Pack of Shadows

ther's journal, had given her a new direction. She needed to speak with Daniel Harper, the man who had given her mother the

ness in the air that signaled the approach of autumn. As she walked through the quiet streets, she noticed that the townspeople seemed to be watching he

in stark contrast to the overgrown woods just beyond. Ava hesitated at the gate, her heart pounding with a mix of nerves an

uiet neighborhood, and after a few moments, she heard footsteps approaching. The door creaked open, reveal

hint of surprise in his voice. "I w

mmediate recognition. "Yes, I'm A

ted, stepping aside to let her

ng, filled with the rich scent of polished wood and old books. Shelves lined the walls, crammed with volumes on every im

chair across from her, his gaze never leaving her face. There was something almost uncan

ke her," he said sof

her throat. "You knew my

determined, but also troubled. We were close for a time, though she

ween them. "She left this behind. I've been reading it, trying to understand what she

not surprised. Elizabeth was caught up in something far beyond th

y piqued. "What exactly is it? W

ways been... different. The town was founded in the early 18th century, but there were settlements here long before that, going back to the earliest days of European explo

zed that this land was unlike any they had known. Strange things happened in the woods-disappearances, sightings of creatures that shouldn't exist

e? My mother wrote about it in her journal. Sh

founded. The indigenous people knew of it and kept their distance, believing it to be a place where the boundary betw

re driven mad by what they found, others simply vanished. The stone became a source of fear and superstition, and eventually, the townspeople

d you give her that book? Did

she found the answers she was looking for. Your mother was... persistent. She had a connection to the stone, one that I th

mind racing. "Did she

e she could finish her research, and she never spoke of it again. But I s

the brink of something profound, something dangerous, and now Ava was followin

he asked, her voice b

ul, Ava. The stone has a power that can consume you if you're not prepared. Learn all you can, but do

easier said than done. The more she learned, the more she felt

, promise me one thing. If you find yourself in over your head, if you fee

f gratitude and no

hat seemed to stretch toward her as she walked away. The town of Hollow Creek felt smalle

th, no matter what it cost her. The stone, the forest, the strange legacy

, Ava knew that the real journey was just beginning. And this time, she wouldn't run from the s

s the forest held,