ROOM 1108

A Photograph, A folded Note and A Small Brass key

The first thing Aria did after leaving Blackwood Residences was, to break a promise she'd made to herself at her mother's funeral. She opened the storage closet. For almost a year, the narrow door at the end of her apartment hallway had remained shut. Every time she walked past it, she told herself the same thing…tomorrow. Tomorrow she'd sort through the boxes, organize the old documents, decide what to keep and what to throw away. Tomorrow never really came. Grief had a strange way of turning days into months.

Now, standing in front of the closet at nearly midnight, Aria wrapped her fingers around the doorknob, the metal felt cold. For a moment she considered walking away. Then she remembered the photograph, Damien, the message written in her mother's handwriting flashed in her memory.

“If anything happens to me, find Damien.”

The knot in her stomach returned. She opened the door. Waves of dust greeted her immediately. The familiar scent of cardboard, paper, and forgotten memories drifted into the hallway. Aria took a deep sigh.

"Well," she muttered, "this is going to be fun."

It wasn't, not even a little. An hour later, she sat cross-legged on the living room floor surrounded by chaos, going through old bills, photo albums, Insurance documents,?Birthday cards. Medical records. Half her apartment looked like a hurricane had hit it.

Her back hurt, eyes burned, yet she still hadn't found anything useful.

"Great."

She tossed another folder onto a growing pile.

"Fantastic."

Nothing to show for the few hours of effort.

Just ordinary pieces of a life that no longer existed. For the first time all evening, doubt crept in. Maybe Damien was wrong, maybe there wasn't another clue.

Could she be searching because she wanted answers so badly she started seeing mysteries where none existed?

She reached for another box, took a pause.

Something looked odd. She frowned as she took an attentive look. The bottom panel seemed thicker than it should. Aria pulled the box closer to examine it. She carefully pressed against the cardboard lining. A hidden compartment popped open.

Her heartbeat immediately picked up it's pace. Inside sat a single envelope yellowed with age. It had stayed untouched. Across the front, written in familiar handwriting, was one word.

ARIA

Everything inside her went still. Curiosity bubbled up within her chest. Slowly, she picked it up. Hoping it would be the answer she sought all along. Aria quickly identified the handwriting, it was her mother's. It was a hurtful sight, much more than she expected.

For a second, she simply stared.Then she carefully opened the envelope. Inside were three things. A photograph, a folded note and a small brass key. The note came first. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she unfolded it. Deep down she wondered how many more secrets were uncovered. How far she had to go in order to uncover all the mystery.

Her mother's handwriting was printed on the page.

Only one sentence…

If you're reading this, he's finally found you.

Aria stared in confusion. Then read it again repeatedly. But the sentence refused to make sense.

Who's finally found me? Damien?Someone else?

Why write it like that? Why make everything sound like a puzzle?

A frustrated laugh escaped her. Even in death, her mother was impossible.

She set the note aside and picked up the photograph. The image looked old.

Much older than the one she'd found in Room 1108. Her mother stood beside another person. Except…The second person's face was missing. It had been deliberately removed. Someone had cut it out. Leaving only the outline of a shoulder and part of an arm. Aria frowned, the sight sent a chill through her.

Who cuts someone out of a photograph?

And why?

The brass key felt heavier than normal. It was small, old-fashioned, and worn with age. Aria turned it over, something had been engraved on the metal. She brought it closer, to her astonishment it was written…

1108

For several seconds she simply stared. The number couldn't be a coincidence…not anymore. Room 1108. The hidden apartment. Damien.

Her mother, now the key.

The connection was impossible to ignore.

A strange feeling settled over her. For days she'd believed she was stumbling into answers. Now it felt like someone had laid out a trail years ago.And she had finally reached the beginning. A sudden knock echoed through the apartment. Aria nearly dropped the key. Her heart jumped. She looked toward the door. She tried hard not to make a sound.

Aria waited for a second knock but there was none, no voice heard. After a moment she stood.

The apartment suddenly felt too exposed, she approached the door, looked through the peephole. There was nobody. The hallway was completely empty, Aria frowned.

"Okay…"

Maybe she'd imagined it. Stress sure did weird things to people. She stepped away, then stopped. The door mat…Something sat on top of it, a folded piece of paper.

"This definitely wasn’t here before", Aria thought to herself. Aria opened the door again. The hallway remained empty, not a single person in sight.

She grabbed the paper and stepped back inside. Then unfolded it.

The message contained only six words.

STOP LOOKING BEFORE SOMEONE GETS HURT.

Her stomach skipped a beat. She turned quickly in horror, staring at the door as if the person responsible for the note was still present.

She stared hard at the ceiling in disbelief, her mind was starting to crumble with all the clueless entanglement.

Someone knew she was searching, they knew she needed answers, knew about the envelope. She was starting to believe there were more people involved.

A floorboard creaked very softly behind her

Aria's body went completely solid, like ice. The note slipped from her fingers. Every muscle in her body had locked. Slowly she turned her head. The apartment suddenly felt much darker. Then a calm voice spoke from somewhere behind her, a man's voice.

"You should've left that alone."