The air was thick with fog as Elise stood on the edge of the old pier. It was a place she hadn't thought about in years—forgotten and decaying, much like the city itself. The saltwater in the air clung to her skin, and the distant sound of waves crashing against the wooden beams added to the eerie stillness of the night. She stepped forward cautiously, each footfall echoing in the silence.
Her mind kept racing. Was this a trap? A joke? Or had she stumbled upon something more dangerous than she realized?
As she approached the end of the pier, she saw a figure standing in the shadows, their form barely visible in the dim light. Elise's breath caught in her throat, but she refused to retreat. She had come too far, and there was no turning back now.
"Are you the one who sent the message?" Elise called, her voice sharp but trembling slightly.
The figure didn't answer immediately. Instead, they stepped forward, the faint outline of their face becoming clearer in the mist. There was something unsettling about the way they moved, almost too fluid, too calm. When they spoke, their voice was low, measured, and sent a shiver down Elise's spine.
"You're digging, but you're digging in the wrong place," the figure said. There was a strange authority in their tone, like they knew something she didn't.
Elise's throat tightened. "Who are you?" she demanded.
The figure didn't answer. Instead, they reached into the folds of their jacket and pulled out an old, worn photograph. Elise's heart skipped a beat. It was Mia Rutherford—her smile frozen in the photo, but behind her, in the blur of the background, there was something else. A figure, obscured but unmistakable.
"This is just the beginning," the figure continued, their voice a whisper now. "You're part of it. And you're running out of time."
Elise stepped back, a cold sweat breaking out across her forehead. "What do you want from me?"
The figure's smile was barely perceptible, a thin curve of the lips. "Everything," they said. "You'll see soon enough."
Before she could respond, the figure turned and disappeared into the fog, vanishing as quickly as they had appeared. Elise stood there for a moment, trying to collect herself, but the eerie sense of being watched lingered. There were no answers here, only more questions.
And for the first time in her career, Elise wasn't sure she was ready for the truth s
he was about to uncover.