The 365 Letters

Episode 6 — The Letter That Wasn’t His

The rain had stopped by midnight.

Ariana sat alone at the kitchen table, staring at the letter she had found inside her father's old study.

She had read it five times.

Still, she couldn't understand it.

Ariana,

If someone tells you I died that night, don't believe them.

I knew they were coming.

And I knew I might not survive.

But there is one thing they don't know.

I left something for you.

Your mother knows where it is.

Ask her about the blue room.

Do not trust anyone who says the room never existed.

Ariana's fingers tightened around the paper.

The blue room.

She had never heard of such a room.

Not once.

Her father had lived in the house for more than twenty years. Ariana had grown up there. She knew almost every room.

Almost.

She looked toward the hallway.

Her mother's bedroom door was closed.

Ariana stood.

She walked quietly toward it.

Before she could knock, she heard her mother's voice.

"You shouldn't be reading his letters."

Ariana froze.

The door slowly opened.

Her mother stood there, pale and tired.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

"How did you know?" Ariana asked.

Her mother's eyes moved toward the letter in Ariana's hand.

"Because your father told me."

Ariana's heart stopped.

"He told you about the letters?"

Her mother shook her head.

"No."

"Then what did he tell you?"

Her mother looked away.

"That one day, you would start asking questions."

Ariana stepped closer.

"Mom, what is the blue room?"

Her mother's expression changed instantly.

Fear.

Real fear.

"Where did you hear that?"

"My father wrote it."

"Give me the letter."

"No."

"Ariana."

"Why are you scared?"

"I'm not scared."

"You are."

Her mother's hands began trembling.

Ariana had never seen her mother like that.

Not even after her father's death.

"Tell me the truth," Ariana whispered. "Did this room exist?"

Her mother remained silent.

That silence was enough.

"It did."

Ariana felt a chill run through her.

"Where?"

Her mother closed her eyes.

"Your father didn't want you to know."

"Where is it?"

"Behind the old library."

Ariana immediately turned toward the hallway.

"Wait."

Her mother's voice stopped her.

"Whatever you find there, don't open it."

Ariana slowly turned around.

"Open what?"

Her mother didn't answer.

That was when Ariana knew there was more.

Much more.

Twenty minutes later, Ariana stood inside the old library.

The room smelled of dust and old books.

She switched on the light.

Nothing happened.

"Of course," she whispered.

She used her phone flashlight and walked toward the bookshelf.

According to her mother, the blue room was behind it.

But there was no visible door.

Ariana ran her fingers along the wooden shelves.

Nothing.

Then she noticed something.

One book was different.

It was completely blue.

No title.

No author.

She pulled it.

A soft click echoed through the room.

The entire bookshelf moved several inches.

Ariana stepped backward.

Behind it was a narrow doorway.

Her heart began pounding.

She pushed it open.

A dark staircase led downward.

She hesitated.

Then she remembered the letter.

Your mother knows where it is.

Ariana turned on her phone flashlight and began walking down.

One step.

Two.

Three.

At the bottom was a small room.

The walls were painted faded blue.

The blue room.

Ariana slowly entered.

There was an old desk.

A chair.

A locked wooden cabinet.

And on the desk—

a photograph.

She picked it up.

Her breath caught.

It showed her father standing beside another man.

A younger man.

A man Ariana recognized immediately.

Leon.

"What the hell?"

She turned the photograph over.

There was a date written on the back.

June 17, 2011.

And underneath it:

The night everything changed.

Ariana stared at Leon's face.

Why had Leon been with her father fifteen years ago?

She heard a sound behind her.

A floorboard creaked.

Ariana spun around.

Nobody.

"Hello?"

Silence.

She slowly backed toward the desk.

Then her phone vibrated.

A message.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

You found the blue room.

Ariana's blood ran cold.

Another message arrived.

You were never supposed to find it this soon.

She stared at the screen.

Her fingers trembled.

Then another message appeared.

Leave the room.

Ariana didn't move.

NOW.

She heard footsteps above the staircase.

Someone was coming down.

Ariana quickly switched off her phone flashlight.

The footsteps became louder.

One step.

Another.

She hid behind the door.

A shadow appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

A man entered the room.

Ariana held her breath.

She couldn't see his face.

He walked toward the desk.

Then stopped.

He picked up the photograph Ariana had dropped.

His voice was quiet.

"You should have stayed away from this."

Ariana recognized the voice.

Her eyes widened.

It was Leon.

Before she could react, her phone slipped from her hand.

It hit the floor.

Leon turned.

Their eyes met.

For several seconds, neither moved.

Then Leon whispered,

"Ariana..."

She stepped backward.

"You knew."

Leon said nothing.

"You knew about my father."

Still nothing.

"You were there."

His expression hardened.

"Listen to me."

"No."

"Ariana, you need to leave."

"Why?"

"Because whoever sent you those letters isn't your father."

Her heart seemed to stop.

"What did you say?"

Leon looked at the photograph in his hand.

"Your father wrote the first letters."

He looked directly into her eyes.

"But someone else has been writing them for years."

Ariana couldn't breathe.

"Who?"

Leon didn't answer.

Instead, he walked toward her and placed the photograph in her hand.

On the back, beneath the old writing, Ariana noticed something she hadn't seen before.

A second sentence.

Written in fresh black ink.

Her father's handwriting.

Or something that looked exactly like it.

Leon knows why I died.

Ariana looked up.

Leon was already walking toward the stairs.

"Wait!"

He stopped.

She held up the photograph.

"Did you kill my father?"

Leon slowly turned around.

His face was unreadable.

Then he said something that Ariana would remember for the rest of her life.

"No."

A pause.

"But I know who did."

And before Ariana could ask another question, the lights in the blue room suddenly turned on.

The door behind Leon slammed shut.

Someone had locked them inside.