Chapter 1
Prologue: The Invitation
The email arrived with no sender name.
Subject: Let’s make new memories.
A reunion. A luxury lodge deep in the mountains. Ten years since college. A chance to reconnect.
For Nathan, Riley, Samir, Ava, and Danielle, the timing was perfect. Life had scattered them, but nostalgia called them back together.
But what they didn’t know was that someone else had been waiting.
Watching.
Preparing.
Because Elise never stopped playing.
And this time, she wasn’t just blending in.
This time, she was leading the game.
Arrival
The lodge was massive—high ceilings, wide glass windows reflecting the snow-covered forest. It was luxurious, warm, inviting.
But something about it felt wrong.
Riley was the first to say it. “This place is too quiet.”
Danielle laughed. “It’s a retreat, not a crime scene.”
Yet the silence stretched too thick, settling between them like an unseen guest.
As they settled in, the realization hit them—there was no staff.
No one at the front desk. No other visitors.
Just the five of them.
And her.
Elise.
They didn’t recognize her, of course. New hair. New name. New face.
She was Camille now. The event planner. The one who had “arranged” their stay.
And she was watching them already.
