The 365 Letters

Episode 2: The Box Outside My Door

Ariana stared at the message on her phone.

OPEN THE BOX.

Her heartbeat hammered against her chest.

The black box was still outside her apartment.

Rainwater had begun to gather around it.

She took one slow step toward the door.

Then stopped.

“No,” she whispered.

Another message appeared.

You have thirty seconds.

Ariana's breath caught.

“Who are you?”

She typed the message and pressed send.

The reply came immediately.

Someone who knew your father.

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

What happened to my father?

This time, there was no immediate reply.

Five seconds passed.

Then ten.

Finally, her phone vibrated.

Open the box.

Ariana looked at the door.

She didn't want to open it.

Her father had been dead for three years.

For three years, she had forced herself to accept that he was gone. She had attended the funeral. She had watched his coffin disappear beneath the ground.

She had listened to her mother say, again and again, that it had been an accident.

But now she was holding a letter written in his handwriting.

And someone was standing outside her apartment.

Watching her.

She slowly unlocked the door.

The hallway was empty.

Ariana looked down.

The black box was still there.

She picked it up quickly and slammed the door shut.

Her hands were shaking.

The box was small and surprisingly heavy.

There was no lock.

No label.

She placed it on the table.

For several seconds, she simply stared at it.

Then she opened it.

Inside was an old silver key.

And beneath it was a photograph.

Ariana slowly picked up the photograph.

Her eyes widened.

It was a picture of her.

She looked about ten years old.

She was standing in front of a large house, smiling at the camera.

Her father stood behind her with one hand resting on her shoulder.

Ariana turned the photograph over.

Something was written on the back.

Remember the house.

Her father had written those words.

Ariana dropped into the nearest chair.

She knew the house.

She had spent her childhood there.

It belonged to her grandfather.

But after her grandfather died, the house had been sold.

At least, that was what her mother had told her.

Her phone vibrated again.

A new message appeared.

The key belongs to the house.

Ariana stared at it.

Another message arrived.

Go there tomorrow. Alone.

“No chance,” Ariana whispered.

Her fingers quickly moved across the screen.

Who are you?

This time, the reply came after only a few seconds.

Someone your father trusted.

Ariana's chest tightened.

Then tell me your name.

Silence.

Then—

Not yet.

Ariana threw the phone onto the sofa.

“Of course.”

Everything was impossible.

A dead man had written her a letter.

A stranger was sending her instructions.

And apparently, she was expected to visit a house she hadn't seen since childhood.

Alone.

Her eyes moved toward the first letter.

She picked it up again.

Do not trust anyone in our family.

Not even your mother.

Ariana closed her eyes.

Her mother.

Could her father really have meant it?

Her mother had raised her alone after his death. She had been the one who sat beside Ariana when she couldn't sleep. She had held her when she cried.

Her mother couldn't be involved.

Could she?

Ariana suddenly remembered something.

The night before her father died.

She had been thirteen years old.

She remembered waking up because her parents were arguing downstairs.

Her father's voice was unusually loud.

“I won't let you do this!”

Then her mother's voice.

“You have no idea what you're doing!”

Ariana had gone back to sleep before hearing the rest.

By morning, everything had been normal.

Or at least, she had thought it was.

Her phone vibrated again.

This time, the message contained only one sentence.

Ask your mother why she burned the blue file.

Ariana froze.

The blue file.

She had seen it.

Two weeks after her father's funeral.

She had watched her mother throw something blue into the fireplace.

When Ariana asked what it was, her mother had quickly closed the fireplace door.

“Just old documents,” she had said.

At the time, Ariana had believed her.

Now, she wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

Suddenly, a sound came from outside.

Footsteps.

Ariana stood up.

Someone was walking slowly through the hallway.

She held her breath.

The footsteps stopped directly outside her apartment.

Ariana stared at the door.

Nothing happened.

Then—

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Her phone vibrated.

A message from the unknown number appeared.

Don't open the door.

Ariana stepped back.

Another knock.

Louder.

Her hand moved toward the phone.

She was about to call the police when a familiar voice came from outside.

“Ariana?”

Her body went still.

It was her mother.

“Ariana, open the door.”

Ariana stared at the first letter lying on the table.

Do not trust anyone in our family.

Her mother knocked again.

“Sweetheart? I know you're inside.”

Ariana didn't move.

Her mother had never called her sweetie.

Not like that.

Something felt wrong.

Her phone vibrated again.

A final message appeared.

Hide the letter. She cannot see it.

Ariana quickly grabbed the letter and pushed it inside a kitchen drawer.

Then she picked up the black box.

Where could she hide it?

The knocking became louder.

“Ariana!”

Her mother sounded angry now.

Ariana rushed into her bedroom and shoved the box beneath the bed.

When she returned to the living room, she forced herself to take a deep breath.

Then she opened the door.

Her mother stood outside.

She was soaking wet from the rain.

But it wasn't the rain that caught Ariana's attention.

It was the fear in her mother's eyes.

“Why didn't you answer my calls?” her mother asked.

Ariana frowned.

“What calls?”

Her mother stared at her.

“I've been calling you for almost an hour.”

Ariana checked her phone.

There were no missed calls.

Before she could say anything, her mother stepped inside.

Her eyes moved quickly around the apartment.

The table.

The sofa.

The floor.

Ariana's heart began to race.

“What are you looking for?” Ariana asked.

Her mother suddenly smiled.

“Nothing.”

But Ariana knew her mother was lying.

And for the first time in her life, Ariana wondered—

Was her father right to warn her?

To be continued...