Sam sat at his desk, his fingers tapping anxiously against
the wood. He glanced at the clock—5:45 PM. Lily would be home soon. He rubbed
his eyes, trying to focus on the pile of old papers in front of him, but the
weight of what had happened earlier in the day wouldn't klet him concentrate.
His parents had been gone for five years, but today, something felt different.
Today, he'd found the letter.
It was tucked away in a compartment behind the paneling of
their mother's old desk, hidden beneath a pile of forgotten receipts. At first
glance, it looked like an ordinary envelope—yellowed and sealed with a wax
stamp—but the moment Sam touched it, something inside him shifted. It had a
familiar weight to it, a heaviness that was impossible to ignore. As he broke
the seal and unfolded the yellowed paper, a shiver ran down his spine.
"Sam and Lily," the letter began. "If you're reading this,
we've made a decision that will change everything. This isn't a goodbye, though
it will feel like one. You're about to discover truths that will frighten
you—truths about us, about the world, and about yourself. Trust no one, not
even those closest to you. Follow the map, and do not look back. The future is
in your hands now."
His heart raced as he read those last words. The future is
in your hands now.
"What the hell does that mean?" he muttered under his
breath.
Suddenly, he heard the front door open, and Lily's voice
echoed down the hallway.
"Sam?" she called, her voice a mix of exhaustion and
curiosity. "What's going on? Why does it sound like you're freaking out?"
Sam quickly folded the letter and shoved it into his pocket,
his mind racing. He didn't want to tell Lily yet. She'd only worry. She always
did. But he couldn't ignore the strange pull of the letter, the urgency that
seemed to vibrate through every word. His parents had always been secretive,
always hiding things. But this felt different.
Lily appeared in the doorway, her expression softening when
she saw the tension in his face. "What is it?"
Sam hesitated for a moment before pulling the letter back
out and handing it to her. As she read, her brow furrowed.
"This… this is from Mom and Dad, right?" Her voice trembled
with disbelief. "They're telling us to follow a map? What does that even mean?"
Before Sam could answer, he noticed something else inside
the envelope—a folded piece of paper. It was a map, intricately drawn, with
strange symbols marking various locations. Some of them Sam recognized, but
others seemed like places they'd never heard of.
"Do you recognize these?" Sam asked, his voice low.
Lily squinted at the map. "No… but this one, here, that's
near the old train station on the edge of town. I used to play there as a kid."
Sam's heart raced. This is happening. This is real. His
parents had left them something—something dangerous, something that could
change everything.