Chapter 1 — The Stranger at Ravenshore
It had been raining for so long that Mira had stopped checking the weather. The sky had stayed the same shade of gray for three days, the kind that made the sea blur into the clouds. She stood by the window of her small cottage, watching the drops chase each other down the glass.
From her porch, she could see the outline of Ravenshore House — a crumbling mansion perched on the cliffs like it was trying not to fall into the sea. The locals said it was haunted. Mira didn’t believe that kind of thing. She was new here, and what she did believe in was solitude.
She had come to Ravenshore to finish a book she’d been stuck on for a year. But writing hadn’t gone well. The silence of the town pressed on her in strange ways — too quiet, too watchful.
That night, she saw movement near the mansion.
Someone walking through the rain with a lantern — or maybe a flashlight — cutting through the dark.
It was the first sign of life she’d seen up there.
And for some reason, her chest tightened.
The next morning, at the café, the owner — Mrs. Dalvi — mentioned him in a whisper.
“They say Mr. Kellan’s back,” she said. “The one who used to live up at Ravenshore.”
Mira had heard the name before. The story was vague — an accident, a death, and a man who left town overnight.
When Mira returned home that evening, she found an envelope under her door.
No stamp, no name. Just her address, written in uneven handwriting.
She opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside was a small note.
“You shouldn’t have been watching.”
No signature. No explanation.
Just the faint smell of rain.
Mira read the line again.
And again.
Until the paper felt heavy in her hand.
