Selene stood at the open door, her breath fogging in the night air. The forest beyond the threshold seemed alive, the branches swaying without wind. The voice that had called her name moments ago still lingered in her mind, clear and deliberate.

But she didn’t move. Not yet.

She stepped back, slamming the door shut with trembling hands. Her heart raced as she latched it, leaning against the wood as though it might keep the unknown at bay.

“This is insane,” she whispered, clutching the edges of the table for support. “A voice in the woods? A clock that ticks when it shouldn’t? What am I even doing?”

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Her gaze fell on the diary and the letters spread across the table. Each one was a breadcrumb, leading her deeper into this mystery. But for the first time, she wondered if she had been foolish to follow them.

What if this is a trap?

The rational part of her screamed to stop, to toss the letters into the fire and forget the strange events that had led her here. But another part—a quieter, persistent voice—urged her forward. It wasn’t blind trust; it was the nagging certainty that something larger was at play, something she couldn’t walk away from.

She paced the room, weighing her options. The letters had revealed pieces of her own life that no one else could know. The diary hinted that Lydia had been pulled into the same web of mystery. And the hollow tree…

Selene’s brow furrowed. The tree wasn’t just a symbol in the diary; it had led her to the bundle of letters buried beneath its roots. What if there’s more to uncover?