Chapter Eight: The Stranger's Note
399 Words
Tari couldn’t sleep.
The image of the woman in the photo—the one who looked exactly like her—was seared into her mind. Her eyes, her smile… her face. It was like staring into a mirror distorted by time.
She lay on the bed, the faded photo clutched in her hand, her thoughts racing. Why hadn’t Felix told her about this woman? Who was she? And what did she mean by “break the chain”?
A knock at the door snapped her out of the spiral.
She sat up. “Yes?”
No answer.
She approached slowly, fingers tightening on the doorknob. When she opened it, the hallway was empty.
Except for the envelope on the floor.
Cream-colored. Unmarked.
Tari picked it up, heart pounding. Inside was a single sheet of thick paper, the handwriting elegant and sharp.
“You are not the first. But you may be the last. Trust no one but the one who bleeds. – J”
Her breath caught.
The one who bleeds?
Jericho?
---
Later That Night
Tari found Jericho in the courtyard, leaning against the iron railing as the wind scattered dead leaves across the stones.
“I know you sent the note,” she said, holding it out.
He didn’t deny it.
“I wanted to prepare you. This place... this life... it's not what you think.”
Tari stepped closer. “Who was she? The woman in the photo?”
Jericho looked away. “Her name was Mirabel. She was Felix’s first wife. And your mother’s sister.”
Tari’s legs buckled slightly. “My aunt?”
“She died in that house. But before she did... she tried to run. Just like you.”
Tari's voice trembled. “And what happened?”
Jericho’s jaw clenched. “She almost made it. But Felix... caught her. The nursery was hers. The child drawings were hers and—”
“And?” she pressed.
“She was pregnant.”
---
In the Shadows
Felix stood behind a two-way mirror, watching them.
Listening.
His lips curled into a cruel smile.
“So she knows about Mirabel,” he murmured. “Let’s see what she does with the truth.”
He walked to the painting of his first wife and gently touched her lips.
Then to the next portrait—his current wife.
Tari.
“You’ll break... or you’ll burn.”
- Writer
