Chapter 1
Evermont: Hidden Legacy
Introduction :
There are places that teach you how to succeed.
There are places that teach you how to survive.
And then there is Evermont University.
It was never the largest university in the world.
It was never the loudest.
It never needed to be.
Its reputation traveled farther than any advertisement ever could. People
spoke its name with admiration, curiosity, and sometimes with an uneasiness
they could never quite explain.
Every year, only six hundred students crossed its gates.
Artists.
Athletes.
Musicians.
Future entrepreneurs.
Brilliant minds from every corner of the world.
Each arrived carrying dreams of changing the future.
Few realized that the future would change them first.
Evermont was unlike any other university.
Its traditions were older than memory.
Its rules were unquestioned.
Its halls had witnessed generations of extraordinary students, each leaving
behind stories that slowly blurred into legend.
Some graduates became world-renowned leaders.
Some transformed entire industries.
Some disappeared quietly into history.
Yet, despite their different paths, almost every graduate answered one
question the same way.
"What was Evermont really like?"
Most simply smiled.
Some changed the subject.
Others looked toward the distance, as though remembering a place they had
never truly left.
Because Evermont could be described.
But it could never be fully explained.
Not by words.
Not by photographs.
Not by history books.
You had to live it.
You had to walk its halls, follow its rules, make impossible choices, laugh
until your stomach hurt, lose sleep over tomorrow, and discover parts of
yourself you never knew existed.
Only then did Evermont begin to make sense.
Or perhaps...
It never did.
No student entered Evermont by accident.
Every admission was deliberate.
Every assignment had a purpose.
Every decision was carefully calculated.
At least...
That was what the university believed.
Until one autumn morning.
Until six students, carrying six entirely different personalities, stepped
through the same gates.
Evermont believed it had placed them together to create balance.
History would remember that decision very differently.
Because no one—not the professors, not the administration, and certainly not
the six themselves—could have imagined that a single dormitory assignment
would awaken secrets buried for generations.
This is not the story of a university.
It is the story of six ordinary students whose friendship became extraordinary.
It is the story of laughter in the middle of chaos.
Of courage disguised as recklessness.
Of rules that were questioned.
Of truths that refused to stay hidden.
And of a legacy that had been waiting for the right people to find it.
Welcome to Evermont.
Your four years begin now.
Chapter 1 – One Last Weekend
The first person to break the speed limit that morning was Aira Brooks.
The second was Lucien Hawthorne.
The other four simply gave up pretending they cared.
Six motorcycles thundered down the private road that connected the five
neighboring estates, their engines shattering the peaceful Saturday morning.
A gardener watering roses didn't even look up.
Instead, he sighed.
"They're awake."
His assistant frowned.
"Who?"
The old gardener pointed toward the road.
"The storm."
As if on cue—
Six motorcycles flashed past.
"LAST ONE TO THE HAWTHORNE GATES BUYS DINNER!" Lucien shouted
through the helmet radios.
Claire sighed.
"You own the restaurant."
"I know."
"So you'd be paying yourself."
Lucien was quiet for exactly two seconds.
"...I've made a financial mistake."
Aira laughed.
"That's the smartest thing you've said this week."
"This week just started."
"And you're already losing."
"Oh?"
Lucien smiled beneath his helmet.
"I've still got time."
"You've got confidence."
"I've got talent."
"You've got delusion."
Eva covered a laugh.
"I have to admit..."
Lucien looked hopeful.
"Finally. Someone appreciates me."
Eva continued,
"...watching Aira humble you has become my favourite weekend activity."
"Et tu, Eva?"
"I don't know what that means."
"I don't either."
"Then stop saying it."
"I like how it sounds."
Ahead of them, Adrian glanced in the mirror.
Without raising his voice, he said,
"Sharp left in five hundred metres."
Nobody questioned him.
They never did.
If Adrian warned you...
There was a reason.
The six leaned into the corner almost perfectly.
Almost.
Silas wasn't looking at the road.
He was looking at the lake.
"Hear me out."
Claire answered before anyone else could.
"You get one sentence."
Silas smiled.
"What if we build a floating ramp across the lake for next weekend?"
Lucien immediately gasped.
"...That's magnificent."
Claire closed her eyes.
"No."
Silas looked offended.
"I haven't finished."
"You don't need to."
"We'd save at least thirty seconds."
Adrian nodded thoughtfully.
"Actually..."
Everyone looked at him.
Silas froze.
"...there is enough distance."
Claire slowly turned her helmet toward Adrian.
"...Excuse me?"
Adrian shrugged.
"The physics work."
Lucien nearly missed the next turn.
"THE RESPONSIBLE ONE AGREED?"
Aira laughed so hard her shoulders shook.
"Oh, this is historic."
Eva pointed at Adrian.
"I'm taking a picture when we stop."
"I said the physics work."
Claire folded one hand dramatically over her heart.
"The downfall of civilization begins today."
Silas looked proud.
"I've finally been understood."
"You've been encouraged," Claire corrected.
"That's significantly worse."
The road curved around the lake.
Beyond the water, five mansions stood side by side, each built differently but
connected by winding gardens, stone pathways, and years of shared
memories.
To anyone else, it looked like a luxury resort.
To the six...
It was simply home.
Lucien suddenly twisted the throttle.
"Oh no," Claire muttered.
Aira didn't even ask.
"What did he see?"
Claire answered immediately.
"An opportunity to make bad decisions."
Lucien shot between Adrian and Eva with inches to spare.
"Morning!" he called cheerfully.
Eva stared after him.
"...Did he just overtake us to say good morning?"
Adrian smiled.
"Yes."
"I almost respect it."
"You absolutely respect it."
"I absolutely do."
Lucien reached the front and threw one hand into the air.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
"No," Claire warned.
"...allow me to demonstrate greatness."
Aira didn't even hesitate.
"I've seen greatness."
She pointed at Adrian.
"You're blocking my view."
Silas slapped his handlebars.
"OH!"
Eva burst into laughter.
Lucien placed a dramatic hand over his chest.
"...You know what?"
"What?" Aira asked sweetly.
"That one hurt."
"I measured it."
"I can tell."
The Hawthorne estate gates appeared ahead.
Massive black iron gates surrounded by ancient oak trees.
The finish line wasn't official.
It never had been.
It was simply understood.
First bike through the gates...
Won.
Lucien lowered himself over the tank.
"So we're really doing this?"
Claire answered calmly.
"Were you expecting mercy?"
"I was hoping."
"That was your first mistake."
"And the second?"
"You underestimated me."
Adrian watched both of them.
Then...
Without a single word...
He accelerated.
Lucien blinked.
"...HE WAS PRETENDING TO BE SLOW!"
Silas laughed.
"He hustled you."
"He manipulated us."
Claire smiled.
"I'm so proud."
The six motorcycles flew toward the gates.
Five metres.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
They crossed almost together.
Almost.
The security guard standing beside the gate looked down at the digital timer.
He didn't even need to announce it.
Claire had already smiled.
Lucien had already groaned.
"I lost."
"You did," Claire replied, removing her helmet.
"I demand another race."
"You demanded another race yesterday."
"I was emotionally unstable yesterday."
"And today?"
Lucien thought about it.
"...Consistently unstable."
Aira climbed off her bike.
She walked past him, looked him up and down, and smiled.
"You know what I admire about you?"
Lucien's eyes lit up.
"What?"
"Your optimism."
"I knew it."
"No matter how many times you lose..."
She paused just long enough for everyone to look at her.
"...you still wake up every morning convinced today's your day."
Silence.
Eva looked at Lucien.
Then at Aira.
Then simply walked away laughing.
Silas sat down on the pavement because he couldn't breathe.
Even Adrian covered his mouth.
Claire didn't laugh.
She simply looked at Lucien and nodded once.
"She has a point."
Lucien stared at all five of them.
"...I'm calling my lawyer."
"You don't have one," Claire replied.
"I'll hire one."
"They'll agree with us."
"I hate this group."
"No," Aira corrected, looping her helmet over her arm.
She bumped his shoulder as she walked toward the house.
"You love this group."
Lucien watched the others walking ahead.
Claire and Adrian were already arguing about whether Adrian had accelerated
too late.
Eva was teasing Silas about the floating ramp.
Silas was trying to defend the mathematics behind it.
Aira was laughing so hard she nearly walked into one of the garden statues.
Lucien smiled to himself.
"...Yeah."
He quietly followed them.
"I really do."
Lucien caught up with the others just as the massive front doors of the
Hawthorne mansion swung open.
The smell of freshly baked bread, coffee, pancakes and cinnamon drifted
through the entrance hall.
Silas inhaled dramatically.
"...I forgive whoever invented mornings."
"You hated mornings ten minutes ago," Eva reminded him.
"I was outside."
Silas nodded toward the dining room.
"Now I'm inside."
"Remarkable character development," Aira deadpanned.
The mansion was already alive.
House staff hurried through the marble corridors carrying trays of breakfast,
while laughter echoed from somewhere deeper inside the house.
Lucien smiled.
"They've started without us."
Claire didn't even slow down.
"They've been waiting for us for twenty minutes."
"They love us."
"They're hungry."
"Same thing."
Before anyone could answer—
"ABOUT TIME!"
Alexander Hawthorne's voice boomed through the dining room.
"There they are."
The six stepped inside together.
The dining room looked more like a banquet hall than somewhere people
casually ate breakfast.
A long oak table stretched across the room, covered with everything
imaginable.
Fresh fruit.
Pancakes.
Croissants.
Eggs.
Waffles.
Juices.
Coffee.
Tea.
Enough food to feed a wedding.
Around the table sat five families who had spent the last twenty years raising
their children together.
Alexander Hawthorne looked at the six and folded his arms.
"So..."
He glanced toward the enormous windows overlooking the gardens.
"...did you race responsibly?"
Six completely different answers came at once.
"Yes."
"No."
"Mostly."
"Depends."
"It wasn't illegal."
"We're not answering that."
Silence.
Alexander slowly looked at the group.
"...I'm guessing the 'yes' was Adrian."
Adrian quietly raised his hand.
Alexander nodded.
"I knew there was still hope."
Laughter spread around the table.
Beside him sat his wife, Eleanor Hawthorne, elegant as always.
She looked at the flower petals still stuck to Lucien's riding jacket.
"...Lucien."
"Yes, Mom?"
"Why are there roses on your shoulder?"
Lucien looked down.
"...Decoration?"
Claire answered without looking up from pouring herself orange juice.
"He drove through the west garden."
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"The expensive one?"
"The very expensive one."
Lucien smiled carefully.
"...On the bright side..."
Everyone looked at him.
"...the flowers broke my fall."
Alexander blinked.
"...Your WHAT?"
Claire sighed.
"He found another shortcut."
"I found efficiency."
"You found landscaping."
Across the table, Richard Brooks, Aira's father, laughed so hard he nearly
spilled his coffee.
"I've missed these breakfasts."
"You saw them yesterday," his wife Sophia reminded him.
"I know."
"I missed them anyway."
Aira slid into her chair.
"You say that now."
Richard pointed his fork at the six.
"No."
"I say that because tomorrow you'll all be leaving for Evermont."
The room became just a little quieter.
Not silent.
Just...
Different.
Eva noticed it first.
"So..."
She smiled softly.
"We're doing the emotional parent thing already?"
"No," Richard replied.
"We're trying."
Claire looked around the table.
For the first time that morning...
Every parent looked at them a little longer than usual.
Almost as if they were trying to memorize them.
Silas cleared his throat.
"...This feels suspicious."
Michael Reed, his father, grinned.
"That's because your mother made your favorite pancakes."
Silas gasped.
"...Mom."
Grace Reed smiled proudly.
"I made extra."
Silas stood up so dramatically his chair nearly tipped over.
"I take back every complaint I've ever made."
Grace raised an eyebrow.
"You complained yesterday."
"I take back yesterday too."
Everyone laughed.
Even Claire smiled.
Adrian quietly reached for the coffee pot.
Before he could pour himself a cup—
Aira stole it.
"Excuse me."
"I saw it first."
"You hesitated."
"I blinked."
"Exactly."
Adrian stared at her for two seconds.
"...You're unbelievable."
"I've been told."
She poured herself coffee before sliding the pot back toward him with the
most innocent smile imaginable.
Eva watched the exchange.
"You enjoy causing problems."
Aira buttered her toast.
"I enjoy creating opportunities."
"For what?"
Aira smiled.
"For interesting conversations."
Lucien nodded enthusiastically.
"I support that."
Claire looked up immediately.
"Of course you do."
Alexander took a sip of coffee before speaking again.
"So..."
He looked around the table.
"Who's actually excited for Evermont?"
Silas's hand shot into the air.
"So many laboratories."
Eva slowly raised hers.
"The fashion society looks incredible."
Lucien lifted his.
"The motorcycle club."
Aira raised one finger.
"I heard there are places on campus students aren't allowed to enter."
Claire looked at her.
"...That's the first thing you're excited about?"
Aira shrugged.
"If someone tells me not to go somewhere..."
She smiled.
"...I immediately want to know why."
Claire rubbed her forehead.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The sentence that's going to shorten my lifespan."
Richard Brooks laughed.
"She gets that from me."
Sophia looked at her husband.
"No."
"She absolutely does not."
"I was trying to help."
"You made it worse."
Across the table, Adrian had been unusually quiet.
Alexander noticed.
"What about you?"
Adrian looked up.
"I'm looking forward to meeting new people."
Lucien pointed at him.
"See?"
"Normal answer."
Aira looked at Lucien.
"You literally said motorcycles."
"They're people to me."
"No..."
Eva replied.
"They're your personality."
"They're both."
The table erupted into laughter again.
For a moment...
No one thought about tomorrow.
No one thought about Evermont.
It was just another loud Saturday breakfast.
Another morning filled with teasing, stolen food, interrupted conversations,
and the kind of laughter that only came from people who had spent a lifetime
together.
None of them noticed the way Eleanor Hawthorne briefly exchanged a glance
with the other parents.
A glance that lasted only a second.
A glance filled with something none of the six recognized.
Worry.
Alexander placed his coffee cup on the table.
The soft clink echoed louder than it should have.
The conversations around the table slowly died.
Not because anyone asked them to.
Because every parent had suddenly become quiet.
Lucien looked around.
"...What?"
No one answered.
Sophia Brooks reached into her handbag and carefully placed six identical
black envelopes on the table.
Each one was sealed with black wax.
The silver emblem stamped into it wasn't the university crest.
It was simply one word.
EVERMONT
Silas picked one up.
"...This is unnecessarily dramatic."
Michael Reed smiled faintly.
"You'll discover Evermont likes unnecessary things."
Aira turned the envelope over.
"No sender."
"No address."
"No signature."
Claire noticed something else.
"...None of our names are written on them."
Alexander nodded.
"They never are."
Lucien frowned.
"...Then how do they know which one belongs to who?"
No one answered.
A strange silence settled over the table.
Alexander simply said,
"Open them."
The wax seals cracked.
Inside was a single sheet of black paper.
Heavy.
Cold.
At the top...
WELCOME TO EVERMONT UNIVERSITY
Below it—
STUDENT REGULATIONS
Lucien read the first line aloud.
Upon arrival, students shall remain on Evermont Island until the
completion of their fourth academic year. Leaving the island before
graduation is prohibited.
"...Four years?"
Silas looked up.
"...Without going home?"
"No."
Eva blinked.
"...Not even during holidays?"
"No."
Adrian frowned.
"What if somebody gets sick?"
Alexander answered immediately.
"The university has doctors."
"What if our families need us?"
Silence.
Nobody answered.
Claire slowly looked up from the paper.
The silence itself felt like an answer.
She continued reading.
Personal communication with the outside world is prohibited. Mobile
phones, personal computers, smart devices and unauthorized
communication equipment will be confiscated upon arrival.
Eva stared at the page.
"They're taking our phones?"
"They're taking everything," Eleanor replied quietly.
Lucien laughed.
"They can't actually stop us from calling home."
No one at the table laughed with him.
His smile slowly disappeared.
Aira continued reading.
Unauthorized exploration of university property is strictly forbidden.
Students attempting to enter restricted facilities will be permanently
removed from the institution.
Her eyes lit up.
"...Restricted facilities."
Claire didn't even look at her.
"I know that face."
"What face?"
"The one that always ends with me cleaning up your mess."
"I prefer 'solving mysteries.'"
"I prefer you graduating."
Richard Brooks hid a smile behind his coffee.
Alexander noticed.
His expression hardened.
"Richard."
Richard's smile disappeared instantly.
The room became quiet again.
Lucien frowned.
He had never seen his uncle stop smiling so quickly.
He looked at his father.
"...Seriously..."
"...What's wrong with this university?"
Alexander looked at him.
For a long moment...
He didn't answer.
Instead...
He asked a question.
"Do you know how many students apply to Evermont every year?"
"No."
"Almost three hundred thousand."
Silas whistled softly.
"And they accept less than one percent."
Lucien shrugged.
"So?"
Alexander's eyes remained fixed on him.
"They don't choose the smartest."
"They don't choose the richest."
"They don't choose the most talented."
Another silence.
Claire frowned.
"...Then what do they choose?"
Alexander opened his mouth.
Then...
Stopped.
It was Eleanor who quietly answered instead.
"We never found out."
Every one of the six looked up.
"You mean..."
Eva spoke first.
"...You don't know?"
Five mothers.
Five fathers.
Graduates of Evermont University.
Not one of them answered.
Sophia slowly folded her hands.
"We asked."
Richard looked down at his untouched breakfast.
"We investigated."
Michael's jaw tightened.
"We broke rules."
Grace whispered,
"We almost got expelled."
Claire's heartbeat quickened.
"You never found the truth?"
Another silence.
Alexander looked at the six.
"The only thing we found..."
He paused.
"...was that Evermont always knows when you're asking the wrong questions."
Nobody moved.
Nobody even reached for their breakfast anymore.
Aira broke the silence.
"So you're telling us..."
"...that all ten of you spent four years there..."
"...and still don't know what Evermont really is?"
No one answered.
That frightened her more than any answer could have.
Alexander picked up the black envelope lying beside Lucien.
"There is one final instruction."
Lucien looked down.
"There isn't."
Alexander turned the envelope over.
Inside the flap...
Hidden beneath the fold...
One sentence had been embossed so lightly it was almost invisible.
He read it aloud.
The university is always listening.
Silas laughed.
"That's creepy."
No one else did.
Alexander carefully slid the envelope back onto the table.
His voice was almost a whisper.
"It wasn't written there when we received ours."
Every parent around the table looked at the sentence.
As though they had never seen it before.
For the first time...
Fear crossed every one of their faces.
MILES AWAY.....
The island slept beneath a blanket of fog.
Far beyond the mainland...
Far beyond the last ferry route...
Beyond the place where maps simply ended...
Evermont stood in silence.
The ancient buildings overlooked the sea like forgotten monuments, their
towers disappearing into drifting clouds.
Not a single classroom light remained on.
Not a single student walked the empty paths.
The campus looked abandoned.
Yet...
It wasn't.
Deep beneath the oldest building on the island...
A steel door unlocked with a sharp metallic click.
One.
Two.
Three security locks disengaged.
The door slowly slid open.
A man dressed in a charcoal-grey suit stepped inside.
The room beyond was unlike anything above ground.
No windows.
No decorations.
Only rows upon rows of black filing cabinets stretching into darkness.
Each drawer carried a single year.
1986.
1987.
1988.
1989.
1990.
1991.
The man walked past them without hesitation.
At the very end of the room...
One cabinet stood alone.
Its drawer was marked only with silver Roman numerals.
VI
He unlocked it.
Inside...
Six black folders.
Already prepared.
He placed them carefully on a long table.
One by one.
Lucien Hawthorne
Claire Hawthorne
Adrian Carter
Eva Sinclair
Silas Reed
Aira Brooks
He opened Lucien's file.
The first page contained no grades.
No medical reports.
No personal information.
Only a photograph.
Taken that morning.
The motorcycle race.
The six of them laughing.
The picture had clearly been taken from somewhere high above the road.
Without anyone noticing.
The man closed the folder.
He opened another.
Claire.
Another photograph.
Different angle.
Different location.
Still...
From that same morning.
Then Adrian's.
Eva's.
Silas's.
Aira's.
Photographs.
Notes.
Times.
Locations.
Observations.
Someone...
Had been watching them long before they ever reached Evermont.
The man reached for the telephone resting on the desk.
It rang only once.
A calm voice answered.
"They've received the envelopes."
"They've also received the rules."
A brief silence followed.
Then the voice asked,
"Any signs of suspicion?"
The man glanced toward the six folders.
"Minimal."
Another pause.
"Continue observation."
The line went dead.
The man remained still for a moment.
Then he picked up a stamp from the desk.
Pressed it onto the first folder.
A single word appeared in deep crimson ink.
SELECTED
He stamped the second.
SELECTED
The third.
The fourth.
The fifth.
The sixth.
When he finished...
He returned every folder to the drawer marked VI.
Just before closing it...
His eyes stopped on another drawer beneath it.
It had no files inside.
Only one faded label.
V
The man stared at it for a long moment.
Then...
Almost unconsciously...
He whispered,
"They came so close."
The drawer slid shut.
The lights in the archive switched off.
One by one.
Until only darkness remained.
Somewhere above...
The bell tower of Evermont struck midnight.
The first bell echoed across the empty island.
The second disappeared into the sea.
The third...
Was answered by something beneath the campus.
Not a bell.
Not an echo.
A sound.
Low.
Metallic.
Like an enormous machine...
A slow smile appeared on the man's face.
The kind that never reached the eyes.
He looked at the six names one last time before quietly saying—
"Let's see which one of you breaks first."
The lamp switched off.
Darkness swallowed the room.
