Chapter 1 – The Invitation
Chapter One – The Letter
The letter arrived on a Tuesday morning.
Ivy Hart almost threw it away.
There was no stamp. No return address. Just her name written in elegant black handwriting across an ivory envelope.
She frowned.
"Who still writes letters?"
She carried it into her tiny apartment, dropped her keys on the kitchen counter, and carefully broke the wax seal.
A single sheet of paper slid into her hand.
It held only one sentence.
Come home, Ivy. I'm still waiting.
—Mom
The room spun.
Her mother had been missing for fifteen years.
The police had searched the woods surrounding Black Hollow Manor. Volunteers had dug through abandoned wells and searched every inch of Ravenshade.
Nothing.
Emma and Daniel Hart had simply disappeared.
Ivy read the letter again.
Then again.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Every birthday card.
Every lunchbox note.
Every bedtime message.
It was her mother's.
"No..."
She backed away from the table.
"This isn't possible."
Her phone rang, making her jump.
It was her grandmother.
"Ivy," the old woman's voice trembled. "You got the letter, didn't you?"
Ivy's heart stopped.
"You knew?"
There was a long silence.
Finally, her grandmother whispered, "Burn it."
"What?"
"Don't read another word. Don't go back to Ravenshade."
"Gran... if Mom is alive—"
"She's not."
The words were sharp.
Painful.
"But someone wants you to believe she is."
The call ended.
Ivy stared at the silent phone.
Outside, thunder rolled across the sky.
She looked back at the letter.
For fifteen years she had prayed for answers.
Now one had arrived.
And despite every warning...
She knew she was going home.
