Chapter Six — Welcome To Lumenvale
1403 Words
Violet’s POV
The movers arrived before sunrise.
I woke to the sound of footsteps echoing through the halls and the low murmur of voices downstairs.
For a moment, I stared at the ceiling in confusion.
Then I remembered.
The move.
Lumenvale.
The city I had spent the last month trying not to think about.
A dull ache settled in my chest.
Today was really happening.
I rolled out of bed and crossed to the window.
Outside, several moving trucks were already parked in front of the mansion. Servants carried sealed boxes through the front doors while bodyguards directed workers around the property.
Everything felt rushed.
As though the house itself had decided it was time to move on.
I wasn't ready.
I wasn't sure I ever would be.
The mansion looked strange half-empty.
Paintings had vanished from the walls.
Furniture had been covered or removed.
Entire rooms echoed when I walked through them.
This house had been my whole world for sixteen years.
I wandered through the house slowly.
No destination.
Just walking.
Remembering.
This was where I learned to ride a bicycle.
This was where Evelyn pushed me into the pool and nearly gave me a heart attack.
This was where we built blanket forts during thunderstorms.
This was where we fought.
Laughed.
Grew up.
And now we were leaving.
Without her.
Every hallway carried a memory.
Every room reminded me of Evelyn.
Especially now.
As I reached the top of the staircase, my feet slowed.
Then stopped.
Evelyn's room.
The door remained slightly open.
I stared at it for several seconds.
The rest of the house buzzed with activity.
Workers moved boxes.
Servants called to one another.
But here—
Everything was quiet.
Painfully quiet.
I pushed the door open.
The familiar scent lingered faintly in the air.
The room looked exactly as it had the day Evelyn left.
Books remained stacked beside the bed.
A sweater still hung over the chair.
Photographs decorated the walls.
The curtains shifted gently in the morning breeze.
Everything was the same.
Except Evelyn wasn't here.
I stepped farther inside.
My gaze drifted slowly around the room.
Memorizing.
The tiny c***k in the desk.
The collection of novels beside the window.
The old fairy lights strung across the wall.
Things I had seen a thousand times before.
Things I suddenly couldn't bear to leave behind.
A sad smile touched my lips.
"You'd hate this."
My voice barely rose above a whisper.
"People touching all your stuff."
Silence answered.
As always.
My fingers tightened around Evelyn's notebook.
The notebook I hadn't let out of my sight since finding it.
"I found your diary."
My throat tightened immediately.
"I think you were trying to tell me something."
Tears threatened to rise.
I blinked them away.
"And I'm going to figure it out."
The promise settled heavily in the room.
Outside, engines started.
Someone shouted instructions.
The world kept moving.
"I'm going to Lumenvale."
My voice trembled.
"But not because Dad wants me to."
I glanced around one final time.
"I'm going because of you."
For several seconds I simply stood there.
Listening to the silence.
Then I turned off the light and walked away.
This time, I didn't look back.
I eventually found myself standing outside.
The morning air was cool.
The massive gates stood open.
Moving trucks waited beyond them.
Workers carried the last of their belongings out of the house.
I turned around.
And looked.
Really looked.
At the mansion.
The white stone walls.
The balconies.
The gardens Evelyn used to sneak into whenever she wanted to avoid guests.
Every memory she had lived through existed somewhere inside those walls.
A lump formed in my throat.
I wasn’t prepared.
Not for this.
Not for any of it.
“Miss Violet.”
One of the servants approached gently.
“We should be leaving soon.”
I nodded.
But I didn’t move.
Not immediately.
I kept staring.
Trying desperately to memorize every detail.
As though I might never see it again.
Maybe I wouldn’t.
The thought hurt more than expected.
An hour later, the convoy left the estate.
Several vehicles traveled alongside us.
A habit that came with being the daughter of an influential businessman.
I sat in the backseat beside my father.
The atmosphere felt suffocating.
Neither of us spoke.
Outside the window, familiar streets slowly disappeared behind us.
The city where I’d spent my entire life grew smaller with every passing mile.
Eventually, even the mansion vanished from sight.
Something in my chest cracked.
I turned quickly toward the window before my father could notice.
Hours passed.
The scenery changed repeatedly.
Cities became highways.
Highways became stretches of open road.
Roads I had never traveled before.
I rested my forehead against the cool glass.
Evelyn's notebook sat securely in my lap.
I traced my fingers over the worn cover absentmindedly.
The only real clue I had.
The only thing Evelyn had left behind.
"How much longer?" I asked quietly.
My father glanced up from the documents in his hands.
"About an hour."
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Awkward.
Uncomfortable.
The kind neither of us knew how to fix.
Outside, fields blurred past.
Then, unexpectedly—
"Evelyn always wanted to travel."
I looked up.
My father continued staring through the windshield.
Not at me.
Not at anything in particular.
Just ahead.
"She used to talk about seeing different places."
A faint smile appeared.
Gone almost instantly.
"She would've..."
The sentence stopped.
Half-finished.
His jaw tightened.
For a moment, I thought he might continue.
He didn't.
Instead, he lowered his gaze and returned to his tablet.
The wall between us rose again.
Higher than before.
I looked away.
For the first time since the funeral, I realized my father was grieving too.
He just didn't know how to show it.
By late afternoon, the skyline of Lumenvale appeared in the distance.
I sat upright immediately.
This was it.
The city.
The place where Evelyn had spent her final days.
The place where Damien Cross lived.
The place where everything stopped making sense.
As we drew closer, sunlight reflected from towering glass buildings.
Golden light shimmered across the city.
Luxury cars filled spotless streets.
Modern architecture stretched toward the sky.
Everything looked beautiful.
Almost unnaturally beautiful.
Like a city designed for magazine covers rather than real people.
The sight made me uneasy.
Evelyn had described it once in her diary.
Beautiful.
Too beautiful.
I understood now.
The perfection felt artificial somehow.
Like something hidden beneath polished glass.
The convoy traveled deeper into the city.
Past expensive cafés.
Designer boutiques.
Restaurants glowing beneath elegant lights.
Everything appeared carefully maintained.
Controlled.
The exact word Evelyn had used.
Controlled.
The thought sent a chill down my spine.
Nearly twenty minutes later, the vehicles turned through enormous iron gates.
I blinked.
Then sat upright.
The property stretched farther than I could see.
Perfectly maintained gardens lined the driveway.
Stone pathways wound through flowering trees.
Several fountains sparkled beneath the fading sunlight.
The driveway curved around a massive circular entrance.
And at the end stood the house.
No.
The mansion.
Modern and breathtaking.
Dark stone blended seamlessly with enormous glass walls.
Floor-to-ceiling windows reflected the evening sky.
Balconies overlooked the estate.
Warm lights glowed from within.
The building looked more like a luxury resort than a home.
For a moment, I simply stared.
"Welcome home."
My father's voice broke the silence.
Home.
The word felt wrong.
Home wasn’t a building.
Home wasn’t luxury.
Home was Evelyn.
And Evelyn wasn't here.
As servants began unloading luggage, I stepped from the car.
The evening air felt cooler than expected.
I adjusted the notebook beneath my arm and glanced around.
That's when I noticed it.
A banner attached to a noticeboard near the entrance gates.
My eyes skimmed over it absentmindedly.
Then froze.
My heartbeat stopped.
Slowly, I stepped closer.
Certain I had misread it.
But the words remained exactly the same.
WESTBRIDGE ACADEMY
The notebook nearly slipped from my hands.
I looked down at Evelyn's diary.
Then back at the banner.
Then down again.
The same school Damien attended.
The same school mentioned repeatedly throughout Evelyn's entries.
A coincidence.
Maybe.
But somehow, I didn't believe in coincidences anymore.
As the evening shadows stretched across Lumenvale, a cold certainty settled inside me.
I hadn't come to this city by accident.
And for the first time since arriving—
I felt as though Lumenvale had been waiting for me.
- Writer
