Welcome to Halcyon Ridge
Clara awoke before sunrise, tangled in sweat-damp sheets. The air in Room 7 felt heavier than when she’d arrived, like it hadn’t moved all night. Her dreams had been strange—distant laughter, a knock she couldn’t find the source of, and a voice that whispered Liam’s name just as she slipped into sleep.
She rubbed her eyes and sat up.
The window, large and arched like something out of a Gothic novel, stood across the room. She walked over, hoping to open it for some fresh mountain air. But the latch wouldn’t budge.
She pressed her palm against the glass. Cold.
There was something odd about the view too. Yesterday, she’d seen pines and mist. Now, only gray. No movement. No wind. Just… still fog, thick and unchanging.
Her eyes narrowed. Hadn’t the fog shifted last night?
Clara stepped back. Maybe it was just the altitude. Her mind had played tricks before—especially since the funeral. She’d come here to stop seeing things that weren’t there.
Still, she made a mental note: the view hadn’t changed. Not even slightly.
At breakfast, the dining room buzzed with low chatter. The long table was set with fruit, eggs, and toast, all laid out like a luxury hotel. Clara hesitated before taking a seat beside Marcus, the man from last night.
“Sleep okay?” he asked, sipping black coffee.
“Fine,” she lied.
Across from them sat a woman with tightly braided hair and tired eyes. “You must be Clara,” she said. “I’m Mara. Room 4.”
Clara nodded. “Nice to meet you.”
A soft laugh from the far end of the table drew her eyes. A young man with a slight stutter and nervous fingers spoke animatedly to a blond woman who barely acknowledged him. Clara counted: six people, including herself.
“Elise said there were seven guests,” Clara murmured to Marcus.
He blinked. “Seven?”
She nodded toward the empty seat at the head of the table. “Someone missing?”
He looked confused for a moment. “Huh. I don’t think so. It’s always been just us.”
Clara frowned. “You sure?”
“I mean… yeah?” He laughed awkwardly. “Maybe you misheard.”
But she was sure. Elise had said seven guests. She remembered the clipboard, the names. She wasn’t imagining it.
Clara turned to Mara. “How many guests are here, including me?”
Mara paused, chewing her toast thoughtfully. “Six. Always six.”
Clara’s stomach tightened.
Later, during the mandatory orientation tour, Elise led the group through the west wing.
“You’ll find therapy rooms here,” Elise said smoothly. “Individual sessions begin tomorrow. Group therapy is every evening at seven, right here in the Reflection Room.”
The walls were pale gray, almost too clean. No marks. No art. Just a sterile hallway and occasional gold-plated room numbers.
As they passed Room 3, Clara’s eye caught something strange.
Room 6… Room 5… Room 4… but no Room 2.
She doubled back, scanning the doors again.
Room 7… 6… 5… 4… 3…
No Room 2. And no Room 1 either.
“Elise?” Clara asked. “Why do the room numbers skip?”
Elise’s smile didn’t falter. “Oh, they don’t. Some rooms are reserved for staff and equipment.”
“But where are Rooms 1 and 2?”
“Security and maintenance.” Her voice was soft, final. “Guests shouldn’t concern themselves with logistics. Focus on healing.”
Elise turned away before Clara could press further.
That night, Clara lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her body felt tired, but her mind refused to settle.
She kept thinking of the missing guest.
Of the fog that didn’t move.
Of the window that wouldn’t open.
And of the two rooms that supposedly didn’t matter.
At 2:17 a.m., she heard footsteps.
Soft. Deliberate.
She sat up.
A shadow passed just beyond her door—tall, slow-moving. Not Elise. Not Marcus.
Then, a sound: a faint knocking. Not on her door. Further down the hall.
She held her breath.
The knocking stopped.
Silence swallowed the building again.
But the moment she laid her head down, a whisper—so faint it might have been imagined—slipped through the wall behind her bed:
“Clara.”
