate than just the house," Isaac said. "Kyle, I think it's time you saw the grounds."
Isaac led Kyle and Maria outside, where the sprawling gardens stretched endlessly. The air was cool, and the towering hedges seemed to block out the world beyond. Workers moved about, tending to the plants, but their eyes flicked to Kyle as he passed.
"Why do they keep staring at me?" Kyle asked, lowering his voice.
"They're curious," Maria offered, though her tone wasn't convincing.
On one hand kyle thought of saying screw it all he would leave this place and never look back, but he needed to know what happened to his parents, besides the Miller family were probably looming for him and would kill him if they see him, he needed his birth family protection, and at least they have been nice…..most of them at least.
As they walked deeper into the gardens, the whispers began again, soft, unintelligible murmurs that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.
Kyle stopped, his heart racing. "Do you hear that?"
Maria and Isaac exchanged a glance.
"Hear what?" Maria asked.
Kyle's pulse quickened. "The whispers. Someone's whispering."
Maria frowned. "Kyle, there's no one here but us."
Isaac's expression darkened. "Let's keep moving."
They stopped at a small stone structure nestled at the edge of the garden. It was old, its roof covered in moss, and the door creaked as Isaac pushed it open.
"This is the family chapel," Isaac said. "It hasn't been used in years, but it's an important part of our history."
It was obvious it hadn't been used in years, cobwebs were every where, cockroaches scrambled at the first sign of them.
Kyle hesitated before stepping inside. The air was heavy, and the faint smell of decay lingered. Rows of wooden pews faced an altar, behind which stood a large, weathered cross.
"There's something I need to show you," Isaac said, leading Kyle to the back of the chapel. He opened a trapdoor in the floor, revealing a narrow staircase that descended into darkness.
"What's down there?" Kyle asked, his voice tight.
"The crypt," Isaac said simply.
Kyle's stomach churned. "Why are we going down there?"
"You'll understand soon enough," Isaac replied, starting down the stairs.
Maria gave Kyle a reassuring look before following her Uncle. Reluctantly, Kyle trailed behind.
The air grew colder as they descended, the stone walls damp and the faint sound of dripping water echoing around them. At the bottom of the stairs, they entered a large chamber lined with stone coffins.
"This is where the Rivers family rests," Isaac said, his voice reverent. "Your ancestors are here, Kyle."
Kyle swallowed hard, the oppressive atmosphere making it hard to breathe. He stepped closer to one of the coffins, the name Thomas Rivers etched into the stone.
Maybe he could find something about his parents here that could explain the anything to him. But to imagine he comes from a family that has this much history and he had always thought himself to be a nobody, now he was the son of heir to an empire that has stood for generations.
"Why are you showing me this?" Kyle asked, his voice echoed across the crypt even though he tried to whisper.
"Because you're part of this family," Isaac said, his tone firm. "And it's time you understood what that means."
Before Kyle could respond, a faint scraping sound echoed through the crypt.
"Did you hear that?" Kyle asked, his voice trembling.
Maria nodded, her face pale. "What was it?"
Isaac's expression hardened. "Stay close."
The sound grew louder, a rhythmic scraping that seemed to come from the shadows. Kyle's heart began to beat faster as he turned toward the noise.
"What the hell is wrong with this whole estate" Kyle thought. at least now they would see that he was not crazy or had been imagining things before when he used to say he saw things, now they could all see and hear it with their whole eyes.
"Who's there?" Isaac called out, his voice steady.
There was no response.
Suddenly they all began to hear a movement.