CHAPTER 7 — The Letter That Arrived One Year Later
Exactly one year after Blackwood Hill collapsed...
Ethan finally began sleeping without nightmares.
The investigations were over.
The criminal organization had fallen.
Life was becoming normal again.
Then, on the anniversary of the explosion, someone knocked on his apartment door.
No one was there.
Only a small wooden box.
Inside lay the old pocket watch recovered from the ruins.
The hands no longer pointed to 8:17.
They now read 11:46.
Beneath it was another handwritten note.
"The Keeper never died."
Ethan's pulse quickened.
Only three people had ever seen that watch.
One was dead.
One was missing.
And the third...
Was Ethan himself.
Who had delivered it?
Hidden beneath the velvet lining of the box was a tiny brass key.
Different from the first one.
Much smaller.
Wrapped around it was a strip of yellowed paper.
TRAIN STATION 11 — LOCKER 46
Exactly 11:46.
The next morning Ethan traveled to the abandoned railway station outside Blackwood.
Locker 46 still existed.
Rust covered the door.
The brass key fit perfectly.
Inside sat a dusty tape recorder.
A sealed envelope.
And an old cassette labeled simply:
"If you're hearing this... I failed."
Ethan pressed PLAY.
Static crackled.
Then the old man's voice filled the station.
"If you're listening...
it means Blackwood wasn't the beginning.
It was only one branch.
May you like
There are six more."
Ethan's blood turned to ice.
